August 2019

I found this book on the shelf at Brandee's house and she graciously offered to let me bring it home with us.  I showed you when we got back and you immediately flipped through the entire book and made a list of all the projects you wanted to start working on.

Right away we got started knocking some of them out.  My favorite was this family of clothespin dolls and shoe box house.

We met Charlotte Gray and her mom at the library for a craft and went to lunch at Yard House afterwards.  So nice to catch up with them!

As the first day of school was looming nearer and nearer, you and I were both feeling like our summer had slipped away.  So one day I sat down with a piece of paper and asked you what things we could do to make it feel like summer.  I don't remember everything that was on the list, but I know it included things like cupcakes and lemonade.

One of your requests was a beach day.  I knew it was unlikely that we were going to actually make it to the beach, so instead I promised you a backyard beach day.  One Sunday morning we packed up beach toys, blanket, towels, snacks, etc. and headed out early to beat the heat.  You played with the toys for awhile and we eventually got in the pool.  Dad joined us for awhile and even brought out lunch for us.  In the end we spent about 4 hours out there, which is quite an accomplishment considering the heat.  We had a great time.

1st day of fall dance classes.  You are taking ballet and jazz this year and they are going great so far.

Game night.

Trying to find ways to keep you entertained while I try to catch up on work.

We found out that Sophie's family is moving to Argentina so we had to make time for a play date before they leave.

All summer I was hoping we could find a time to see Alessandra and as the summer was drawing to an end I realized we were running out of time.  So we found a weekend that was free and met up with her and her sisters in Montclair at TinkerSpace.  It was a really great halfway point to meet and we had a great time.  We started with lunch next door and then spent the entire afternoon playing until they were closing for the day.

Our final activity for the summer was to have an Isadora Moon tea party lunch.  We planned this for weeks and you requested that we have it on the last day before school started, which I thought was a fantastic idea.  We found a guide to throwing an Isadora Moon birthday party on the author's website and you went through and picked out everything you wanted for our party.  We did the shopping and all the prep together.  Here you are getting the butter ready for Pink Rabbit's Mini Carrot Pies.

The morning of the party I had a scavenger hunt ready for you when you woke up with a copy of the book Owly at the end.  You checked this book out from the school library months ago and have been asking for it ever since.

Isadora's Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Honeyblossom's Pink Milkshake.

Magical Fruit Wands and Bartholomew's Special Red Juice Smoothie.

Isadora's Chocolate Bat Truffles.

You dressed as Isadora and I dressed as her Mom, Cordelia.

Pass-the-Parcel game.

Here was the official list of what you decided on for our party.

You have been really interested in sea life lately, especially dolphins.  I bought you a National Geographic Kids First Big Book of the Ocean and you read the entire thing cover to cover in the first 2 days.  I taught you how to use the Table of Contents, Glossary, and Index and you are like a regular little researcher now.  You pull it out for reference all the time and get so excited to talk about the animals.

On the way to Montclair to meet Alessandra, you read me the entire book, cover to cover.  When you got to the end you asked:

"How much longer?"
me:  "About 30 minutes."
you:  "Okay, I'll just start over."