You and your hats, you're almost 30.

 As I was looking at pictures from my childhood, I noticed a trend with my pictures: Daz and I are usually wearing a hat of some sort.  Hats are an integral part of our lives.  Hats are the answer when we don't want to get ready, and it's permissible to wear a hat to a function.  I have had many a hat, but now have narrowed it down to about three that I wear consistently: my Baltimore Orioles 1968 World Series hat, my USU Block A hat, and my Mountain Hardwear beanie.

We still have our very first baseball caps that our dad brought home from a business trip to St. Louis.  It is red, mesh in the back, and has the St. Louis Cardinals logo.  It has been worn through and is probably unsanitary.  It was the first of many hats that have adorned my head in this life.

Growing up Daz and I spent a lot of time with Papa Jim.  He worked the swing shift while mom went back to school and worked.  Those were great days.  Dad usually wore a hat, so naturally Darby and I followed suit.  We wanted to be just like Papa Jim.  If he was wearing a hat, we wore a hat, too.

Our next door neighbor, Doug, served a mission in Germany.  When he came home, he had German Gottmann hats for both me and Darby (or at least I think that is what it is called). See to the right.  I wore that hat out.
I have worn hats since my earliest days and still wear them all the time.  It’s just easier.  Those 18 months in Argentina were rough without my Aggies cap to wear.

Birthday, Party for Two



We always make the joke that we were born on different days, just to see others’ reactions.  Most people seem impressed that twins could potentially be born on different days.  It has happened before.  However, after saying the lame joke, we inform others that we actually were born on the same day: May 11, 1983 to be exact.   Daz was born first at 1:23 AM weighing in at 5 lbs. 5 oz.  Diz decided to take advantage of some well-earned stretching room and lingered for 12 minutes finally arriving at 1:35 AM weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 oz. 

Our Great-Grandmother Lowther wanted us to hold off until May 21st so we could be born on her birthday. That would have been quite the statistic seeing as how Melissa was born on Great-Grandfather Miller’s birthday and Erin was born on Great-Grandmother Dearden’s birthday.  If all granddaughters would have shared a birthday with a great-grandparent – what are the odds?  Would we have made the Guinness Book of World Records?  Alas, it was not to be, as we arrived two days before our Friday, May 13^th due date.  I think we got the better end of the deal arriving on a Wednesday rather than Friday, and Friday the 13^th no less.

I’m sure it was quite the shock for Mama Sue and Papa Jim to find out there were two babies instead of just one only three weeks before our due date.  Technology back in the 80s was not as sophisticated as today’s.  The second baby's heartbeat was not picked up...or the doctor might have thought it was Mama Sue’s.  But two babies arrived and life at the Cowles house became very different. 

Erin loved her new baby sisters and would read to them (even though she probably didn’t know how).  She probably drove Mama Sue crazy.  After putting us down for a nap, right as we fell asleep, Erin would run full steam ahead to the crib or playpen and shake it and yell, “HELLLLLLLOOOOOOO BABIES!”  Biggest sister Melissa was excited to have not one, but TWO babies to play house.  And she was quite the helper with benefits.  She would feed us our baby food just so she could sneak a taste of the desserts.  Darby and I would each receive a spoonful and then Melissa would enjoy the rest.  Tropical Bananas were her favorites.

Darby and I have celebrated every birthday together except two: #24 and #27.  Both times I was in Argentina.  I guess to keep with tradition I’ll need to be in Argentina next year for the three year pattern.  Fine by me! 

Happy 29^th birthday Diz and Daz!

Who's Got 32!?

Oh junior high basketball.  Although I have blocked out much of my playing (I was never really that good, except at rebounding) there is one game that stands out to me. 

Ninth grade, 1998, Sand Ridge vs. Roy Junior. 

This game stands out for a few reasons: we actually won; I think I actually scored; and Darby and I had the entire Roy Junior team so confused.  Darby kept getting open because no one could remember who was supposed to guard #11 and #32.  They double teamed me (poor decision, I'm no threat) and left Darby wide open to make her three pointers.  I think she had about five of them that game.  After each made shot, someone would yell "Who's got 32!?"  Five blank faces gave the indication that no one knew.

Rivals in the junior high ranks, Roy Junior and Sand Ridge both feed into Roy High and become united as Royals.  We had a good chuckle the next year as sophomores playing with those same confused girls who couldn't keep us straight in junior high.  Now they could use the trick on other teams and realized what an advantage having twins on the team really is. 

Tootsie! Why our cousins and grandma can’t tell us apart

Having a look-alike has its major advantages, see the Sea World post below. But, there are also some major disadvantages. It makes it hard to distinguish who is who. Even those who we are around weekly have a hard time telling us apart. I've provided a few pictures to illustrate this. The picture to the left - who is who?! I can't really tell to be honest, but I think Darby is in the front...


Exhibit A: Grandparents and cousins see us nearly every Sunday and cannot tell us apart. Grandma just called us Tootsie for the first 10 years of our lives when she saw us. Most of the time it’s just a “Hey!” instead of “Hey Dallin!" or "Hey Darby!” The funny thing is, most of the cousins that have married into the family can tell us apart; mostly because they actually try to tell us apart. Cousin Doug probably comes in first with guessing-to-success ratio. Cousin Kallie would have to be second and Cousin Julie a solid third place. The other cousin spouses do try, but these three definitely are in the top echelon. Cousin John thinks that it’s so rude that our cousins and aunts and uncles make no effort to tell us apart. He doesn’t get it.


But Darby and I are pretty used to it. The only time that Darby has been called by her name was when I was in Argentina for 18 months. The family (and everyone else for that matter) had a 100% chance of getting it right.
Even I have a hard time telling us apart sometimes. The picture to the left here is much easier: Dallin is on the left and Darby is on the right. I'm certain :)

Exhibit B: 3rd grade school picture. I wrote on the back of a picture that it was me...it was not. It was Darby. Any other year in school pictures I can tell, but not that year. It doesn't help that we had the exact same outfit on that year.

So, even the parties involved have some problems at times. It makes me have some empathy for all the rest of you.

Lost in Sea World

Let's go back to 1988 – Family vacation to California. We hit Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios, and Sea World. Diz and Daz were five years old at the time. We were experiencing Sea World for the first time. The day was going just fine looking at the dolphins, whales and other sea life that only Sea World can provide. As we stopped to look at one of the whales, Diz found herself alone, no family member in sight! Where had they gone? Diz looked frantically to the left, then to the right, then behind her. No one that resembled a Cowles was anywhere near. Luckily a nice lady with a badge came up to Diz and asked her if she was alone. Diz nodded her little head yes. The Sea World lady took Diz by the hand and led her to an office with coloring books and crayons. Diz sat quietly coloring a sea turtle while savoring the ice cream waffle cone.

Meanwhile, the family is panicking that Diz is nowhere to be found. Sea World went into lock-down mode within minutes. This is before cellphones and such, so that walkie-talkie system was pretty advanced at the time. Our parents do not carry pictures of their wonderful children in their wallets. But they had something even better! When the Sea World Officials asked for a description of what Diz looked like, Jim and Sue pointed to Daz and said: “Just like her!” This is where having an exact look-alike comes in pretty handy. That gave the Sea World crew a pretty good visual of who they needed to look for.

Walkie-Talkie calls were made and within a few minutes the missing Diz had been located at the Lost and Found. She was sitting quietly coloring the sea turtle and looked to the glass doors. Mama Sue was rushing to the building frantically with tears in her eyes. Diz up to this point did not understand the gravity of the situation and was shocked to see her mom in such a state. Mama Sue burst through the doors, enfolded Diz into a bear hug. Diz now realizing that she was lost, also started to cry.

Having a look-alike definitely has its benefits.

Introductions

Twins - Dictionary.com defines this as:

1. two children brought forth at a birth.

2. either of two persons or things closely related to or closely resembling each other.

Yep, that's what Daz and I are: Twins. But not just any twins, Mirror Twins. Daz is a southpaw and I'm a righty. We are a mirror image of each other. Pretty neat, huh?

Daz is 12 minutes older than I am, making me the baby of the family. But don't be fooled, I am much more mature than Daz.

We are very alike and very different. Daz is more outgoing than I am. She gets along with the high schoolers much more easily than I would. I tend to get really uncomfortable whenever I am around the high school kids, mostly because they just stare at us for unusually long amounts of time and tend to giggle and/or scream when they see us together. It's awkward.

I (Diz) am more of the quiet type. I love to read a good book and have deep thoughts about said book. I keep to myself, but can be outgoing. I think I am pretty funny at times, but don't always vocalize my funny thoughts.

We both love to play sports and to be outside hiking, skiing or camping together.

Daz's Favorites:

Color - blue

Book - Crime and Punishment

Number - 12

Baseball Team - St Louis Cardinals

Diz's Favorites:

Color - green

Book - Jane Eyre

Number - 11

Baseball Team - Baltimore Orioles

The first of many blogs to chronicle our twin adventures.