Pool Party

With some of her birthday money, K. bought an inflatable pool for the backyard.  Later in the week, we set up the girls’ climber and slide to make a water slide, and K. climbed up and slid down for about two hours straight.

Darling Dancers

So the little N. had her first dance class today—once I realized there was a class that she and her sister could be in together, I signed up pretty much immediately.  The class has a bit less “technique” taught than the last class K. was in, but she’s not old enough to really mind.  In fact, she introduced herself to a sweet girl (similar in age) at the beginning of class and they were ‘buddies’ throughout, even exchanging a hug at the end of class.

(And sorry the colors and lighting are so odd in these pictures—I was mostly helping N. and just snapped some pictures at the end of class.  By that time, I didn’t want to be The Mom Who Changes Her Camera’s Lens At Dance Class.)

Oh. My. Lawd.  Such sweet baby pudges!

And N. went back and forth between dancing and following along, and wanting to be held.  There was a lot of “mom participation” (meaning I should have worn my dancin’ shoes) as the kids warmed up to the class.  K. did a great job—it was really neat to see the difference from her first dance class to this one, after having 12 other classes under her belt.  She jumped right in, followed directions, went with the flow, and a whole host of other things I didn’t imagine possible when she first started.  I think she’ll really thrive in preschool this fall.

When we paused in the middle of class to hear a story, N. sat briefly on my lap, then proceeded to walk over to each mother/daughter pair and greet them individually.  She’d make eye contact, say “hah” in her southern gentleman voice, and try to shake their hands.  Seriously.  She circulated the entire room and waited patiently for the littler kids to notice her.  I think she plans to run for public office someday.

Poor N. tried to reach the barre and was too short, even with her arms fully extended.  Then she wouldn’t stand still for a photo op.

Helping the teacher pick up the hearts at the end of class:

N’s such a sweet little person!

K. has started to be a really big help in taking care of her sister—holding her hand when needed and just generally showing her what to do.

This makes my heart melt!

Sweet N.

Oh, sweet sweet N.  You bring so much sunshine to us!  You’re a pretty intense little kid, but I know you will use that to your advantage.

And so much energy it’s unbelievable!  Plus, she’s started to pretend play pretty much all of the time, and it’s cute.  She loves her babies—and always makes sure they’re buckled in when she puts them in the stroller.  She’ll feed them play food.She’s really a careful, loving mother.Heeey!

She’s also become even more outgoing—she still is in the “separation anxiety” phase, but I can see that it’s a phase and won’t go on forever.  When we go to church or another event with people she knows, she looks around excitedly and waves even more excitedly.  She’s so much fun!

Can’t Be That Bad

Have you ever seen a more sad set of sisters?

And for no particular reason—I mean, I caught them in the midst of playing and *this* is the pose they rewarded me with.

A Lot to Tow

Lake Day

Later on Memorial Day, while poor N. took a nap, K. and others went out on the boat and to play at the lake.   First, she got ready:

And we tooled around the lake on the pontoon.

Then she spent some time kayaking with Grandma.

And picking up rocks and attempting to catch minnows with Dad.  They were successful against the rocks, but the minnows triumphed.

Pleasant Weekend

For Memorial Day, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa A’s house.  The weather was beautiful so we spent a lot of time playing outside.

Jumping up and grabbing the tree branches:

Tractor rides with Grandpa and cousin W:

And driving the tractor pedal car.  Maybe next summer her feet will reach the pedals.

Speedy Sisters

Grandma and Grandpa A. have a battery-operated jeep that the girls can play with.  K. has been wary of it in the past, but drove it around this time.  She found the accelerator, but doesn’t have a good concept of steering.

K, taking it off road.  She looks so tough!

N. had a super time.  We didn’t let her drive, of course, which was easy to enforce since she’s too short to reach the pedals.  She did play with the radio a lot, and K. let her steer (for better or worse).

Waving.  So much fun!

And sharing the steering wheel.  Cute moment.

K’s Many Faces

Pool Gals

We’ve been able to spend a bit of time at our neighborhood pool this summer (and hope to spend much more).  The girls mostly play in the shallow end near the stairs, but like the water.  K. is not particularly brave but is warming up as the summer goes along.

And the cute ruffly suits are from Grandma and Grandpa A.  Thanks!

VBS Week

Our church held a Vacation Bible School.  K, unfortunately, missed the age cutoff by a few weeks, so she was in the nursery with the younger kids while I volunteered.  I got to wander around and take pictures, which is so much fun.  I get to move from area to area and see the fun all of the kids are having.

The older kids in K’s group did a craft every day, and I happened to be in there for one of them.  K was focused on the task at hand.

And had help from one of the wonderful helpers that week.  My girls had some of the neatest helpers in there with them.

And in other, unrelated news, K. can reliably write her name.  I took a picture of it, but posting it here would defeat the purpose of calling her “K” throughout the blog.  You’ll just have to take my word for it.  So instead, I’ll leave you with a rare photo in which K. both smiles and looks at the camera: