Little Lucy

One of our friends was puppy-sitting his cousin's mini-dachshund, Lucy, this weekend so he brought her down for a playdate.
She and Cady pretty much ignored each other. We were expecting some barking and running, but they just sniffed each other and walked away.
Sophia and Gianna, on the other hand, loved Lucy. They couldn't get enough of her. You'd think we didn't have our own mini-dachshund.
Lucy was very fancy when she came to visit. She had just been to the groomers and came complete with bows, painted nails and vanilla cologne. Oo la la.

Fancy Phia

On Saturday, Sophia insisted on being dressed to the nines when she played outside. Fancy princess dress, crown and white gloves. And she refused to answer to Sophia. "Call me Your Royal Highness, Mommy."
I loved watching her help clean the plastic lawn chairs in the white gloves. At least she's not too fancy for dirty work!

Splish Splash!

Gigi
Sophia plugging her nose before she goes "under."
And her reaction after getting her face wet.
Sophia pouring a bucked over her head.


The temps have been in the mid-80s, so we brought out the kiddie pool. (Unfortunately, the pool didn't hold up well this winter, so these will probably be its only photos.)
The girls had a great time.
Sophia did say, "Mommy, could you please turn the hot water on. This water is cold."
But she jumped in anyway. Mommy and Daddy, on the other hand, did not.
They splashed around and didn't want to get out even after they were trembling and their lips were blue.
Did I mention I love summer days? I really do.

A walk in the woods

Sophia and Daddy check out some snails and slugs.
The path through the trees.
Mommy & Gianna. I love her smile!
The creek.
Some of the pretty flowers we saw.


For Father's Day, George wanted the family to have a nice, quiet day together.
So we packed up the kids -- and the bug spray -- and took a three-mile nature walk.
We had a great time. The weather was perfect. Since it had rained for about six days before our walk, there were quite a few bugs. But that didn't damper our fun.
We saw lots of birds, chipmunks, plants and bugs. Sophia loved the bugs! Seriously.
Gianna kept pointing to everything, "See? See?"
And because of the rain, there were even little rapids in the creek. Very nice.
It was a wonderful day, just getting away from it all.

My little model

Gianna has landed her first modeling job. OK, not really, but close ;)
Her Kindermusik teacher called and asked our permission to use a photo of Gianna on the cover of her fall brochure. Since she doesn't identify Gianna, we said OK.
I think you'll agree, it's an adorable photo.
(I've blocked out any identifying information. You never know who might come across this blog.)

Sprinkler Time!

A few weeks ago, it was finally warm enough to bring out the sprinkler.
The girls had a blast.
I was a little worried about how Gianna would react to cold water being shot at her, but she loved it.
Sophia kept drying off because she was "freezin'" but then getting right back in. Three-year-olds amuse me.

"SEE?!"

Gianna's favorite thing to say lately is "See?!" She points at everything and says, "see," as if she's making sure we see the world around us.
Here she's checking to see if I've noticed the barn sitting on the couch.

Chalk drawings

Gianna getting ready to draw -- or taste the chalk. (Don't worry. It's non-toxic. I checked.)

Gianna creating a masterpiece.

Sophia drawing a horse.

Sophia showing off her red chalk-covered hands. (And she is on roller skates, which you can't see. I don't make her wear a helmet to draw on the driveway.)

Last night, the girls and I spent some time doing chalk drawings while George worked on the deck.
We had a lot of fun -- and got really messy. There was chalk everywhere!
Sophia created a lovely picture of a horse, and Gianna tasted lots of chalk. I'm guessing she wanted to see if the colors tasted the same!

Lost child

Not mine. Thank God.
But yesterday were out shopping at a large discount chain, when we saw a little girl walking by herself and calling "Daddy."
I asked her if she was lost, and she said yes, so I took her to the courtesy desk.
She couldn't have been more than 6 years old. She was a sweet kid and very scared.
The employees weren't much help at first. I think they thought she and I were together and had lost a member of our party.
They asked the little girl for her Daddy's name and then paged him. Then, they went back to their work and just left her standing on the other side of the counter.
I wanted to stay until I knew she was OK. So, we chit-chatted and I tried to make her feel more comfortable.
After a few minutes, another employee noticed us standing there and asked if she could help. I explained that the little girl had been separated from her dad. Then, the woman called a manager.
He came out, talked over the counter and asked the little girl about her dad.
"What does he look like?" "I don't know."
"What color hair does he have?" "I don't know."
All of this was done with him standing on the other side of the counter, looking down at her.
So I squatted down to her level and asked, "Was he wearing a hat?" "Yes! It's gray."
"What color shirt was he wearing?" "Orange."
She wasn't able to tell me what color his hair or eyes were, but she did know what he was wearing.
And I got the best reaction when I asked "Is he thin (with my hands together) or big (with my hands far apart)?"
"BIG!" with a big smile.
I turned to tell the manager what I had learned, when a woman came running in crying.
The little girl started crying too. They hugged.
The manager and I -- almost at the same time -- asked the little girl who the woman was. She said it was her mommy.
So, it had a happy ending.
But it made me think. I was scared the whole time I was helping the little girl. Where had her dad gone? What if I hadn't found her and someone else, someone less honest, less helpful, had? Why didn't the employees seem more helpful? What would I do if one of my little ones was missing?
Sophia knows her name, our names, our phone number and our address. But that afternoon, I tested her to see if she knew what George and I were wearing. She did.
I also started trying to teach my cell phone number, in case we get separated.
And I told her that if we ever get separated in a store to find the courtesy desk.
I hope we never need to use these, but she needs to know and the little girl yesterday reminded me of that.

"Fire" at the playhouse

Firefighter Sophia.


Saturday the girls and I were playing outside while George was at work.
They both love the pink playhouse in the backyard. Sophia likes to pretend to cook and the be the hostess. Gianna likes to sit at the little table -- or if Mommy's back is turned, climb on top of the table and wave out the window.
Sophia also likes to play firefighter. (Some of you may remember that she had a firetruck party for her 3rd birthday.) She drives her truck, gets 911 calls, exercises during the down time, runs around, etc.
Well on Saturday, there was a "fire" at the pink house.
Gianna was sitting on the little chair, one arm resting on the table the other resting on the window sill. Just hanging out.
Sophia comes running through the yard caring a garden hose and yelling "Get out! There's a fire."
Gianna looks at her and doesn't move.
Sophia puts the hose through the window and runs around to the door. "Get out, Gianna! The house is on fire."
Gianna doesn't move.
Sophia grabs her arm. "Get out! There's a fire! Get out!"
Gianna screams.
Sophia pulls on Gianna's arm, "Get OUT! GET OUT!"
Gianna grabs onto the table and screams.
Sophia pulls more.
Gianna digs her heels in and screams.
Mommy intervenes. "Sophia, Gianna doesn't understand. Just let her sit in the house. You can fight the fire in the kitchen."
"But she's my sister and I love her. I don't want her to get burned," Sophia cries and pulls Gianna more.
Gianna cries louder.
"Sophia, let's pretend Gianna is wearing a protective fireproof suit. She can sit there and not get burned."
Sophia, "OK. There you go Gigi."