Play in the Park!

We spent yesterday evening getting a little culture (and mosquito bites!) with the kids. Junior University puts on a play in the park every summer and this year was Robin Hood. Jenny was taking Katie, Lucy, and Bubby and they invited us to join them. Emma loves going places with her cousins and was very excited all day about going "when it gets dark!" I had to elaborate a bit with her as I soon realized that she was excited to go "play in the park," not to go SEE a play in the park! After some explanation though she was very eager to go see "the bad guy who bees greedy and won't share hims stuff"... also known to you laypeople as Prince John. So funny. Emma has never seen a movie of Robin Hood or read the story or anything, so I think the plot line might have been a bit over her head. But she loved twirling in the aisles to the music and clapping along at the end of each scene. The blurry picture is her, mid-twirl. She also loved her Maid Marion crown with all the ribbons & streamers. She is such a girly-girl. Baby steps. Baby steps in the introduction of live theater. We are making progress. :)

Farewell Matthew!

Matthew has been here visiting us for the past month. He has had a great time visiting with his cousins and we have enjoyed having him. But, its getting time to head back to school. So his mom came to pick him up today. We met Darcy at the sushi bar for lunch and had a nice visit. Emma is sure going to miss Matthew. She kept hugging him and calling, "Goodbye Matthew! Goodbye!"

Bunny Fun!

Friday's storyhour always starts with a half an hour or so of free play in the toddler room. The top picture is Emma, reaching for a dinosaur toy on the top shelf. On her tiptoes she could barely reach it. But then she decided it would be easier to just climb the shelves and was upset when I yelled at her to get down. She told me "I just trying to get taller Mommy!"

Today's Nature Tots Storytime had a bunny rabbit theme. After the songs and book were finished, the librarian had the kids sit in a circle and brought out a real live bunny for them to see. They were told to sit still and let the bunny hop around and maybe it would come near enough for them to pet. Well, I have no idea why, but that rabbit made a bee-line straight for Emma Grace! All the other kids kept calling to it, but it just hopped right up to her. Then the librarian asked the kids if they wanted to feed her. Of course they did. The bunny was right up next to Emma, so she got to feed her the first nibble of carrot. After that, the other kids kind of swarmed and the rabbit became more skittish and stopped eating. Oh well, I got my picture of Emma feeding the bunny. :)

Hiking with the "Middle" Kids!

Matthew leaves for home tomorrow and the rest of the kids go back to school in a few days. So I decided to get the middle 3 together with Emma & I and spend the morning taking them hiking. We stopped at the store & got snacks so we could have a picnic too. Mikayla's dog, Tinkerbell, is staying with us for a week or so while her grandparents are in Vegas, so this was Tink's 1st hiking trip too. That was one skittish little dog. Lol. Chihuahua dogs always seem to be! The kids had a good time hiking and we saw very few other people up there, which made things nice and peaceful. Even when Emma fell down some rocks and got scraped & dirtyy, she just smiled and showed off her muddy knees. We ventured farther this time and Emma wasn't scared of the water like she was the last time either. We found deeper pools and she was wading around in chest-high cold water. Such a little daredevil.

The Balloon Lady!

The Balloon Lady came to the library last night so, of course, we had to head over to check out the show! She was very silly and the kids thought she was very funny. She stretched and twisted balloons into all sorts of shapes, all the while releasing air to make the balloons "burp." As we all know, passing gas in any form is highly amusing to kids! There was also quite a bit of audience participation. Matthew got called on to answer a question and Emma won a raffle prize! Yea for free movie theater passes! She finished the evening off by climbing INTO a giant balloon and popping her was out of it. The kids found her amazing and they loved the eyeball balloons they were given as souvenirs! This was the last evening of visiting performers for the summer reading program... we are going to be sad to see this program end.

Fun at the Fountain!

It's amazing to me how long these little ones were entertained just by playing near the fountain! The ran circles around it, spun and twirled on the patterned walkways, touched the water, splashed each other, and threw in pennies to make wishes! Emma & TJ even decided it was a good place to lie back, eat some leftover quesadilla, and watch the clouds drift by. The weather was nice, not too hot, and we must have been out there for over an hour as the kids played and we chatted away. What a nice evening.

An Evening with Friends...

We went to the library again yesterday for the last craft time of the summer reading program. TJ came with us too and Erin & Sophia met us there. The kids got to work with air-drying clay and form it into sea shell molds and then paint them. After they were done crafting, and sufficiently filthy, we met up with Jen and Hayden for dinner. Emma apparently enjoyed her burrito and felt the need to raise her shirt, rub her belly, and show off her "food baby!" Then the other girls followed suit. Not to be outdone, TJ had to join in the revelry, which was Emma's cue to fall back & refuse to participate anymore. What a little stinker! After dinner, we hung out by the fountain for a while and then I took Emma to start looking at birthday party decorations. She loved that store and the giant Tinkerbell in the window most of all!

Fancy Fingers and Terrific Toes!

A while back I asked Emma if she wanted to go get a pedicure with me for Mother's Day. A few of my friends had done it with their daughters who are just a bit older and they all seemed to really enjoy it. Emma? Not so much. She was very emphatic that nobody was touching her feet! Okay, fine. She is only 2 years old after all. I'm not sure this is a luxury I want to start her on yet anyway. Well, a couple weeks after that, I went and got a pedi before picking her up at school. She has been in awe of my toes since then... "What happened your toes Mommy? Why you got flowers Mommy? Who colored on your toes Mommy?" etc etc etc. but still does not want "a yay-dee (lady) to touch my feet." Fair enough. Yesterday she asked me if she could get her toes and fingers painted. Knowing how moody & fickle my child can be, there was no way I was taking her to a salon so I offered to paint them for her myself. She was much more comfortable with that choice. Plus I had some flower decals for her toes and glitter for her fingers. And we all know how much she loves all things girly and sparkly. Emma loves her polish and runs around showing off her fingers and toes to everyone who will look. My "baby" is getting so big!