Passing the week away

After a little playtime with Paw-Paw on Tuesday morning and a yummy home cooked lunch, Summer and I ventured downtown to the Warner Park pool.  We started off in one of the kiddie pools, but quickly moved up to the big pool.  The inflatable obstacle course was calling our names, so we took the swimming test and both passed.  We had to swim across  the pool and back with our heads above water.  We did it together and she had no problem doing it with me cheering her on and encouraging her.  We got our green bracelets and headed to the deep end.  It was our first time doing the course, and I have to admit I was a little nervous for her.  But, I didn't say anything.  When it was our turn, we jumped in and swam to the first obstacle - climbing on the inflatable.  It was no race for us as I did not want to abandon her and leave her alone and scared.  We both made it all the way across the first time we tried! We did it once more before we left, but first we went to try out the slide.  It was a hit with her, but not so great for me as the landing did just not feel good.  Oh to have a 6 year old body again!  After a few times down the slide, she decided she would like to touch the bottom in the 9 ft. deep pool.  She tried blowing out her air like my cousin had taught her a few weeks ago, but she just couldn't do it.  So, I tried pushing her down with my feet after she would go under and it worked.  She was smiling so big after she came up the first time she touched.  She had to do it over and over.  It was cool to see her accomplish this feat which probably had seemed impossible to her at first after her watching me doing it and seeing how far I was from the top of the water.  After a bit, we decided to walk over the the spray and play part where she had her end of the year school party.  She showed me all the cool tricks of going under the fountains and letting the big trough dump on our heads.  Then we headed back to the deep end for a little more underwater fun.  When she had had enough of the pools, we got out and changed clothes for our trip to the library.

She was excited to get there early and play on the computers before story time started.  On the way up, we found out how many more books we could check out that day since we already had a pile at home.  But, who wants to go to the library and not check out books?  When it was time for story time, she paused the Cat in the Hat book she was reading on the computer.  She never did go back to it.  Since it was the end of the summer reading program, they only showed a few videos in lieu of reading books to us.  They still did a craft at the end.  Thank goodness!  I think that is her favorite part.  On our way out, we picked out more books and then checked them out.  I'm happy to say that we have exceeded our goal of reading 100 books this summer.  I just hope she will be rewarded by getting to go the party this weekend while she is at her dads.  As we were driving home, she said, "I'm thinking Krystals."  So, we stopped at the one in Soddy and dined in on cheese Krystals.  She likes hers with mustard, but no pickles or onions.  I like mine with just cheese.  When we got home, we decided to go get in the pool.  We played for a while and then came back in and got ready for bed.  We topped the day off with Barney's Campfire sing-a-long.  My favorite Barney movie!  Yes, I have a favorite.  I really like most of them.  The songs are just so catchy and it really is an upbeat fun time even when you are nearing 35.  I guess maybe I'm still a kid at heart.  :)  

When we got up Wednesday, she asked if we were going to get to stay home all day.  She was happy to find out that yes we were and not only that, but Memaw and Nanny were coming over after work to play and spend the night with us.  We watched a few cartoons and had some yogurt and granola for breakfast.  This is the most normal breakfast food she has eaten in a long time, but she was not really fond of it.  I did manage to get it all down her, but she made me feed her.  She's still my baby!  A little later she took Paw-Paw down to her hideout (the bamboo woods behind our house), but that ended with her getting stung by a yellow jacket.  I heard her cry out and the first thing that came to my head was a snake.  I was wrong, but it was still not pleasant for her.  We quickly taped a penny on it after consulting Memaw on the phone, and it seemed to take most of the pain away.  We also applied an ice pack a few times, but she found that the best thing to do was just to leave it alone and not touch it.  The day could not go by fast enough for her, but we managed to stay busy until they arrived.  Oh what a joyous time that was for her!!!!  She showed them all the things around the house that she had been wanting to.  She and Memaw swam in the pool.  She took them to her kingdom (the basement) where she rules as queen.  They all three played the Cat in the Hat game and then a few rounds of hot potato while I watched.  I really enjoyed just watching her smile all evening long.  Not that it is uncommon, but she is just a beautiful little girl.  And, I'm not one bit prejudice!  Ha!

This morning we got up early to have cappuccino with Memaw and Nanny before they left for work.  After they left, we started playing game.  We played Disney Princess's Spinning Wishes twice.  We both won once.  Then we played the Disney Princess's Monopoly Junior twice and she beat me both times.  After that, we headed up to her room where we played another Disney Princess game.  It is funny how she loves the games, but getting her to watch a princess movie is almost impossible.  After playing it three times, with her winning twice, we moved onto a craft project.  While we were doing it, Paw-Paw showed up.  We finished up as much of the craft as we could, but had to put it on hold while it dried for an hour.  I let Paw-Paw take over for a while, and I went to tend to my chores.  After the craft was dry, we worked on it a little more.  She had requested cheeseburgers for lunch, so that is what we had.  She gobbled hers up as she had the night before at dinner.  Either I'm a good burger maker, or she just isn't picky as long as there is cheese and mustard.  

This evening we took a trip downtown to cool off at Coolidge park before watching an aerial dance show in the trees.  She did not jump right in the fountains and play like she would've a few years ago.  I actually had a hard time convincing her to get in them even though she had been excited when I mentioned going down there.  She wanted me to play in the fountains with her, but I did not wear my bathing suit and did not want to get totally soaked.  I did walk around them with her and get my feet in them, but that was not enough to get her to go all the way in them. She just said she did not know what to do in them.  I told her to watch the other kids and do what they were doing, but she finally said it just wasn't her kind of thing.  I guess she's outgrown it or maybe it was just an off day for her.  It was a little frustrating for us both, so we ended just giving up and heading over to where the tree show was going to be.  We spread out our picnic blanket and relaxed in the shade while enjoying a nice breeze.  Not too long after we got there, they announced there were snacks up the hill so we went and got some green grapes.  She ate them all up, but did let me have a few.  A little while into the show, she wanted more so we got some more.  A healthy snack is okay to indulge in, right?  It did not ruin her steak dinner that we had afterwards at Logans.  Of course, she did not eat all of her steak, but I imagine she will have it for breakfast tomorrow with some rice.  

We finished the day off with a few episodes of Dragon Tales followed by a few books.  I really thought I was exhausted, but she fell asleep first and all I could do was lay there.  That's when I decided to blog. I hope now that I have shared most of our memories from the past few days, I will too fall fast asleep.  We'll see...