Summer Fun

It's been a fun summer and we're not ready for it to be over. We still can't believe that Claire is already in preschool but we're very proud that she's having so much fun with her class. It's only a few hours on two days of the week, so there are plenty of opportunities to have fun at home.

Amanda created a game based on a pinterest photo that involves sorting buttons of various colors. Claire picked up on the concept very quickly and plays with it for a decent period of time.

The button game is also a good opportunity to practice counting skills and hopefully a little bit of math.

Amanda also created a rice box with a little bit of macaroni and dried beans mixed in for variety. Claire and James both love playing in it (James is starting to play and does less eating of the rice now) as they like to search for buried treasures and mix it into measuring cups.

There's also a blue sheet underneath to help clean up spills from the box. This blue sheet has been a fun toy by itself. It has been pretend water to swim in, a parachute that mommy waves as they jump on, or a cave that they hide in. Turns out that a sheet can be many many fun things.

Claire also gets to play with the ricebox outside sometimes on the deck.

When James gets excited, he waves his outstretched hands wildly up and down. We can't wave our hands as fast or as hard as he can but he sees us try and shows us how to do it right.

Applying sunscreen and bugspray in the park isn't so much of a chore. Claire usually stays pretty still through the whole process.

Claire had her her try on the monkey bars and held herself up. She has a pretty strong grip! Unfortunately, she didn't like hanging out too long and was afraid to let go so this didn't end well. She did eventually let go and landed on her feet after a 2 inch drop.

James has a pretty strong grip too! We obviously didn't let go to see if he could hold himself up, but I'm pretty sure he would've done it.

When James is in a good mood, he gives some of the happiest faces I've ever seen a baby make.

Claire likes to play with the pipe cleaners. Brooks likes to play with them too, so she lost a few when the cat snuck up and stole them.

Matt made some "silly glasses," a halo, a trumpet, and a harp out of pipe cleaners. Claire wears them proudly.

Claire did not want to get out of her bed one Saturday morning. James was brought in to greet her and she invited him to join her rather than get out to play with him. James would've cried in his own bed, but the two of them ran around and giggled for a good 10 minutes.

This is our third straight year at the Roswell Ice Cream festival and the first year that Claire has gotten her own bowl. We opted to leave one of us with her in the grassy area at the gazebo rather than try to wheel her through the dense crowd to grab samples. She didn't mind staying put since there were so many wonderful treats to consume.

Claire loves ice cream as much as we do. It's safe to say that we will have to return next year. There was an ice cream eating contest for kids. I think the youngest age group was 5. I'm pretty sure that we could enter her in the teenager category and she'd be able to place in the top 3.

James actually had fun at the ice cream festival too. He sampled strawberry, lemon, and raspberry flavors. As much trouble as we have getting him to eat at the kitchen table, eating ice cream in a park is a treat for multiple reasons. 

(This is a pretty adorable photo of James in his baby backpack and would be better if not for the derriere in the background)

See mommy! James can be happy at home too.

10 minutes after this photo was taken, there were bits of food on his hair, in his ears, and up his nose. 

Cute kid.