Fun Stuff Around the Neighborhood

Last weekend, our neighborhood hosted a pool party, and it was a perfect HOT day for it.  We went down after Em's nap--they provided food on the grill and everyone was asked to bring a side dish and drinks.  There was music, tons of food, and lots of people (and kids).

We stayed for several hours, and Em was tired enough when we headed home that she actually wanted to ride in the wagon (she normally refuses to ride).  We hadn't brought her sunglasses, so she needed to wear mine.

I told her she was a diva, and she said "no, I'm Emily the diva!"  Definitely can't argue with that.

Lately, Em is really into games and organized activity.  I keep a bunch of pictures that I've cut out of magazines and she'll sometimes ask to make an art project.  She likes to cut on her own too, but prefers when I've cut out pictures of things she likes, and then I give her clues to find a certain picture to glue on her paper (for instance, I might ask her what she would like for breakfast in the morning, and she'd find a picture of pancakes or eggs).  She loves matching, so I bought some Dr. Seuss matching cards, and she'll hear a song or nursery rhyme in the car sometimes and say that it matches one of her books.

I've found some very cool animal and phonics flash cards at Target on the $1 rack that have proven very effective to get her to sit still long enough to go to the potty.  She loves the cards, so I try to set them aside just for that purpose :).  Puzzles are another favorite right now, but obviously, not potty appropriate.

Mick found this game at a garage sale--it's a Dora the Explorer version of Candyland, so we took it out this afternoon.  Em loved it!  She doesn't quite get the object of the game yet, but she loves drawing the cards and moving the pieces--just not necessarily in the right direction.



Our neighborhood also hosts a monthly movie night in the park--there's a grassy area behind the clubhouse and pool, so they set up a screen and people bring out blankets and chairs.  Tonight was July's movie, and was the first time we've gone (of course, we pick the hottest day!), but we'll definitely go again.



I have to admit, we were so hot that we really didn't mind heading home when we felt like it was time to get Em to bed.  She does usually stay up later on the weekends, but is still at least close to bathtime and bed by 9:00 PM.

One of the closeby grocery stores sponsored tonight's movie night and provided snacks and drinks--Em enjoyed some cheese puffs and apple juice.  She doesn't have either of those often, so she loved it!