One-on-one with Maya at the park

Collin officially has school on Fridays, and though I plan to pull him out when we have outings, I sent him to school his first Friday when we had nothing on our agenda.  After we dropped him off, Maya and I went to the park.  I was worried I'd be bored with just Maya, but we had a blast together, and I took an obscene amount of photos of my beautiful toddler girl!



This girl headed straight for one of the tallest playscapes and bravely climbed to the top of the spinning slide.  This was the only photo I got in the area, because the rest of the time I was staying close to my little explorer.

Happy to fly high on the swings -



The park was pretty quiet for a Friday morning, and a short rainstorm meant we had the park to ourselves.  The rain also necessitated a wardrobe change, as Maya soaked her blue dress on the wet playground surfaces.  Since it was slippery, I followed Maya on the tall play areas.  After the rain, we went down the tall, twisty slide, and the combination of my body weight plus the slick slide sent us sailing off into the air at the bottom.  It was the fastest I ever remember sliding, and as we landed with a thump on the woodchips, I looked down at Maya in my lap, and she was surprised but amused by our warp-speed spinning!

Then we took a snack break and I took endless pictures of her Wheat Thin chomping expressions -

The overcast, post rainstorm weather made being outside in August bearable.  And the lighting was beautiful for photos, though Maya gave me quite a few "enough already" looks!

Playing peek-a-boo on the park bench -

Chasing birds and squirrels -

It was a perfect morning with my girl, followed by a perfectly lovely lunch, nap, and then off to pick up Collin. 

Our (raw) dinner with Bryce and JR

On August 26th, my kids started their first day of school together.  Collin is in a four-day pre-school at the daycare/school he's been attending since he was 8-months old.  And Maya goes twice a week with a sweet little class of toddlers.  

First day photo, post-school - 

One of the hardest parts of school for Maya on day one was that her classroom has big windows that open to the playground, and anytime she'd see Collin but wasn't allowed to play with him was upsetting.  She loves him so!  And he, in turn, is a great big brother.  On Sunday we had dinner with some friends where the kids sat in a different room at a big kid table.  We heard him from our adult dining room asking Maya, "What does a duck say?" to let her show off her skills!

After school, Grandma Jewell Rae and Bryce came for dinner.  The boys played outside while Cas grilled, and the two girls - the matriarch of the family and the newest member - played together inside.

Then we waited, and waited, and waited for dinner.  It turns out the grill had run out of fuel and shut down, but it took us at least 45 minutes of waiting for the shish kabobs to cook to figure that out.  So we moved the raw food to the oven, and by the time we got dinner on the table, it was well past Maya's normal bedtime.  Though she was melting down for us, she gave cousin Bryce a few parting smiles and hugs before he left for medical school.

Last year before kindergarten

With just a year's worth of Mondays and Fridays with this boy before he's in kindergarten, we're enjoying everything from lazy mornings at the house to parks and splash parks to play dates and children's museum visits.  

Cuddling on the ottoman, which was surrounded by all the couch cushions for a pillow mountain climb - 

My daredevil climber -

Happy big brother -

Posing for the camera with a little leftover breakfast on her cheek -

Showing off her belly button.  Maya's great with "show me your . . . eyes, ears, mouth" or "pat your head, rub your tummy, swing your arms, wiggle your fingers."  It's how we distract her while we change her diapers.

A Monday play date that almost wasn't.  We pulled up to the Children's Museum, and I noticed a smell as soon as we parked.  Poor Maya!  I think she ate some bad yogurt . . . or just got car sick with a belly full of milk, but she had thrown up as soon as we arrived.  We played outside the museum for 40 minutes, and after she was acting normal and we were all sweating, decided to go inside.  Thankfully she was fine the rest of the day, and we got to meet up with my friends and their children.

Checking out Collin, who stayed downstairs with my mom, once we left the tot spot -

My friend Kelly had made the same adorable outfit her daughter Katelyn is wearing for Maya, but though we didn't get cute matching photos at the museum since Maya's was in the car covered in puke, we still ended up getting to spend some time together and pose for one picture before heading home.

Looking forward to gymnastics on Mondays and adventures on Fridays with my sweet kiddos in the year to come!

Maya's calm and crazy bedtime routine

Saturday night the grandparents came over for some Maya and Collin time.  While Collin finished eating dinner at his normal, snail's pace, Maya was bathed and began her bedtime routine. 

Plopping in Brownie's lap to read a book - 

Hugs and kisses from all -

She's a sweet cuddly girl, giving hugs and patting your back coupled with open mouth kisses -

Look of mischief, look of craziness when she spotted my phone within her reach -

Happy . . . but not so calm . . . girl at bedtime -

This is how Bruno feels about all this excitement.  Get the camera out of my face and open up the master bedroom so I can go to sleep on your bed.

Swim and Silly String Saturday

Friday night after Bryce and Cas played basketball outside in August, the only way to remotely cool down was to jump in the pool.  Collin didn't pass up the opportunity to jump in with the big boys.  It was his first time jumping from the top of the grotto.

Collin's brave leap.  It feels higher than it seems.  We've had the pool all summer and this weekend was the first time either Cas or I attempted to flip off it.   

The next morning, we had a few friends over to swim and play.  I grabbed the camera too late to catch Maya in the pool, but enjoying a picnic on the porch before crashing for a long post-swim nap.

 Our swimming boy - with goggles on he can make it all over the pool -

Some positive peer pressure.  Ethan and his younger brother Isaac came to swim in May.  They, along with my friend Amber's kids, were swimming all over while Collin stayed on the steps, and eventually watching them, found the courage to take the plunge.  So in August, watching the boys' delight with being lifted above their dad's head encouraged Collin to try.

Flying high with Daddy -

Our friend Bryce with Collin and Cas - 

The promise of a silly string battle was enticing enough to get the kids out of the pool -

 The two dads seemed to have as much fun - if not more - than the kids!

 Victory -

Delayed reaction -

Silly boys -

Cas hosed everyone off before lunch, but missed a tiny spot on himself - 

We had a great morning with friends, watching everyone have fun in the pool and yard!