This is how we do Saturday Night Live around here. Have friends over, some BBQ'd burgers, corn on the cob, homemade potato salad and watermelon for dinner. Dudes watchin' some football and me and the little Girls (regretably Miss A's Mom was feeling under the weather and was at home in bed) gettin' in some crazy swing time outside.
Followed by some princess dress-up action and messy cookie eatin'.
As part of the furniture rearrangement that we did, we decided to move our desks downstairs in order to convert the 4th bedroom from (very messy) office to a bedroom for the baby. The Girls seem to enjoy that my desk and computer are now downstairs in the playroom. Today while I was preparing the craft for Sunday school, they were making the most of the scraps of paper that happened to be strewn
all over the floor. I love being able to keep a much closer eye on them as well. And yesterday we received rather pertinent info in the mail. A letter in the mail informing us that the Girl will be attending the AM kindergarten class and inviting us to a welcome BBQ before school starts. I had been impatiently waiting for this information. Now I don't feel as clueless but the letter made it all the more real...in three short weeks we will have a kindergartener in the house. Gulp!!
Today we took the Girls skating. At the local rink they have a designated time specifically for children ages 6 and under. They even
had skates Baby Sister's size but I figured one little on wheels was about all I could handle. And they do not rent skates to pregnant women...not like I would've put any on had I not been pregnant. That would be like the blind leading the blind. So while the Girl was wheeling around, Baby Sister and I were quite happy to be padding around in our socks. Things started off a bit rocky and at the first stumble the Girl began to exclaim in disgust, "They
should have carpet in these places!" I had to laugh and explained if that were the case then the wheels on her skates wouldn't roll very well to which she replied, "Well at least it wouldn't hurt when you fall." She was not happy with me when I let go of her hand to snap a photo. Can't you see the word 'hand' formed on her lips as she demands that I put my camera away? But soon enough, and following Miss A's lead, she gave
up my hand in favor of the security of skating on the periphery of the rink while holding onto the wall.
And before long she gave up all holding props and figured out that maybe it was easier to have both arms free for balance.
Meanwhile, Baby Sister was intrigued by the colorful light patterns being thrown across the floor in time to the music.
There were a couple of spills...
but by the end of the hour-long session...
the Girls were doing the chicken dance and begging to stay longer.
Today was the absolute embodiement of the perfect summer day. You know, if there were such a thing as perfect. But today
came pretty darn close. Vitamin D was in abundance, it was hot and we were at the river with fabulous girlfriends. The river water was clear, cold and refreshing. The 'rapids' were gently rolling and we had a hot pink float tube. It doesn't get much better than that!!
Although Baby Sister was too little to partake in floating the rapids, she was more than happy to watch the big Girls and there were plenty of
stones for her to throw. Stones of all shapes and sizes. Her favorites seemed to be the small pebbles made smooth by
the constant flow of the river over them. There was no lack of splashing, smiles, laughter and plain ol' delight. Pure and simple.
This was the exclamation point near the end of our afternoon. The frosting and sprinkles on top of our cupcakes. The treasure in our chest. The Girls had their eye on this rope swing all day. They watched in fascination as the older kids would grasp it's frayed end, back up as far as the rope would allow and then take a running jump, propelling themselves above the river and then dropping into the water with a
splash when the rope had carried them to it's highest point above the river. It was a popular attraction, especially with the pre-teen crowd and as such it didn't seem like there'd be much of a chance for the Girls to get a shot at trying it. Then, late in the afternoon along came their opportunity. The rope, momentarily forgotten by the older kids, was just hanging there, empty and forlorn. Not for long though!!
Without even the slightest trace of hesitation, the Girls scrambled over to it and after a few passes you would've sworn that they had
been swinging from vines their entire lives. My chest swelled with pride at the grin on her lips and the growing confidence that was
visible on her face and in her demeanor with each swing of the rope. She knew that she'd accomplished something big. Something
that I'm not sure I'd try as a newly-minted 5-year old. But let's not forget who her Daddy is, she gets this thrill-seeking tendency from him. Shortly after they took up this activity, kids swarmed over like bees to honey and thanks to the presence of adults an orderly line formed. It was so fun to see these little pint-sized Girls standing in line with kids twice their age towering over them.
It didn't take long for Miss A, who is the more fearless of the two, to start pulling out tricks. Hmmm, trapeze artist in her future?
But neither Girl was ready to release the rope from their grasp and plunge into the beckoning water below. I don't know if us Mommas
were ready for that either. Ah, everything that is good about childhood and summer. We were soaking it all in. Reveling in it's
wonderfulness. Then there was this fab.u.lous.ness!! Baby Sister post swim-suit sportin' over-sized sunglasses and some beads. Mini Jackie-O anyone?!
We'll continue to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of summertime until school arrives in September.
This morning we visited a pool that we'd never been to before and it got rave reviews from the Girls. There were four separate pools but we were there for the $2 Happy Hour Swim in the leisure pool. It ranged in depth from 6 inches to 3 feet, featured a couple of fountains, had a variety of floatie toys to play with and here is the best part...the water was actually warm! My kinda pool!! The water in our local Y pool is so
stinkin' frigid that I usually opt out and J ends up taking the Girls to open swim by himself while I go walk on the treadmill. Seriously, I will do almost anything for my Girls but cold water and I do not mix. So our experience today was a refreshing change and we all enjoyed ourselves. Love how the Girl is accessorizing with a diving ring in her hair. The Girl was able to play anywhere in the pool that she wanted and still
touch the bottom while Baby Sister and I stayed in her little comfort zone near the edge. Toward the end of the session Baby Sister seemed to have a bit more confidence in her ability to walk through the water and ventured out of the comfort zone of holding my hand. Within just a few steps she stumbled and went under face first but quickly rolled over to her back and bobbed to the surface. Didn't seem to
phase her a bit. Of course I was right there to scoop her up. Afterwards we met up with friends that we haven't seen in about 6
months. This is Baby UB (utterly beautiful, urban baby, uber blossom - I have all kinds of nicknames for her moniker). When the
Girl wasn't entertaining Miss UB, she was busy taking photos of herself. It's kind of an obsession with her. As for Miss UB, she'll be celebrating her 1st birthday in just under a month and she is as cute as they come. Love those big brown eyes and two little teethers!
a mess. My house that is. Not too long ago I aired my dirty little secret on this blog. But I felt compelled to show you proof that on occasion my house is orderly and clean. As of now, it has been that way for a week and a half (at least this one room anyway) ever since we rearranged the furniture. Over four years of living here and we finally made a change. It dawned on us that the largest room in our house should not be solely devoted to toys and designated as the playroom. Hence the new arrangement. We are now left to wonder why it took us that long to figure it out.
