Just a Summer Day...

I took this photo with my cell phone one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. There is nothing extraordinary about it but I love it. Just the sunlight & my favorite little ones running and playing together. It just says "summer" to me. :)

Friday Family Fun!

Every August our church does outdoor movies on Friday nights. We went for the first time this past Friday and had such a good time! The movie was Disney's "Tangled" which is a very cute movie and one of Emma's favorites so she was very excited. There is a $3 BBQ dinner before the show starts and the church even provides free popcorn, cotton candy, and snowcones. They know how to get us there... snowcones for me and cotton candy for Em! Yum yum! We are planning on going again this Friday to see Toy Story 3. The funny thing is that we already own these movies on DVD but its just so much more fun to go and watch them outside on a summer evening... especially with free goodies!

BFFs

Emma and Hayden sure do love each other! They love taking gymnastics together every week and just playing and being silly together. Of course these little love fests are often peppered with "she did this"es and "I'm not your friend!"s but those spats are short lived and they always make up. Emma is lucky to have good friends at such a young age. These shots are Emma & Hayden after tonight's gymnastics class. They are showing off their good behavior stickers and their muscles. GRRRRRR! Then we went out for frozen custard at a local shop I previously stumbled upon. The custard was yummy and the place was deserted. Plus it had a great little grassy area for the girls to fun and play. We had a wonderful evening!

Emma Channels Morris the Moose!

These "babies" around here are growing up way too quickly and are not really "babies" anymore. As such, their choice in literature is maturing as well. While we still occasionally read the Goodnight Moons and Very Hungry Caterpillars of yesterday, now they are generally opting for longer books with a bit more plot development and a bit less repetitive verse. Beginning reader level books are about where we are currently and recently Karen came across an old favorite from our childhood, Morris Goes To School. That darn Morris the Moose can't count pennies to buy candy or read the signs to know the fish store from the candy store. So he goes off to school, where he is welcomed wholeheartedly by the children despite having to do everything a bit differently, being a moose and all. When it is time for pretend play, one child pretends to be a tree, another pretends to be a moose, and silly old Morris drapes his antlers with outerwear and pretends to be a coat closet. Emma and TJ think this is one of the funniest things ever and, as luck would have it, I recently asked Emma to help me carry a bunch of beach towels after swimming. She was trotting along behind me when I heard her stop and call, "Mom! Look at me!" I turned around to find my silly girl, arms outstretched and laden with towels, announcing, "I'm a coat closet!" She is too funny! I guess that's the sign of good literature... It sticks with you even after you are done reading. :)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Emma FINALLY decided to take my word on it that her swim vest would do the job it is designed to do - help hold her up in the water! She relaxed, loosened her death-grip on my neck, kicked her legs, and started dog paddling all around the pool. There is no stopping her now!!!

Future Olympian!

Emma is loving her weekly gymnastics class and is doing very well in it too! She is a tumbling fool, flipping over in summersaults all day long. I think those are her favorites. She is pretty good at the (assisted) back walkovers and balance beam too. I can see her getting stronger every week as she can now flip her legs up and onto the bar when she is dangling. This past week was her first official "mini-meet." It was less about competition at this level and more about showing off skills for family and friends. Grandma & Al, Uncle Scott, Karen, Mikayla, & TJ all came out to cheer her on and they thought she did wonderfully. Grandma even bought Emma & Hayden matching leotards for their performance. Could they be any cuter?! After class we all went out for frozen yogurt to celebrate. We love this courtyard by the yogurt shop too. They've got music, shade, and a great little fountain. I keep paint brushes in my jeep and Emma & her friends always have a great time "painting" the bricks, sidewalks, and each other with water. It was the perfect cool treat for a warm summer evening.

Cinderella??? Not so much....

There were TWO different free Cinderella plays this week. We tried to attend both and, in each case, got there, set up, settled in, and left before seeing much of the show. On Tuesday evening we tried to go to Perris Hill Park with Jenny & her kids and then Karen met us as the show was starting after she got off work. Well, Emma, TJ, and I had been running ragged all day long - preschool visit, shopping at Target, bowling, lunch with friends, swimming at Hayden's, dinner at Jenny's - and something hit TJ and he ended up puking all over our blankets, Jenny's leg, and the person seated in front of us. This was about 30 minutes into the show. So Karen, TJ, Emma, and I all had to leave since I had both car seats in my jeep. So we took one sick kid and one sobbing kid who was very distraught about missing the show home.
Then, on Friday evening, Emma & I met Erin & Sophia at Redlands Bowl for another Cinderella play. Emma was very excited to get another chance to see the show. But, about 30 minutes in (apparently that's our magic number), Emma started complaining about being tired. Then she wanted to go home. Then she wanted to sleep in a bed, not my arms. And, withing 10 minutes or so, she was sobbing loudly about being SOOOO tired. I didn't want to disturb the other guests, so we packed up and left. And she was telling the truth. We were in the car by 8:50 and she was knocked out in bed by 9:15. I guess that's what I get for trying to take her to a night time performance after her first 2 full days at a new preschool when she has spent the past couple months in summer vacation mode. Cinderella was not meant to be for us this year... Maybe we will have better luck next year when they perform The Wizard of Oz...