The best part of the day.

This is one of those days where I'm afraid your interest will wane because, well, we went to the park.

How many park pictures do you want to look at?

You're probably there with your kids every other day and if you've seen one park, you've seen them all.

But stay tuned, because this little guy made a break-through today.

First, I want to tell you about this girl - we'll call her Ariel.

We were at a park one day and Ainsley - who is notoriously aloof around new kids - and most kids she's met many times - immediately started playing with her. They ran around that playground giggling, holding hands, and jabbering to each other, not seeming to mind that one was jabbering in Spanish and the other in English. When Ariel and her parents started to leave I ran over and gave them my phone number explaining that my daughter really doesn't take to a lot of kids and I would love it if they could call next time they came to the park.

Luckily, they did, and we've been slowly building a friendship. All of us.

When we go back to the town we used to live in (tonight it was for some lawn work at the old house), we call and meet up to play.

Last time they visited our new house, I gave them some banana bread (I was trying a new recipe from A Homemade Life) and it was so good that Ariel's mom asked for the recipe. Today when I handed her the recipe, she handed me a plate with four pieces of 'Mexican custard' on it. Oh, it was so good. Hannah ate one piece, I ate one, Ainsley tried a bite and didn't like the texture. I gave Grayson a few spoonfuls and he seemed to like it ok. I wanted to talk to Ariel's mom, so I gave him the spoon and he started doing this -

Then I got distracted talking and he dropped the spoon - I think it was slowing him down -and started taking handfuls. By the time I regained control of the plate, there was only a quarter of a piece left and his hands and face were very, very sticky.

Now, about Grayson's breakthrough. Do you remember this? The passive-resistance-I-hate-swinging-and-you-can't-swing-me-if-I-just-hang-here pose?

Oh, yes. That was so last week.

This week, with the discovery of big kid swings, the world's looking very, very different.

What a change. He watched the girls climb onto the swings and tried to climb on one himself, so I put him up there and started swinging him. Fifteen minutes he swung there before I tried to take him off. Then he made a noise that made me stick him right back on for another five minutes until he was ready to go. He was in heaven. Explain that to me.



Of course, it could just have been that his hands were so sticky that he couldn't let go.

So the most exciting part of the day for Ains was getting to play with her friend, the most exciting part for Gray was either discovering Mexican custard or discovering that big kid swings are the best things ever, but the most exciting part of the day for Hannah was discovering a real, no kidding, honest-to-Murgatroyd, ain't no one foolin' here fairy ring.

It was on the lawn and it was very unusual. A complete, perfectly shaped circle with mushrooms (maybe toadstools?) all around the edges with none inside or outside the edge of the circle. Fairies certainly danced here last night.

Oh, yes, Magic entered her life today. This was almost as good as seeing a real fairy. She's a believer, my girl.

So it was just another ordinary day at the park.

If you believe in ordinary days, that is.

I'm glad you let me tell you about it.

Sweet dreams.

One of those artsy kind of days.

Remember how I mentioned last week that my girls are not really into coloring books? Well, today they very much were. They even colored during lunch.


Hannah is working on a storybook, so she has a collection of all of the pictures that she's colored today from four or five separate books and tomorrow we're supposed to make them into a book and she'll tell me the storyline.

When it got really hot this afternoon, I stopped weeding, grabbed some supplies, headed to sit under a shady tree and called the girls over to do something I've been wanting to do for awhile. I gave each girl a sketch book and a pencil and told them to draw something that they saw.

Hannah drew a tree.


Ainsley drew a boat. A big boat - on waves.

I was not really surprised at how enthusiastic the girls both were about the activity. What surprised me was how *studious* they both were.

I've never seen Ainsley sit cross-legged voluntarily before. That was cute. And her arms, and her face ... that's another part of our artsy day. Her sister is trying her hand at body art.

We had company.



The cat inspired a portrait by each girl.

Ainsley's -
Not bad for a two year old. She got the spots at least.

Hannah's -
Later she added a vole the cat was chasing and an apple falling on the cat's head.

It was my first time doing this and I'm a bit ... um ... too obsessed with detail maybe. I painstakingly finished one in the time it took them to joyfully draw three. I figured if I was going to put the girl's drawings up, I should put mine up also.

I need practice.

So today we put our first entries in our first nature journals.

He had a very long day.

It's hard work chasing your sisters with a butterfly net.


Forgive the exposure on the top picture. I do not know what is going on with my flash.

Summer rituals - The Reunion.

Our weekend started off with cousins visiting on their way through to the reunion.

Pony rides are obligatory.

Then off to go camping!

Making fairy houses with cousins.



We spent a day at a lakeside beach.

In the water ...


out of the water ...
building sandcastles ...

destroying sandcastles ...

pondering ...

(not my baby, but she was too cute to pass up)

Back at camp it was s'mores and reading by the fire.

The next morning was investigating junebugs while eating breakfast. Yum.

Then a full day of playgrounds and fishing that I have no pictures of because I forgot to take my camera. *sigh*

That evening we had Homer the Clown come visit - Hannah was in stitches. She was also thrilled that she got to go up and help him do a trick.

I didn't get any pictures of how hard she was laughing during his show, but look at this little cousin - they were laughing just about as hard as each other.

Then there was the Spongebob pinata ...

the only casualty was Spongebob. Ainsley got his leg. She was pleased.

And then we slept like the dead.

Until Grayson threw up. Then I got up and walked him around for hours on end.

It was a very fun weekend.

Snapshot Sunday 07-12-09

Just got back from a long weekend reunion-ing and we're tired. Sacked. Worn plumb out. So after everyone else went to bed and I'd cleaned out the car, I remembered it was Sunday and took this picture. I seriously thought about taking it from five different angles and calling it a night.

But I didn't. So here are four more.







Have a lovely week!

How it began.

Other snapshots -

Heart Rockin' Mama
Sherry
dcart's joining us today!
Jessica
Leslie

If you're joining us this week, let me know and I'll add you!

How do you know when something is really delicious?

That was really delicious.

Hair stylin'

First, before I forget, if you want to see a video I took of a cute little adolescent skunk, go here.

I decided that I wanted lilac streaks in my hair, so I called up my hair stylist - who is also a dear friend - and scheduled a time to come in when Matt could watch the kids. Then Hannah found out what I was doing and wanted to come with me. Then Ainsley wanted to come. Then Hannah wanted to get purple and blue streaks. Then Ainsley wanted to dye her hair "awwl da way pink".

Red hair doesn't take dye well, and Ainsley's hair is nowhere near long enough to even attempt streaks, so that was out. We've tried dyeing Hannah's hair with kool-aid before, but it would burn her scalp, so I didn't think this would go over too well. Still, she was adamant that it would be fine, and neither her father nor I cared if she did it. Hair grows out. So she looked at the color book with me and ended up picking pink. I stuck with the purple.

I've never had my hair dyed professionally before, so this was an experience for both Hannah and me. She watched me get my hair done and then she jumped up in the seat with no hesitation.


Of course, some of that lack of hesitation has to do with the fact that she adores Shannon. Like all hairdressers, Shannon is a pro at conversation and every time Hannah gets her hair trimmed, Shannon talks with her as if she were an adult client. It's lovely.

After we both got done, we had to sit and wait for the dye to sink in and Matt got his hair trimmed. Ainsley kept staring at me with a funny expression on her face, not unlike the time I shaved my head. I did look a little different with all that foil in my hair.



Ainsley *really* wanted a turn on the chair, so we told her that after I got my hair shampooed and rinsed, she could get her hair trimmed. The first trim of her little life. ("No, second," Hannah reminded me. "Remember when I cut her hair?") As soon as my body lifted off the chair, Ainsley's little body was squirming up into it. She loved her new little bob (she doesn't have much hair - especially for a nearly three year old).



After Hannah's shampoo and rinse, Grayson got the first trim of his short life also.



Matt loves it, I don't. I want my little baby back.

So this is how Hannah and I look now.



Hannah's is vibrant and much cuter in person. I was surprised at how fantastic it looks on her.



Mine is not so noticeable. I went to the store today and Hannah had to tell the cashier that her mother's hair was purple after which the cashier looked closer and said "Huh! You're right! That's really pretty." So it's not *exactly* what I was going for, but I am in no way disappointed. I like it very much.



In conclusion, this is what happens when Mother schedules a hair appointment for herself so that Father can watch the kids for a few hours by himself. The entire family gets their hair done.