I had our sitter bring the kids to my workplace tonight.  Luckily, most of my colleagues had hit the road when M&M arrived.  They whirled through the lobby like mini-tornadoes ready to ride the elevator and see my office.  Maria avoided a Mario meltdown by letting him push the elevator button to floor 5. Isn’t it strange how obsessed kids get over pushing an elevator button?  I used to think it was because they liked to see the button light up but even when the button doesn’t light, they still go nuts.  And take the buttons off the elevator and put them on a square toy, the buttons are completely boring to them.  Elevator magic.

The tornadoes ripped through my hallway door and into the break room to find snacks.  They know where the goodies are at my work.  After the break room, they corkscrewed themselves into my office to find more candies.  They also enjoyed sitting in my chair and acting like the “boss.”  On our way down the elevator (Maria again conceded the button pushing to Mario – such a good sis), they both commented about how cool my office was and how they wish they could work there.  Little darlins’ – at least they think so. 

They had the college kids cracking up outside.  Mario jumped on the stone resting areas and performed dance moves for all the world to see.  Maria followed suit until she noticed a college kid staring at her – she quickly jumped down.  Mario, however, basked in it.  It took bribing him with my phone to get him to walk to the car.  But before the car, we had to go to the fifth level of the parking garage.  Again, the fascination with parking garages? They got to the fifth floor and found the vacant lot awe-inspiring.  Maybe they will be architects or… valets.

We hit Orange Leaf with our cousin Maggie soon after leaving my work.  They were out of my favorite combination, chocolate and peanut butter.  Maria got her usual array of flavors: gingerbread, wedding cake, red velvet cake, and vanilla.  I monitored the toppings so she only landed one brownie, fruity pebbles, broken cone, oreos, and vanilla and butterscotch topping (I feel someone calling Child’s Services on me but really, it was only a speck of all of those toppings!).  Mario, on the other hand, opted for one flavor – pineapple – and no toppings at all.  Strange little being, he is. 

After Orange Leaf, we came home to a quiet house with no tv on, no washer churning and no pets roaming.  All of us noticed how calm it was.  You could hear a pin drop.  And then Mario screamed – just for the sheer fun of it – and Maria joined in a second later.  I turned around ready to cuss them out but when I looked over, I saw their ornery, angelic faces wide with laughter.  I decided to add a scream to the mix myself, and we all fell forward in a hard, belly laugh.