At the Carwash...

The jeep was filthy. What else is new? So I decided to hit one of those drive-thru car washes after the playdate yesterday. Emma has been with me a couple times before. The first time it scared the bejeezus out of her. The second time she kind of liked it. But that may have been because I let her sit in the front seat while it was being washed. So I thought we would try it again and maybe TJ would like it too. Not so much. For either of the little ones. You can see the progression of increasing dislike through the photos. At first, both kids thought it was cool that the car was being "rained on." Then they were less certain about things as the soap hit and the windows were covered in suds making it quite a bit darker inside. Finally came the "vortex" air dry and neither one of them liked how loud that was! It was cute to see them talk to each other through it and tell each other "It's okay. It's almost over." They can be sweet when they want to be...

Afternoon Playdate!

We went to a playdate yesterday at my friend Sarah's house and she snapped these pictures of the kids. TJ got to come with us too since Karen needed me to pick him up for her. I love the top picture (from left: Hayden, Sophia, TJ, Emma, & Zach)... It looks like all the kids are posing sweetly but, in actuality, they were all lazing on the couch watching cartoons! Usually they are more active and playing but I think this first week back to school is wiping everybody out. Sarah told the kids to smile and Emma immediately slung her arm around TJ's neck and grinned. You can see that TJ is kind of smiling/ kind of grimacing at too much "Emma love" all at once. Too funny. She means well but is just an enthusiastic child. This is why we jokingly call her "Lenny" sometimes... As in "Ima tend 'dem rabbits George." Lol. Gotta love Of Mice and Men references.

Auntie Natalie!

Natalie is in town visiting for a few days and we were able to squeeze a lunch and a little shopping into her jam-packed schedule yesterday. Its been 2 years since she moved to Texas & I sure do miss her. This woman is one of the best friends I've ever had and I was so excited to see her! Emma was almost 9 months old when Nat moved, so she has no actual recollection of her, but knows her from photos and she loves to snuggle under her "Auntie Na-nah-nee banket" that she gave us at my baby shower. It was like old times to see my girl and Emma was SO well behaved! She let us chat for over 2 hours at lunch/ dinner and then was still good while we shopped at the mall later. This was especially surprising since it had been her 1st day back at school and I picked her up right from daycare to go to the restaurant. What a wonderful day we all had!

Back to School!

Today was our first day back to work for me and daycare for Emma. After having been off for 5 weeks, I was concerned as to how she would act at drop-off. Especially since Ms. Martha was moved to another site while we were gone and Emma would have a new teacher, Ms. Jennifer, when she returned. Would she be clingy? Upset? Crying? Heartbroken to see me go? Turns out, nope. None of the above. Check out the big grins I got as she RAN into the classroom. I guess that's a good thing... means she's secure and happy in her environment. The only hard part was the actual waking up. We had gotten into a definite vacation sleep schedule where Emma was staying up till 10pm or so and waking up around 8:30. I'd started moving up her bedtime a bit for the past few nights but she was still not happy to be awoken at 6:15. But she's a little trouper and bounced back quickly. I love my girl!

More Hiking Pictures!

Last Day of Vay-Cay!

We decided to go hiking again for our last day of vacation. I brought Mikayla & TJ with us and Jenny & her kids came too. This was TJ's first time hiking and he LOVED it! He was a little nervous about first getting in the water but Emma held his hand and showed him how to navigate across the rocks. Once he got his bearing down, there was no holding him back! He loved wading in the water, climbing on the boulders, and, most of all, throwing rocks into the stream! He and Emma loved seeing how big a splash they could make. Unfortunately Emma's aim isn't quite as good as TJ's yet and she beaned Katie in the back of the head at one point! I felt bad laughing as I checked on her, but she was okay. Then Lucy fell in the water and cut her hand open and Mikayla's choice of shoes gave her blisters. But such are the casualties of "roughing it." I think the kids had a great time. Jenny brought picnic stuff and we even brought folding chairs for us old fogies to relax in while the kids played. We ventured further up and down the river this time too and the kids found some new watering holes to splash in. It was sad to see that some disrespectful people had apparently been up there since our visit last week and there was graffiti on the rocks and one of the dams had been destroyed. So Tim took it upon himself to start building another dam. The girls and babies helped him off and on and he did a great job by the time it was finished! One of the neatest things about today is that we even found a "waterslide!" There was a small waterfall and a slanted rock going right through it. The kids loved that. Emma decided, after climbing all the way up, that she did NOT want to slide down but TJ and the older kids liked it. It was a great day and a wonderful end to our summer vacation!

Parks, Parties, & Pizza!

We had a busy Saturday this weekend! First was Mikey's second birthday party at Fairmount Park in Riverside. This is such a cool park. Emma loves the playgrounds (yes, plural, as in more than one play area) and the water play area. She is still a little skittish about the giant sprinklers, but she enjoys playing around in the periphery of it and getting a little wet. We had lunch with Mikey and his family and then came Emma's favorite part... cake! you can see her surreptitiously eyeing it in one of the pictures. Too funny. Maria (Mikey's Mommy) did a great job decorating and with the party favors. Emma is still carrying around her little tote full of trinkets and her sipper cup.

After the birthday party we headed to the library. Emma got her only nap of the day in the car for about 10 minutes on the way there. They were having an end of the summer party for all the kids who had read at least 5 books over the course of the program. It was a really cute luau-themed party, but it was very crowded in the community room with all the kids and their parents. So we stopped in for half an hour or so, dropped Emma's name in the raffle (she was NOT happy that she did not win this time), ate some juice and cupcakes (which had ocean animal rings on top ~ check out Emma's clown fish ring!) and made leis with paper flowers and straw segments. Then we decided to head to the toddler play room for a while before returning to see if Emma's name was drawn for a prize. It was much more peaceful in the children's room and Emma loves all the puzzles and toys there.

As we were leaving the library party, we ran into Katie, Lucy, and Bubby who had come to the library to hang out and play on the computers. So we visited with them for a bit while they waited for Tim & Jen to get there to pick them up. By this time it was after 4pm, so we headed home. Within a few minutes of walking in the door, I was getting a text from Katie telling me that her parents had invited Emma & I over for pizza. Never one to turn down a free meal I don't have to cook, I said "sure!" We stopped at CVS to get drinks where Emma locked herself in my car! That was scary for a minute, but I had grabbed my keys right before she had hit the switch, so it was a crisis averted. We had a great evening eating pizza and ice cream from the ice cream man, playing board games and watching movies together. Emma even got Bubby to read to her for a bit, which she loves, and I suspect he secretly enjoys as well!

We had a great day!