For an hour every Wednesday she gets to dance and sing with an instructor and two other little girls. Mommies aren’t allowed to watch, but I could hear the little girls laughing, dancing, and singing through the door.
She LOVES it. I knew she would–she’s been talking about it for weeks–and now that she’s gone to one lesson she’s talking about it even more.
I love my beautiful dancing girl.
I just love Plum District. It’s a Groupon/Living Social type of website geared towards moms and families. Last week they had a spend-$10-get-$20-worth-of-food at the Roswell Teahouse. As soon as I saw it I knew this would be a *perfect* place for MM to have her first official tea party at almost three years old.
And boy, was I right!
{The Roswell Teahouse is just wonderful…I really can’t say it enough. The food was amazing–honestly the best chicken salad…and tomato soup…green tea ginger dressing, etc. were the best I’ve ever had. Oh my goodness, y’all, go there today. I know we’ll be back.}
I asked Little Miss what she thought she should wear to a teahouse. She decided on a dress, a hat, and some gloves. And “lots and lots of sparkly jewelry”. Yep, a girl after my own heart.
So I found my childhood Easter bonnet, her little white gloves from Easter this year, some faux pink (!) pearls, and a little vintage bracelet and my baby ring. We were all set for our tea.
When we got there she took all that stuff off and got down to business. Sipping her pink “Teddy Graham” tea and tackling her tower of goodies {including peanut butter and jelly, pumpkin woopie pies, cucumber sandwiches, etc.}.
I was so surprised that she actually loved the tea after it cooled off. She drank three cups!
Tea drinking is serious work, don’t ‘ya know.
After bellies were full and lots of loving on two of her grandmothers we left.
{But not without first picking up many acorns…that she then stuffed in *my* pockets and laughing about it.}
Her first tea party was a hit and she’s already asking when we can go back.
]]>…even if it means walking and walking and walking while MM “drove” her little pink car down one tree-lined street after another. This ain’t no subdivision–in our little downtown you work off those candy calories pretty easily.
So here are the pictures in chronological order…I think you can definitely can see the more chocolate MM ate by the more haphazard her costume became as the night wore on.
Ready to go! {This is a picture of someone on a mission for chocolate!}
First step: getting her candy from Memaw in our carriage house.
Walking up to Mr. Steve + Ms. Jill’s front door.
Not only did she get treats, but also a stuffed horse!
On the road…err, sidewalk…again.
Those steps look awfully big for such a small girl.
…at some point her ears got broken {won’t name names, MM}.
She LOVED ringing doorbells and knocking on doors. Not as much as the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups she got, but close.
At first she was scared to death of the rat, but after awhile she was his friend.
A little rest for the weary trick-or-treaters {notice that crazed sugar-induced look in her eyes? Uhm, yeah, she snacked A LOT tonight.}
And one last house. Aunt Jen-Jen and Mamaw came and picked her up so the rest of us could stay and have our annual Halloween dinner.
This was the best Halloween yet…and I think it’s only going to get better. Can’t wait.
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I’ll be honest–I don’t know how to put all my feelings about Disney World down.
As a kid I went four times {plus a Disney cruise} and I was totally gaga for Mickey. Loved him.
But, well, I just didn’t feel the magic of Disney World as an adult. It was just all a bit too contrived–piped in happiness, I’d guess you say. Fake historic buildings, employees in hot, fake costumes with fake smiles, everyone telling you to have a “magical day”, etc.–well, it just wasn’t real. Add on to that temperatures in the upper 90s, love bugs mating everywhere, more children crying than laughing {blame it on all those skipped naps}, and the plethora of strange old people who were there all on their own. It was just creepy.
And don’t get me wrong, MM had fun. She LOVED–like squealed in utter delight–the character breakfast, It’s a Small World ride, and the large gift shop on Main Street {that girl loves her some shopping}…but other than that she was over it. We probably could have left an hour after the park opened and never thought twice. Instead we toughed it out for nine hours, no nap, horribly hot and humid, and did as many kid-friendly rides as we could. Did it make it any better for her? Eh, probably not. But if I’m going to pay $90-ish for a ticket, well, we’re going to get our money’s worth.
And do I think we’ll go again? Of course. {Isn’t that crazy that one second I tell you I didn’t dig it and the next second I tell you we’ll go again?! That’s how I roll.}
But I’ll do it different. We’ll wait a minimum of four years, possibly more. Book a place that is on park property {or better yet, that tram service line} so that naps–and breaks for the parents–can be taken. And either go again in early November or mid-February when it’s not so dadgum hot.
Enough of that. We DID have a good time and I AM glad we did it. And here are the pictures to prove it.
A deserted Disney {our reservations at the Crystal Palace were at 8 and the park doesn’t open to the public ’til 9}.
And like I said, she absolutely loved the breakfast. We did too–it was yummy–and the characters {Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet} came around to each table to spend time with each child.
Playing in the gift shop.
And we met some characters. After standing in long lines. Really long lines. {I thought all kids were in school in the middle of September during the week. Apparently not.}
Her favorite is Tiana. She says she wants to be a chef like her one day.
We rode some rides. After standing in some long lines.
And after a long day we waited in line {yep, one more line} to meet Minnie and Mickey. MM was just too tired and couldn’t wake up {my girl likes to nap, don’t ya know}. We took pictures anyway and I’m glad we did because MM just laughs and laughs when she sees this.
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We just got back from our little vacation and while it was so fun–it honestly, really was–we’re exhausted {missing a flight AND traveling with a 2.5 year old will do that to you}. And plus my camera is on the fritz. Again {the ISO button is jammed which effects everything and I can’t shoot in manual right now…and that’s the only way I know how to shoot}. So I’ve only been able to upload just 2-3 photos {of the 250+}.
Anyway…
Here are some pictures from the beach. A beach that was nice, low 80s, breezy, and mostly overcast–and people-free. Completely lovely. C. had never been to the Atlantic before and I think he was even pleasantly surprised.
She’s learning her letters is preschool and here she is writing “A-A-E-E-E-L-L”.
And then there’s a few I took with my phone of her playing in the sand. I really couldn’t believe how much she’s changed in just the last year. She loves the sand. And the birds. And the water. And sandcastles. Seriously, what has happened to my no-mess-child?! Love it.
Next up? Our trip to Disney World.
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‘Cause you know that girl doesn’t have any toys.
Right.
Anyway, she picked up a great three foot tall dollhouse to keep at their house {MM is in LOVE and has talked about it constantly since Mom got it}. So this morning we ran by Toys R Us to look at furniture that fits in the dollhouse for possible Christmas presents.
And then C. found the bikes.
And then MM fell in love with a ‘Pinkalicious’ bike with training wheels. Unfortunately she doesn’t have the coordination to pedal AND steer just yet {When do most kids learn to ride a bike with training wheels? We’re thinking of getting the bike for her third birthday in January. Does that sound right?}, so she spotted a little scooter.
That she could clearly ride around on! {And it was on sale since it was the floor model. Score!}
But she wanted a basket {to put a doll in of course} and a horn and a helmet like the ‘Pinkalicious’ bike she loved.
So we rigged up a little basket-horn set to put on her little scooter and got her a ‘Pinkalicious’ helmet. And this little girl is in heaven. {And so is her daddy in case you couldn’t tell.}
I told y’all she was in LOVE with Corduroy. And Saturday night I had a chance to take pictures instead of reading it myself {what a treat!}.
See that Corduroy bear she’s holding {his overalls are somewhere in this house}? Oh yes, he has to read it every night too. He plays like he doesn’t remember what happens…silly bear.
And while MM loves having the story read to her, her favorite part is reading it back to us. Here are just some of the her funny expressions as she “reads”. My, this girl is a HOOT.
Yep, a hoot and precious to boot.
We purchased a copy and it is still one of MM’s favorites. So imagine our delight when we read that Mr. Eric {the author} was coming to one of our local libraries to sing songs during the summer reading program!
MM dressed in her kitty shirt and brought along “Mary”, her tiny cat to meet Pete.
We went to a nearby library, but not the tiny one less than a mile from our house, and boy, it was packed with toddlers and preschoolers!
We sang funny songs, laughed, used the potty a couple of times {and oh, the water fountain too}, and danced. Afterwards she got her very own Pete the Cat and loved on him while we waited in line to get it autographed.
She stood there oh-so-patiently (but very timid-like) while Mr. Eric signed her Pete.
We had a blast and MM said she totally recommends the Pete books for any kid!
The long, hot days of summer are upon us. That slow as molasses feeling kicks in by 10am when the thermometer reaches 90° and we try to hide from the sun and from hot, sticky pavements. Where we run to a pool that is just not that refreshing {almost like bath water}, or Popsicles, or any fan we can find.
Yes, yes, it is summer in the south.
This time of year I always wonder why my European ancestors chose to live in this climate. I’m sure it was so unlike what they were accustomed to and who would want to subject themselves to day after day after day after day of sultry temperatures? {I honestly do think about that on a daily basis. Does that make me weird? Never mind, don’t answer that.}
You may remember that for C.’s birthday I got him a boat rental at our nearby lake. I know, hands down, that this was his favorite present from me of all time because lord, that man is ga-ga for boats. And has been since the day I met him.
His dream boat is always changing–I just smile and nod while he goes on and on about horsepower, speed, interiors, and sound systems…because honestly it would be like me talking to him ad nauseam about my latest fabric line crush or sewing machine fantasy or new lense I’ve been eyeing for my camera. Basically he’d be bored silly…pretty much like I am with his talks of boats.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the pontoon boat we rented was great fun. A beautiful day, great temperature, smooth waters, the whole nine yards. But as a girl whose parents instilled in her a fear of lakes (especially the lake near our home), well, I’d rather be floating in a pool where I can see my feet. But that’s just me. I’m sure our kids will love the boat that we will {eventually} get. And I will too, as long as they wear their life jackets…and I can do a “floating head check” every couple of minutes or so.
Why, get in the pool for the inaugural swim of the summer, of course!
And we splished and we splashed and we declared tonight a bath-free night since the chlorine *must* have cleaned the babe enough, right? {Please tell me I’m not the only mom okay with “pool baths” every once in a while?!}
I can see this shaping up into a nice little evening ritual for a few {…or five…} months.
