July = good

We had a very busy week! We came home from PA on Wednesday leaving at 8:45am and pulling into out driveway at 12:15pm. No traffic - WOOT! - and one emergency pit stop, this time at least we found a gas station toilet to use, yes, my daughter was barefoot using the toilet (gross!), but at least she wasn't peeing on the side of the road! (That's better, right? Hmmm.) Em said some really silly things on the ride home, which I wrote down but now cannot find the paper, so I will rely on my memory. Oi!

Em: My allergy hurts.
Me: Which allergy?
Em: The one in my big toe.

Em: (referring to the Ni Hao Kai Lan dvd they were watching in the car that kept skipping due to scratches) Did some little girl play with the dvd when she wasn't supposed to and drop it on the coffee table and it got a big scratch and her Mommy put it back in the case and took it back to the library and didn't tell them?" (Best run on sentence ever!)

Em: (referring to her Uncle who hunts game for food) Does Uncle Dennis shoot the deer so he can eat 'em?
Me: (not wanting to scar her for life) Yep. He makes super yummy steaks and burgers and sausages from the meat. (her favorite foods...I'd like to keep her eating them, not fear she is eating Bambi.)
Em: (accepting my answer - Phew!) We should get Uncle Dennis a shoot the deer cake for his birthday! (Can you see me at Walmart making that request? ...actually knowing Walmart in the country - they may not be surprised with that request!)

It took me all day Thursday to "catch up" from being gone 5 days, I don't know why, but the frig was empty, laundry needed to be done, etc. But we did sneak to Rocketship park for 90 minutes in the morning. The weather here has been awesome, 80s and moderate humidity, so I am trying to get them outside as much as possible. Em, who has no problem going up to new kids and saying, "Hi! You wanna play _____ with me?" got another taste of kids balking at her. She came over to me and said, "They don't wanna play with me, they keep running away." I reminded her that some kids will do that and that it is their loss because she is such a good friend with a great heart and an awesome imagination, so they are missing out on some good fun. She sat on my lap for a minute digesting the information and then grabbed her sand toys and started off on an adventure of her own. Within a minute another little girl joined her and fast friends were made. That's the spirit, Emma!

Speaking of park friends, we spent Friday morning at our pals house that we met at a park last Summer. Em loves these girls because they are extra "girlie" and have tons of dress up clothes. They decided on a princess theme that morning and the girls dressed up and had a princess picnic. Ben was not at all interested in picnicing. He played BOY and got filthy from head to toe. So dirty that I had to strip him down to his diaper before he got in the car. But as you can see from the pic (click to enlarge), it didn't help much because seriously, the kid could give Pigpen a run for his money.

We spent the week enjoying the presents that Em got for her birthday. We did some regular painting and finger painting (hereby to be known as "paint in your bathing suit then go swimming immediately afterward painting). Em has been practicing on her new bike and is getting very good at riding it! She has only taken one spill and that is when she went off the end of the sidewalk and couldn't get the brakes to work and she headed down a slope and into the tree line. She crashed just in time before heading over a stone wall and into the street below. I was running after her and grabbed her seat just as she tottered over. It scared her, but she wasn't hurt. She cried, but actually got right back on and road back up the sidewalk to our place. Go Emma!!