Rainy days, sunny days

Last month, we had a lot of rainy days. Now it's starting to get pretty hot.  With more diverse weather than usual, we have had the chance to do lots of fun things.


One rainy afternoon, we headed down to a place called Foodie Kids, where Hazel and I hung out with a bunch of other kids while we each decorated a cupcake. We picked out colors for our icing and chose things to put on top of the treat, then we had at it! We finished up by eating our creations. I really like to cook, and this was right up my alley. Mom could tell I was really into it. I answered all the questions the lady asked me and really followed instructions. I hope we can go back again soon.



I was still in school every day back then, and one day while I was there, Mom took Hazel and Turner to a bookstore downtown for a program called Tiny Tails to You. A couple of ladies had a petting zoo in a room in the bookstore. After listening to a few stories about animals, Mom, Hazel, Turner and all the other moms and kids went into a little fenced in area where they could hold and look at lots of animals including bunnies, a tortoise, a bearded dragon, a hedgehog and guinea pigs. Hazel held a baby bunny. Mom held one too, and Turner tried to grab it. After that, they worked on a craft. Hazel made a bunny out of scraps of paper! The whole thing was perfect for Hazel, who loves bunnies and even goes around most of the time pretending she is a baby bunny.


Mom, Hazel and Turner have also been spending a lot of time at the library lately going to toddler story time. They go two days a week and really enjoy the lady who leads it on Fridays. She brings an autoharp and really seems to enjoy spending time with children. I am excited that I'll be able to join them at library story time this summer, when I will only go to school two mornings a week. More on that later this week.


My Sportball class wrapped up last month. After four weeks of soccer, we'd switched to four weeks of t-ball, which no one -- including the instructor, who said it's harder to keep kids' attention during t-ball -- liked as much. I am going to take a break from sports for a little while. Maybe I will try again in the fall, along with Hazel, who really wants to do it.


Our swim classes at the Y are also over, and we started with a new guy, Bananahead last Thursday. I am not excited about swim lessons, but Hazel likes it and Mom and Dad say it's important to learn to swim. So we're sticking with it.

Memorial Day weekend kicked off summer, and we did it in a big way. The weather was good and we went to the pool, played in the sprinkler in our yard, went to two parties, had lots of meals outside (including grilling at our house), ate yummy summer foods like corn on the cob and watermelon, and generally enjoyed the time together. Dad said it was hard to be back at work after all our fun.

Mom has also taken us to a couple of splash parks since summer began. We went to Champion Park one afternoon last week and Quarry Splash Pad with Vishnu one morning. We also visited Brush Creek Park's splash pad over the weekend. Our outings were fun, and gave us another chance to eat al fresco, which I have announced is one of my favorite things to do.
 
Speaking of Vishnu, I've been spending a lot of time meeting up with friends at the playground. We've also been meeting up with Zhenya a lot, and even took her to one of our favorite places, the banana stand! The other day, I asked Mom why Zhenya can't always be with us.

Turner has been up to some new tricks. He has started making a car sound when he plays with cars and we suspect he has imitated some of our words, like "pinata." The other day when looking in the mirror, he yelled, "Hey!" 

One of our friends, who is sick, wrote this (abridged) story about him in her blog. Mom said it was pretty amazing when it happened, and we're proud of Turner for helping our friend feel a little better.

One of my friends came by to drop off some food with her one-year-old the other day. I was thanking her and holding her hand when I got a little emotional.  As we were holding hands, her sweet little 1 year old reached down and joined his hand with ours.  He was very intentional, he didn't want to let go.  How sweet that he knew the love that we were sharing and just wanted to be a part of that. Isn't it when we go through the "desert" when we become so much more aware of these little blessings that God surrounds us with?  I hope that I never again lose sight of these many blessings once I am out of the desert. 

Click here for photos from the last month.