There were no stores and there was no chicken so they couldn’t dip it in the sauce anyway.

Alex: Grommie! Aren’t you excited it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow?


Alex: I know what we can play, Claire! Do you wanna play Indians and Pilgrims?
Claire: No.


Alex: Daddy? Remember that the pilgrims came on this huuuge ship!
Daddy: Yeah?
Alex: They came from England to America.
Daddy: Yeah.
Alex: And it was the Mayflower. That was its name.
Daddy: Good for you! You know a lot!
Alex: I learned it at school.


Alex: And when the pilgrims got there, it was winter! Right, Daddy?
Daddy: That’s right.


(Claire is playing The Ladybug Game by herself.)

Claire: Daddy, I got five praying mantis cards!

Claire: Five, five five! Yahoo!
Claire: I wish I would get six.


(Claire and Alex are coloring.)

Claire: This guy? Daddy? You banged your head on a chair because you broke your head off.
Daddy: Oh, okay.
Claire: And, Bob the Builder’s coming to fix it.

Claire: Look, he got his head back!
Daddy: Oh good!

Claire: I drew our whole family.

Claire (to Mommy): That’s, you, with your, ponytail and your clip! Look!

Claire: That’s your ponytail, and that short line is your clip.

Claire (to Alex, describing her picture): One day, you went to sleep and you closed your eyes. This is your eyes closed. And that’s, you went to sleep, and you pulled up the covers, and then you went to sleep. And then he opened his eyes –

Claire (to Mommy): Alex is closing his eyes, pulling – pulling up his covers, and he went to sleep, got his baby doll, and he went to sleep, and he had a dream, and he growed bigger than Daddy.
Mommy: Oh yeah? In his dream or for real?
Claire: In his dream.
Mommy: Oh!
Claire: And that’s me, and I went to sleep with my baby doll, then I went to sleep, under the covers. Then I grew bigger bigger bigger bigger, bigger bigger bigger bigger, bigger bigger bigger bigger! See?

Alex: And this is my saying hooray because I ate all those healthy foods.


(Mommy, Alex, and Claire talk about the Indians.)

Alex: Their stove wouldn’t work.

Claire: Their microwave wouldn’t work.
Mommy: Well they didn’t have microwaves.
Claire: How could they make some carrots?!

Mommy: Did they go to the store to buy barbecue sauce?
Alex: There were no stores and there was no chicken so they couldn’t dip it in the sauce anyway.

Alex: They landed in a field, Mommy. No, they landed on Plymouth Rock. And there was just grass. And trees.
Mommy: That’s right.
Alex: They didn’t land on a rock it’s, there’s just, a rock in its name. Plymouth Rock.

Mommy: Did they have doctors?
Alex: Nope.
Claire: Nope.
Alex: They were sick. They were seasick.
Mommy: Did they have dentists?
Alex: No.
Alex: They didn’t have any toothbrushes.
Claire: Or sinks. Or sinks.
Alex: So their teeth were green.
Mommy: They were green?
Alex: Yeah.
Claire: Or sinks!
Alex: Their hands were all germy.

Mommy: How did they go potty?
Alex: In the grass.
Mommy: In the grass?
Alex: Mm-hm.
Claire: Just like our puppy. Grommie.

Alex: They couldn’t think very well. Why they didn’t have, anything they wanted.

Claire: Mommy, I know what they didn’t have?
Mommy: What?
Claire: A ‘frigerator.
Mommy: Yeah.
Alex: All the food would be spoily.

Claire: I know what else they didn’t have!
Mommy: What?
Claire: Water.
Mommy: That’s right.
Alex: They were really thirsty. They had to drink up hose water. But there were no hoses.
Mommy: Where did they get water?
Alex: They had to drink up the rain.
Claire: Or a backyard.
Alex: No playsets!
Alex: Or swings.
Claire: No. They just had grass.

Mommy: Did they have books?
Alex: No.
Claire: No.
Alex: And they wanted to read. They only had Kindles!

Alex: If they wanted a Kindle, they would have to have a plug but they can’t.

Mommy: Did they know how to write?
Alex: No. Maybe the Indians showed them!

Mommy: Did they have pillows?
Alex: No. They had to sleep on straw on the ship. There were no beds.
Claire: Or blankets!
Alex: They were cold.
Claire: Brrrrr!
Mommy: Well did the kids have toys to play with?
Alex: No.
Mommy: Well what did the kids do?
Alex: They were bored. All they had to do was read books!

Mommy: Did they have policemen and firefighters?
Alex: No. It was dangerous on the ship. And they had to go overnight!
Mommy: Yeah. How long did it take them to get there?
Alex: Like… more than twenty minutes.
Mommy: Wow. More than twenty days!
Alex: It took one hundred days.
Mommy: It took a hundred?
Alex: Maybe – maybe even more! Like one hundred and ten days!
Mommy: That’s a long time.