Tennis Camp

We just finished up two weeks of tennis camp!  Kate loved tennis and Maya loved getting a popsicle at the end of lessons!  I spent several lessons with Maya asleep in the car because tennis was during Maya's normal nap time but we made it work and are looking forward to playing more in the future!

She definitely looks the part!

No shoes, disobeying my orders.  Yep.  Sounds about right.

But that smile though!  A tad ornery, maybe, but
still melts me!

Oh, and of course silly faces instead of smiles.  Maya, age 3.

Summer Celebration 2015

Last year was the first year we attended the local Summer Celebration, and we loved it so much that we made sure that it was on our agenda for this year!  For a free festival, you cannot complain!  There are tons of activities and crafts and inflatables perfect for Kate's age and up.  When we noticed the Summer Celebration was going to be held this year on our official due date, we penciled it in and decided that we'd go should we not be in labor!

Well, we weren't in labor...and still aren't...so we went and celebrated summer!

Rolling up to the celebration!

Kate really wanted to go down this slide again...

...but she wanted to go with me, and the sign
clearly stated no preggos.

So we made some sand art instead.

Daddy helped hold the magic container while
Kate chose another color.

Pink and purple are still top contenders in Kate's world!

We have since referred to this as our "pixie dust".

Train selfie!

Look how much Kate has grown since last year's train selfie!

We even got Daddy-O on the train this time!

Keeping the pixie dust safe!

Family photo including "Charlie", Kate's purple and yellow
balloon cat!

And we stopped for a yummy grape snow cone...

...just like last year!

Inflatable nation!

Once again, we had a great time enjoying the summer weather and being outside!  This time next year we'll have two little girlies with us!

Incredible!

Sucker for Summer

It's August 18th.  Normally by this time of year I am so looking forward to the fall.  The cool, crisp air, the rustling leaves, the pumpkins!  But not this year.  This year I have been such a sucker for summer.  And I want more.

This summer has been incredible weather wise.  It has been so much cooler than your typical central Ohio summer.  I can't tell you how many days we've had our windows open all day and all night because it was that beautiful.  The fresh air has been a warm welcome into our house.  And the summer breeze has been to die for!  The days that have been hot have been perfect pool days.  And they really haven't been too bad if you're in the shade.  I still feel like I'm waiting for summer to begin, but it's mid-August and summer's nearly ending.

We play outside every chance we get.  We've eaten dinners outside, we've hung in the pool outside, we've taken walks, we've gone to the park, but now are days are getting shorter, and it's nearly September. And that makes me really sad.  I'm not ready to bundle up.  I'm not ready to close our windows.  I'm not ready to lose our daylight.  I want more.  [Cue Ariel singing from The Little Mermaid.]  More summer.

But, alas, I digress.  Fall is upon us.  I have no choice but to hope for an Indian summer that lasts well into October or even November!  (That would be amazing!)  When it's cool and cold and I long for warmth, these are some of the things that I want to remember about this summer:

Summer 2014 Favorites
-Covering Kate's blinds with blankets and towels to make it appear darker in her room.
-Staying out at the park past Kate's bedtime because the night is so gorgeous.
-The summer sounds - they have been extra special this year because so many nights we've slept with our windows open.
-Kate saying, "Outside?!" every chance she gets!  Certainly it's the first thing she says when I pick her up from daycare!
-Taking walks - with Kate in her stroller, walking together side by side, and/or carrying her.  No matter the mode of transportation, it's always a good night when we get to walk together.
-The little things Kate notices on our walks together - the bear paws on the driveways, the port-a-potties (potties) at the houses being renovated, the airplanes, the squirrels, the house numbers on the curbs, the boat in the driveway.
-Kate's safety - When we are walking together and a car is coming, Kate moves over to the curb with me and waits for the car to pass before we start walking again.  (We don't have sidewalks on the street we take to the park.)
-How Kate knows the exact way to the park and semi-throws a fit when we go any way other than that way!
-The day we went to the park twice in one day because it was so nice.
-Wearing long sleeves and/or pants outdoors and feeling comfortable.
-Our garden - Kate LOVES to pick cherry tomatoes straight from our garden and eat them on the spot.  It is the cutest thing ever.
-The fireflies in our yard.
-Playing hide and go seek with our dog, Jack.
-Playing airplane and horsey.
-Kate's recently new found love of bubble baths!

I know there are many, many more favorites from this summer, but these are the ones that are on the forefront of my mind right now.  They are the little things that I have enjoyed so much this summer.  Seeing summer through Kate's eyes.  Learning about the world around us. Raising a child is like having a second childhood, only you are older and wiser.  It's is the most incredible and rewarding journey I've ever been on.

Taking a walk.  Kate sometimes even has me
push her cart next to her while she pushes
her stroller.  We each have a baby.

Intrigued by the construction being done on the
house on the corner.

The Playground Princess surveying her kingdom!

Standing on her tippy toes to see the very outskirts!

Climbing up or sliding down?  You be the judge.

SLLIIDDEEE!

Slide hair!

Oh, won't you stay, Summer?  Just a little bit longer?  Please, please, please, please, please, tell me that you're gonna.

Summer Celebration

A few weeks ago I noticed a Summer Celebration ad in one of our community forums that we got in the mail and I immediately placed it on our family calendar.  The Summer Celebration is a free festival that our local community puts on each summer for one night.  I wasn't entirely sure that we would go or what it would be like but I wanted to be sure we remembered that it was an option come the one day that it was held.

Being that Brian had to head out of town again for work, and the Summer Celebration was held tonight, Kate and I decided to head on over for a look-see!  Folks, we were SO IMPRESSED!  We arrived at the Summer Celebration just after 5 pm, right when it started.  There was a row of blow up bounce houses, slides and obstacle courses!  There were arts and crafts, balloon artists, train rides, hot air balloon rides, LOTS of other kiddos and parents, and live music!  In addition, it was a perfect and unseasonably cool summer evening to partake in such fine festivities!

Bounce house row!

Kate is WAY TOO DISTRACTED for Mommy & Me selfies!

When we first arrived, I showed Kate the toddler bounce house and slide and she wanted nothing to do with them.  She had her heart set on one slide and one slide only: THE BIGGEST ONE THERE!

Seriously, Kate?!

I decided we had better go big or go home, and if that is what she wanted to do then either she would love it and want to do it again or she would hate it and be scarred for life from the trauma.  I trust my little girlie and figured that we'd be able to handle this bad boy together if nothing else.  If we got to the top and she didn't want to go down, well, then we'd figure that out.

Fortunately that wasn't the case!  We got to the top and she barely wanted to sit for a photo with me!

First slide down the biggest slide at the celebration!

The slide was FAST!  And Kate *loved* every second!

We got back in line because she got of an immediately said,
"More?"

So we slid down one more time into this ball pit!

Once Kate saw how much fun bounce houses are, she was
ready to go into the smaller one!

Trying to climb to the slide.

Kate says, "Hey?  Hey you in here?  A little help here?"
(There was a volunteer sitting in the corner.)

That's more like it!

Ready to...

SSSLLLLIIIIDDDEEE!

We then ventured to the big bounce house!  This was Kate's
first bounce house experience.  We saw one at the Clippers
game but you had to be 2 to get in...there were NO
RESTRICTIONS on this one so we gave it a try!

Bounce house love!

Bounce house exit!

Doing some arts & crafts!

Kate made a butterfly keychain/got paint on her shirt that I
still can't get out.

And then she did a little dancing in the street...

...while we waited for this train ride!

CHOO-CHOO!  Chugga Chugga!

We saw the hot air balloon getting filled with air on our train ride!

And while we waited for our butterfly to dry, we watched
some kids make some t-shirts!

Then we topped the night off with a grape snow cone!

The Summer Celebration will be going into the Hendricks' summer traditions!  This free festival was awesome and so much fun for our weekday summer night!