A Visit With Grandpa

Last week we went to visit Jeff's dad for a few days.  Emily had a great visit with Grandpa and enjoyed some time out on the beach.

We had a four hour drive so Emily made sure she was comfortable and ready for the journey!

Emily practiced her chopstick skills at the Japanese steak house the first night.


The next day was the beach!  Emily LOVES to play in the sand.

I think the highlight for Emily was being buried in the sand.  She kept asking us to bury her again:)

I agreed to let Emily and Jeff bury me.  I won't be doing that again any time soon...so much sand!

That night we had dinner at a restaurant by the water and Emily loved having her picture taken with the pirate out front.

One of her favorite things to do at Grandpa's was to ride around in his golf cart! 

So cute!!!

 

I Carried A Watermelon

This is a line from Dirty Dancing, one of my favorite movies as a teenager.  Jeff and I say this to each other from time to time, it makes us laugh.  Anyway, here is Emily with her watermelon.

Backyard Snack

Our blueberry bush has really taken off....

 We are getting between 7 and 12 blueberries about once a week.  We still have to buy blueberries for Emily because she loves them so much but nothing is more fun than taking a bowl out to the backyard and picking a snack:)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat...

Emily finished her second session of swim lessons on Wednesday.  There were only three kids in her class this session and she was the only girl again.

 

On the last day of each session they work on boat knowledge and safety.

Aren't they so cute lifting the boat out of the water.

Then it was time for the water slide.

The last swim lesson is always the most fun!!!

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?

EMILY is afraid of the big bad wolf, specifically Max (From Max and Ruby) dressed as the big bad wolf.  Emily loves Max and Ruby but she is so afraid of the episode where Ruby is Little Red Riding Hood and Max is the big bad wolf.  The first time she saw this she started screaming and had me check every time to make sure it wasn't that episode.  Then she got over it a bit and it came on again but I was able to stop it in time.  We were recording the show so she asked me to delete it and things were good for a long time.

Well, this past week Emily went to a week of Little Gym summer camp.  One day we came home and I told her she could watch Max and Ruby before her rest time.  I was in the other room on the phone and she began screaming like something was really hurting her.  I hung up on the person I was talking to and she ran in with her heat racing, tears flowing, in a panic because it was the Big Bad Wolf episode.  She was afraid to be alone for a few days after and didn't fall asleep until almost midnight that night.  Now we are back to checking again.  She even dictated an email to the "cable man," AKA Jeff, asking him to please keep this episode from coming on her TV.

Yes, we have explained to her that Max is just dressed in a costume.  Doesn't matter, it freaks her out.  Looking at it I see why it's kind of scary and she is really sensitive to what she sees in books, TV or movies.   Poor girl! 

Supercharged Sunflowers

Emily and I planted sunflower seeds in April. Remember this?

This was April 15th!

Here is one of the sunflowers in the background.  This was taken on May 29th.  It's the green plant with the big leaves.  It grew a lot in a little over a month.

Well, they continued to grow...look at them now.  July 8th.

Emily is on the upper level of our deck!  Do you see the roof?  These sunflowers are HUGE!!!!!!!!!!  It's amazing how quickly they grow!

The bees, bugs and birds are loving them.

Snapshots From Rest Time

Rest time for Emily usually consists of toys, music, books, snacks and a water bottle.  She listens to her music, usually a Kindermusik CD, and reads books or plays.  Yesterday I came in to find that she had pulled out her playdoh.  Yes, it's all over the carpet but it actually cleaned up well but we usually play it at the kitchen table.  Oh well, she had fun!

Sometimes if Emily is really tired she will take a nap. Look at my sweet little girl all curled up.  Isn't she adorable?!?! 

This is how I found Emily on Tuesday.  I guess a big weekend of cookouts and staying up late for fireworks caught up with her.  She slept for two hours and still didn't want to wake up.  Here is Jeff trying to wake her up.  She was less than thrilled!  Hee-hee!

Happy Birthday America

We have had a great 4th of July weekend.  Here is a picture of Emily on our way to church on Sunday.

 Sunday evening we went to a 4th of July party and ended the night with sparklers and some great fireworks.

We had a great night and Emily loved the fireworks.  She was up until 11:30pm but it was worth it.

On Monday the 4th, we met some friends for lunch and then headed over to a cookout with more friends.  Emily played and played with her friends.  They started off the party by running around the house with swords and Emily and one of her little friends ran into each other and bumped heads.  Emily has a red place and a little bump on her forehead (which you can't see in this picture)  but look at her friends head. Apparently, Emily has the hardest head:)

These two recovered quickly and the party continued.

After we ate, we enjoyed more sparklers and some of those pop snappers.  The kids would throw them down and immediately go back to ask for another.

We finished our outdoor activities just before the rain started.  Later at home, were able to catch a few fireworks in our neighborhood before bed.  Happy 4th of July!   

What I Love About Summer

Summer is not my favorite season.  Fall is by far my favorite but I do love many things about this time of year.  There are so many sights and sounds and smells of summer that take me back to my childhood and I love experiencing the joys of summer though Emily's eyes.  Here are some of some of my favorite things about summer.

-lots of daylight
-walking barefoot in the grass
-lightning bugs
-ice cream and the ice cream truck
-swimming
-not having to find socks to wear in the morning
-no coat or jacket to wear
-Emily's pretty summer dresses
-cookouts
-4th of July
-summer evening walks
-playing outside after dinner
-the smell of fresh cut grass
-sandals
-Emily's birthday (next month)