Touch a Truck

Yesterday was the United Way Touch-a-Tuck event in a neighboring town. Lilypad Princess, LP Dad, Uncle Dave, and I all headed over in the morning to check it out. It was a huge event, vehicles of every kind filling two large, government parking lots. LP had a change to climb in and check out police cars, excavators, giant tractors, trucks, fire trucks, motorcycles, school buses, race cars, and a ton more.






The highlight of the event for LP was getting to go up in a cherry picker basket with her daddy. She hung onto his leg for dear life, but had a big smile on her face the entire ride.
going up






They also had bounce houses for the kids and a few games where they could win prizes. LP played a hockey game and won a ballerina Barbie that she is very proud of now. And Uncle Dave surprised her with cotton candy, blue of course, her favorite color.


There's that tongue again, definitely her mommy's daughter.




We had a wonderful day and will definitely do this again next year.

Deep Concentration

just like her mommy

For quite a while now, LP's favorite activity has been drawing and writing. She spends hours drawing and coloring with markers, pens, crayons, anything she can get her hands on. She has gotten very good at writing her name and now adds it to almost every picture she draws and signs her own name to cards. She also likes to pretend to write, she makes up stories in her head and "writes" them down. Her favorite thing is notebooks. Big notebooks, tiny notebooks, spiral notebooks, journals, blank pages, lined pages; she loves them all. I hope the love of art and writing and her imagination and creativity stay with her all her life.

Sleepover

Lilypad Princess and Alessandro finally got to have a real sleepover. We attempted it a couple months ago, but had to cut the night short after the movie due to sickness. LP and I went over in the afternoon so the kids could play for a while then we enjoyed a couple of pizzas for dinner. Once dinner was done the kids headed out onto the back deck to play in the rain for a while, then it was time to get into pajamas and set up the sleeping bags. They wanted to finish watching The Little Mermaid since that was part of the last attempt and decided to watch it from inside the garage tent. They were so sweet side by side in the tent, LP actually slept the entire night there. Alessandro ended up heading upstairs to sleep and the very first words out of LP's mouth the next morning were, "Where's my Alessandro?"

Chicken Spots

While I was in cleaning the kitchen floor after LP finished cleaning the produce, she got to work with the markers. She called me into the living room explaining that she was sick and needed to lay on the couch with a blanket and tv. She said she had chicken spots.

Helping Out

I heard LP dragging her chair around in the kitchen, then the kitchen sink turn out. I thought she was getting herself a drink, even though she usually uses the fridge, so when she didn't turn the water off I headed into the kitchen to see what was going on.



She was helping me by washing the vegetables we picked up at the farm that day. She was scrubbing the kohlrabi with water and my dish scrubber. The cucumber was already scrubbed clean. That was the cleanest produce I've ever seen when she was done with it. And it was delicious!

Fresh From the Farm

Today was our first Farm CSA pick-up. Uncle Dave and I went over alone today because I wasn't sure what to expect and it has been raining all morning. We got a bucket filled with gorgeous greens and strawberries. Uncle Dave and I took a few minutes to pick another 4 quarts of strawberries that is included in the CSA. We may go again on Saturday morning to pick another 4 quarts, or I will just take LP with me for the next pick-up. I know she will love to go pick her own strawberries.

We purchased one full share and we are splitting it with Dave and Michael. Our half of the first pick-up is:

1. a large bunch of spinach
2. a large head of red leaf lettuce
3. a small head of green leaf lettuce
4. dill
5. 2 kohlrabi
6. a cucumber
7. 3 quarts of strawberries (2 self-picked).

Now I'm off to hide the strawberries before LP eats them all and figure out what to do with the kohlrabi. Has anyone every tried it? Let me know if you have any good recipes!

It's Official

Summer is here! We took our first trip to the beach house this weekend to open it up and kick off our summer. It was a short trip, a day and a half and 2 nights, but it was worth the drive. LP has been begging to go to the beach house for the last 3 months (I think she started the day the snow finished melting) and LP Dad and I were ready for the relaxation we feel there to hit us. Despite the short trip we got a lot in, I'll update with more pictures tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Eka!

She has a black cat named Lucifer (although Auntie La might argue that) and a magic garden that leaves presents. She lives at a pond (actually a lake) and has a cane that makes a great Mulan sword. She shares her popcorn and is always quick to offer a hug or help when it is needed.

Happy birthday Eka, you are an amazing grandmother and great-grandmother and deserve to have a wonderful day. We love you!

Reading a Story

I shouldn't have interrupted, they were reading so nicely together before I went downstairs. She always turns the book over when we get to the possums who hand upside down.