July 2017

Kinley:  I want mommy.
Daddy:  Why?
Kinley:  She's the best.
💙💚💛💜

4th of July preparations.

What better outfit to celebrate Independence Day?  This is my Jazzercise costume from when I was probably around 8 years old.  You found it recently and wore it every day for about a week.

Painting gifts to give you your cousins when we see them on our upcoming trip.

Daddy had his 4th of July attire on too.

We convinced you to take a nap so we could go see fireworks.  Your first 4th of July we've kept you up late enough to watch them.  You were so excited.

We went to the Rancho Mirage fireworks at Agua Caliente Casino.  Not knowing what to expect for crowd size and parking, we got there pretty early, but it was so hot we decided to go inside and hang out in the air conditioning until closer to the start of the fireworks.  This was the second time in a week we had you in a casino.  All the bright lights and sounds were awe-inspiring to you.  Daddy just told you they were a bunch of people giving their money away.  I tend to agree.

Back outside, keeping cool with a spray bottle of water and dancing to some live music.

It was a really great fireworks show and you said you enjoyed it.  We all had a really great day.

Wearing the jellyfish you made at summer camp.

Trying out your new inner tube.

One day we talked about how my last name used to be Steber like Grandma & Grandpa's.

A few days later at dinner you asked, "Does Grandma & Grandpa know you changed your name?"  Like you were worried they might be mad or something.

Pendulum painting at the Rancho Mirage library.

Your bed has gotten quite crowded lately with all the dolls and animals you've been sleeping with.  Nevertheless, shortly after bringing him home, you woke up in the middle of the night in a panic because you couldn't find Love Bear.  Sure enough, he was buried under the covers.  How in the world you had the awareness at that hour to notice that particular animal was missing is beyond me.  There were at least 8 toys in the bed with you that night.

After we located him, I let you come to our bed and about 10 minutes later you realized your dream catcher was still in the other room and what could we possibly without the dream catcher nearby?  You had a full on meltdown until Daddy got out of bed to get it for you.  What a weird night.

Train rides for Jessie.

Crafts at the La Quinta library.  Thankfully all the libraries around here have kids activities almost every day in the summer.  It's been a great way to get out of the house but still stay cool.

Purple hands!

Children's museum.

The museum's temporary exhibit for the summer was lots of different types of games so we made sure to try most of them out.

Everything is a race to you.  You like to be first, you like to win, and you like to be right at everything.

Tram trip.

Music/dance show at Rancho Mirage library.  You got a green sticker for being there early, which meant you got to go up front and dance with the performers at the end of the show.

Practicing writing letters!

"When I grow up I want to have a pink car.  With ballerinas on it."

Kelly's family was in town and we got to spend an afternoon with them!

Yardhouse, your new favorite restaurant because they give you an Oreo Rice Krispie treat for dessert.

We have been reading chapter books lately, which has been a lot of fun for us both.  I get more variety in the stories and you get me to read to you more often.  We have found several series at the library that you like:  Disney Fairies, Never Girls, Rainbow Magic Fairies, Magic Treehouse.

In one of the Disney Fairy books the whole story was about trying to find a crown that went missing before the Queen's party.  At the end of the story they found the crown and rescheduled the party and the book ended.  You wanted to know why the party wasn't actually in the book, which I think is a valid point.  So I suggested you host a party for your own fairies.  We made paper crowns for them all and decorated your raccoon tree house and that party went on for 3 STRAIGHT DAYS until we left for vacation.  Who knows how long it would have continued if we hadn't left.

You use "unless" in place of "or else" multiple times a day.  For example, "We need to bring some water unless we'll get thirsty."

In our search for indoor activities we decided to try bowling again.  This was your other casino experience.  The good news is we discovered another entrance where we can skip the walk through the casino floor for next time.

Not bad at all.

We even stuck around to try out some arcade games when we were done.

And finished it all off with ice cream (sorbet).  What a fun day!

Pretend fire to roast marshmallows.

Ice rink for your toys.  We tested lots of different types to see which ones skate the best and discovered how the water affects it when the ice starts to melt.  Seizing any opportunity we can to learn.

You've taken to calling me Moms or Mamas lately, almost like a nickname.  I kind of love it.

You have discovered whispering and now want to whisper things in our ears all the time, only we can't really understand you when you do.

You like to set up the dinner table like an airplane so that there are 3 chairs lined up on one side of the table and we all sit side by side.

When there was a fly in the house:  "Swap at it with the fly swapper."