Time well spent

Anytime with Summer is time well spent in my opinion.  We have been having some lovely evenings after school enjoying the outdoors and indoors.  The play set we got from a neighbor has not lost it's spot at the top of the list of things for Summer to do outdoors.  She loves to climb all over it, even in ways which were not originally intended I am sure.  She loves to twist the swings and spin as they uncoil.  We put a little more sand in the sandbox today, and she had fun burying her feet and spreading the new sand around the sandbox for me. 

She also loves riding her electronic motorcycle she got a few Christmas's ago.  At times, she will ride her bike, but rarely out of the driveway.  Every time I mention going down the street, she pretty much declines and wants to stay where she feels safe and comfortable which I guess is smart on her part.  She got a go-cart as an early birthday present a week or so ago, but hasn't ridden it lately.   It is her size, and I feel much better about it than the one her dad bought a few weeks before that.  It was a big two seater that they were going to have to modify the pedals so she could reach them, but now there is no need for modifications....at least as long as she is in first gear.  One day they might have to put a governor on it if it turns out to be too fast, but we are sticking to just 1st gear for as long as possible.  I tried to get her to ride it today, but she just wanted to ride her motorcycle and be Super Summer in her new cape that I brought back for her from my trip to Six Flags over the weekend.  She looks so adorable in it.  Of course!  She even had her "super sidekick" tied around her waist.  The sidekick was a new bear she got over the weekend while at her Memaw's.  Lexie had gotten a bear similar to it a while back so I imagine that is why she chose it.  It is like a build-a-bear in a box that you stuff, sew and decorate.  Well, she has been carrying it around with her a lot the past few days, but Teddy is still her favorite.  I'm not sure he'll ever lose his spot at the top of her most wanted list, and that's fine with me.  We all need something to make us feel safe and secure.  

We were going to take a trip down to the lake and try to catch a few fish after we came across the crickets left over from the weekend.  But, the timer on the cookies beeped reminding us that it was time to watch a movie together instead.  We thought about finishing Pete's Dragon, but decided to wait on Lexie for that.  She wanted a Barbie movie so I went ahead and put in her favorite one -- Barbie Rapunzel.  It is not too painful to sit through, even though I have done it numerous times.  She usually always wants popcorn and cookies if we are going to watch a movie, and I almost always make them.  Her favorite kind of popcorn is kettle corn, but today we had butter instead.  I think I was craving it because I had a little of hers at the movies this morning when we went to see Chimpanzee with the kindergarten and first graders from her school.  She ate most of it by herself, but I did manage to get a few bites when one of the moms let us refill her kid combo bowl with her 2012 bucket.  Thanks Tara! The movie was good and I think the kids really got into.  I did.  It actually made me cry at one point.  No humans in the movie at all, but still the baby chimpanzee won my heart over.

We are finally at a point, I think, that she will play (and enjoys) the Wii dancing games with me even though I win.  She wants to be the one with the #1 remote though.  That's no big deal to me, but with her it could be a deal breaker.  Being in charge of the song selection is very important to her.  She did let me have it for one song today while she was resting up after our first few songs.  I think she was also checking on her growing fish that she bought today at the grocery store.  A man overheard me telling her she had to give me the $3 out of her wallet for it when we got home and said I was tough.  That's not always the case, but I do want to teach her that some of the extra things she wants in life she will have to buy herself.  She was happy to have the option to buy as opposed to just "a no your not getting it" and gave me the money shortly after we got home. But to get back to the dancing, I am happy to see her not so competitive about who wins or loses and just trying to have fun with it. Still,  I know she wishes I would win a little less and she would win a little more.  It is good exercise for us both, and I hope we will have many more dance nights ahead.  Speaking of dancing, last week we downloaded the new song "We Are Young" and had a little dance party in her room with the strobe lights and color wheel.  It was a lot of fun dancing around and making up our own moves.  It's our new favorite song right now and we both sing our hearts out at times when we are listening to it.  Those are moments I cherish.  When we just let go and have fun and enjoy life.  It's too short not to.