Busy Girl

Have you seen _____ on Pinterest? is how a lot of conversations between me and my friends start these days. We have all been scouring the internet for ideas to keep our toddlers busy indoors this summer. I'm not getting on the complaining train (yet) about the weather in Texas, but it is officially uncomfortably hot. So indoor activities are a must.

Last week a few friends and I got together for a busy bag swap. The swap happened on Thursday, but we all had plenty of time to get our stuff together. Each of us picked an activity suitable for a toddler, crafted it, placed in a ziploc bag and replicated 8 times. Check out Pinterest for some fun ideas. Now I have a whole storage ottoman in the playroom full of activities. I'll probably even toss a few in my bag the next time we head to a restaurant.

Today Kennedy spent a good chunk of time playing with the pasta sorting bag made by Alice. Its full of pasta in different shapes and colors to sort into cups and string a necklace with. To be honest, she also just loves to dump out the bag and put each piece back in one by one. Regardless of how she plays with it, she is content, quiet and not watching TV.

Busy Bags

  

 A busy girl is a happy girl. 

Midland Visit

Friday morning we packed the car early, hit up Panera for breakfast sammies and headed west on I-20 to Midland. We decided to go pay a visit to Grammy Flash, Big Poppa and their swimming pool before the weather gets too much hotter in Midland.

Once we got there, Kennedy was ready to get out of the car and into the pool. Which is where she would have preferred to spend the rest of the weekend. Greg and I were able to jam pack a ton of fun and friends into 2.5 days. Nearly everything I ate this weekend was covered in or served with queso. Which is also why we are going to be at the gym a lot this week. Anyway, Friday night was dinner and margaritas with John and Terri at a new place called Chito's (or Chita's, depending on who you ask).

Saturday morning we got up and helped get the backyard ready for a pool party. A bunch of our friends came over with their kids to swim and snack. Kennedy had a legit meltdown when it was time to take a break from swimming to eat. But it didn't last too long, and once I force-fed her a little lunch, she was right back in the water splashing and going down the slide with the rest of the kids.

Saturday night we went with Greg's cousin, Meredith (who happened to be in town), and her friend to see David's band play at a dance club. Let me stop here and clarify something. I don't mean dance club, like oonsa-oonsa, lots of cocktails, and a bouncer. I mean literally a club that (older) people have formed to dance. Median age 65. Lots of two stepping and waltzing. The band sounded great and we got a kick out of watching the oldsters enjoying themselves. We ended the night with queso, dinner and margaritas at La Bodega, a Midland staple.

Sunday morning we let Kennedy swim and run around in the hopes of tiring her out for a long nap on the drive home. Thanks to that, we had an easy drive home from an awesome weekend and had plenty of time to play before bedtime.

Shopping in the "store"...aka, the ottoman, for pool toys.  

What a little lady. 

Ready to swim? High five. 

 Big Poppa showing off his specialty, smoked salmon.  

Wheeeee!

Wheeeee...continued.

One worn out little girl. In a baby swing. That she still fits in. 

Relaxing with Grammyflash and the iPad. 

Saturday Night Out

Rainforest Cafe Fail

A couple weekends ago we met up with the Campbell's at the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine. I knew it would be sensory overload and probably a tad overpriced, but also thought Kennedy would enjoy the animals. Wrong. I was not prepared for the animatronic animals positioned ALL OVER the place that came alive every 15 minutes. Kennedy was straight up scared. I thought she would calm down when we got to our table, until I saw the 8 foot gorilla above her high chair. Just as she'd start to relax, the rainforest would come alive. The gorilla would move, pound his chest and make gorilla noises. He was quite menacing. Eventually some crayons, tortilla chips and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse held her attention away from the gorilla. She still cried every time he made noise, but at least ate all her meal.

This is one of those places where you enter and exit through the gift shop. Normally we would have lost Kennedy to some stuffed animals, but this day she wanted out. No looking, no picking up potential new toys, just a beeline to the nearest exit. The Campbell girls we were just young and old enough to not be scared. Actually, they were totally unfazed, like this sort of thing happens all the time. We haven't been to the Campbell's house, so maybe it does.

Anyway, Kennedy is still talking about it 2 weeks later. When her baby dolls cry (we're heavy into pretend and playing with babies) I hear her her soothing them by saying, "you ok, there's no monkeys." We can go ahead and file this one under Scared For Life.

Our lunch companion did not make us happy.  

 Kennedy keeping a watchful eye on the talking tree next to Austen and Reese. 

 A talking tree, you know, just like in the rainforest. Terrifying. 

15 foot nightmare in a pond. 

Father's Day Weekend

We have a pretty awesome husband and daddy here and had a great weekend spending time with him. It seemed like there was never a shortage of things to do, and most of them were outside.

Our weekend got off to an early start at the pool Friday afternoon. Greg was able to duck out of work early to come meet his girls. Kennedy absolutely loves swimming and was pretty excited that daddy was there to splash with her. We got home a little after 6 and Kennedy went to bed shortly after that. She kept saying, "no dinner, night-night." Despite her pitiful pleads to go to bed with out dinner, I made her eat a little something before she crashed for the night.

On Saturday Greg came with us to a class at Gymboree. I normally take Kennedy during the week, but on the weekends its a lot more families. Kennedy loved showing off her jumping and climbing skills to her daddy. We then headed over to the Dallas Arboretum for a picnic and walkabout. Kennedy desperately wanted to play in the fountains and it was so hot that we had to let her. Then she asked for a popsicle. I didn't even know she knew what a popsicle was. But again, it was so hot, I let her have one. And maybe Greg and I had one as well. Saturday night we sent her to the Y for the evening so Greg and I could enjoy a date night out.

On Sunday we had grand plans of Father's Day brunch somewhere, but it can just be so exhausting taking Kennedy to restaurants right now. So instead, we ordered from our favorite diner and had pancakes at home. It was very relaxing. Greg opened his presents and we played with Kennedy in the back yard. Thanks to the magic of Pinterest, I put together an awesome Superhero themed gift for Greg. He also got a gift certificate for a massage and a little handprint sign Kennedy made this week. Kennedy and I took off to run some errands so he could watch the Euro Cup (and nap) in peace.

 First Dorito. 'Where have you been all my life?'

Daddy's Girl 

Showing Daddy her favorite playspots at the Arboretum. 

Chihuly Exhibit

The main reason she likes the Arboretum. 

Wild Child in the pool. 

Playing with Mommy. She insisted I be in the pool with her. 

For the Super Daddy

Father's Day Morning

Matchy Matchy

Someone is excited about her Lilly swimmies and matching tote. Someone's mother kind of wishes there was a mommy version available. Not that we would wear them at the same time. Because that would be silly. Or would it?

Swimming in style. 

A Great Loss

On Monday, my entire family came together to celebrate the life of our cousin, Michael. He was loved dearly by all of us and I can't even put in words how much he will be missed. He was a kind, loving and gentle person who had the most infectious laugh I've ever heard. This was the first time in a few years all of our cousins were in the same place together. We came from near (Albuquerque and Dallas) and far (Korea, the Netherlands and England) and Michael would have absolutely loved having everyone together. Of course the loss of a family member is difficult, but it was nice to be together to comfort each other and share memories. Though Kennedy won't grow up with Michael, she will always know who he is and the wonderful person he was. 

Papa and Michael enjoying a little tequila for Papa's birthday last summer. 

Little Swimmer

We have a had a crazy-busy couple of weeks, which explains the blogging absence. Since summer started, I feel like we have been go-go-go!

Swim lessons started on Monday. The first day did not go so well. I was sort of dreading the rest of the week, so before we went to her lesson Tuesday afternoon, I showed her a video from Caroline's blog of Emily swimming. At first, Kennedy thought it was herself. But then she realized it was Emily, and that Emily was having fun. That was enough motivation to get her in the water that afternoon. We got to the pool and she insisted on jumping in the water. By Thursday, a mere 4 days from the disastrous start, she was jumping in (sometimes not holding my hands) and going under the water. At this pace, I assume she will be swimming laps by the end of next week.

One of the songs we learned at the lesson is called I'm A Little Pancake (to the tune of I'm A Little Tetapot). Now when we get in the water Kennedy begs for the Pancake Song. You start off with the little one paddling on their tummy and end with them on their back.

I'm a little pancake, on my tummy.

I'm a little pancake, I'm so yummy.

I'm a little pancake, I make a great stack. 

Now flip me over and put me on my back.

 

Little Swimmer