Summer... where everyday is a field trip!

It's not tough entertaining a three year old, just busy!
A couple times so far this summer Emily has wanted to ride bikes into town, but her scoot bike is still a little too tall for her, so she tiptoes on it some, walks it some, and then tosses it in the back of the bike trailer and gets a ride from Mom.  Either way, we get to town.  She's been loving trips to the library.

In the backyard, she loves her playset and merry-go-round.  Loves mixing the sand from the sandbox with the water from the water table to make a really big mess "soup".  And watering the plants.

The girls were each given an apple tree and a pear tree, which are doing quite well this summer.  It's the first time the apple tree has produced apples, and another first for one of the pear trees.  One apple tree was almost killed by our vole problem is fighting hard to survive...

apple #1's first crop

pear #1's 2nd crop

apple #2, making a comeback!

pear #2's first (small) crop

Yesterday we started out at the SNRA north of Ketchum, where Emily looked/felt animal hides, but only talks about the coloring sheets she got.  

Then we went to the Sun Peak picnic area where she played in the river with the dog before having a picnic lunch.

And before we came home, we also stopped at the Memorial Garden fountain in Ketchum.

Howard Preserve

Today we met friends at the Howard Preserve where the girls waded in the river, tossed rocks, picked up sticks, and even spied some tiny fish.  What a great, leisurely morning!

Time Flies By!

Can't believe it's mid July already.  Here is what Emily has been up to.  Monday we skipped swimming because it was raining.  That was okay with her.  But we did go yesterday and she actually interacted with the instructor.  Maybe it was because the other two girls in class were having meltdowns?
In the afternoon we went back to open swim and played in the big pool.  She's asked every single day if she could go, and despite the shivers, she lasted two hours!

Lately she has been telling me to go get my camera and take her picture with Faryn.

She had Dad paint her toenails, but only on one foot.  Now she has 5 in dark pink and 5 in light pink, but she loves it.

And beyond spoiled -

There's another addition to Emily's Playground in the backyard, friends gave her a merry go round for her birthday.  Now there's even more reason to stay outside!


Isn't summer great?

Poor Puppy!

Faryn was pretty happy to get off that cone this week!  Notice all the white spots around it?  That's Emily's sticker canvas.  She would try to lead Faryn around by hanging onto the cone.  And, of course, there are all the complaints from Emily about how it hurt when Faryn bumped into her with it!

Emily Joins Team Kean

2010

2011

See that little guy in the pictures?  That's Kean.  His mom was on bedrest the same time I was, then Kean was our neighbor for several weeks while we were in the NICU.  We've helped each other through some pretty bad times, and have celebrated the good ones.

Kean was just diagnosed with leukemia this week.  He's one sick kiddo right now.  But we know this miracle man is going to be okay.  

We'll miss seeing him at the NICU graduate picnic, but we know he's in good hands with St. Luke's!

Bye Bye Daycare!

Emily's last day of daycare with Pat was July 6th.  She'll be hanging out with me this summer, working on that sand bucket list, until she starts preschool in August.  Dad got her a "graduation" gift to celebrate.

Swimming

Emily is in the guppy swimming class.  Basically the toddlers splash around in the baby pool, playing with toys, and occasionally kick and blow bubbles.  Emily loves the water, playing with the toys, and will kick and blow bubbles.  But notice how there are no other kids or swim instructor around?  Emily will not go near them.  She talks about them at night, she yells "yipee" when I say it is time to go, BUT she wants nothing to do the other kids or teacher.  Thursday she was in tears.  "I just don't want to play with those friends,"she would say.  We'll see if she goes back next week.

But this is what she looks like everyday after swimming!

Galena

On Sunday we drove north.
Our first stop was a little hot spring that Emily got to take a dip in.  It was a great lukewarm temperature!

Then we continued north until we got to Galena Lodge.

We ate a nice brunch, petted a few dogs (and wanted to pet a lot more), sat in the swing, tossed some balls, and took a walk.  We didn't walk far, however, because we came across water.  She dunked her toes, tossed a lot of rocks, and squished around in the mud.  It was a fabulous morning!

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America!

Thanks for making me the dress, Grandma!

Parade = More horses!

 Celebrations of the 4th started at the parade.  We snagged a tiny shaded spot along main street.  Emily was given a little red wagon for her birthday that was great for holding all our stuff and providing a seat.

 Here come the horses.  See her point?  Yep, it was more of "I want to ride that one."  She might have said that for every horse she saw.

 A big score.  An otter pop tossed from a float.

Dad was out there to make sure she was getting her fair share of candy.

Rodeo

 We all went to family night at the Hailey 4th of July rodeo.  First off was Mutton Bustin', where small children ride sheep and try to hold on.  Emily thought that was pretty cool.  Stay tuned in 2013, she might be out there with the rest of them.

 She also loved all the horses.  She really wants to ride one, and kept picking out which one she wanted.  We kept her patient by telling her it's not her turn yet.  She understands that.  "Not yet," she'd keep saying.  The only thing she didn't like was the roping event.  When the calves were roped and tossed down, she'd say, "Ahhhhhhh."  And then sometimes an, "Oh, darn!"  She lasted a couple hours before we all called it quits.

But before we left, she got permission to pet one of the rodeo horses.  She was in heaven.

Helping Out

Emily loves to help, especially projects her Dad is working on.  She'll happily pretend to build wood shop projects, pull weeds, or let the dog in and out of the house.

And since our dog is wearing a cone post surgery (Emily calls her pinecone head), We hold her food bowl so she can eat easily, Emily helps out here, too.