We spent the morning at the park with our friends Grace and Daniel. The big girls had a great time playing on the different equipment. They kept trying to cross the monkey bars, but would get stuck part way across and need saving. They discovered the water fountain had been turned on and turned it into a source of entertainment. I loved that they would use teamwork to get drinks where Grace would push for Emily to drink and Emily for Grace. Julia spent time playing with the bigger girls, with Mama, and by herself playing. Daniel loves swinging and did that by himself for the longest time. He joined in a little, but for the most part he played on his own too.

Emily insisted on swinging on the little kids swing so she could go higher and faster.

All three girls were “cooking” at the diner. Julia kept serving Mama macaroni and cheese soup. The main ingredient was mulch.

The happy swinging boy!

Julia would alternate between wanting to swing “higher-faster” and “slower-lower”. She loves her swinging.

The three girls attempting to slide at the same time.

Grace pushing the fountain button so Emily could get her drink. What great teamwork.

The day after the rain was a beautiful, temperate low-humidity day. After dinner we made a trip down to the park. We were hoping the girls would tire themselves out for bed. Julia spent the whole time swinging. Every time you asked her if she wanted to get down she would answer “No”. Only at the end when we told her that we would leave soon and it was her last chance, did she decided to play on the other equipment. Emily played on everything. She enjoyed swinging, sliding, playing hide-and-seek with Mama and another boy, being helped across the monkey bars, climbing into a make-shift pirate ship, and a million other things. In the end it all worked out. Emily was tired and rode home in the wagon and Julia used her extra energy walking home with Mama and Grandma.

We spent one warm summer morning at the Splat Pad with a friend and her kids. I ended up with a lot of action photos of Emily because she was very busy and not interested in looking at the camera. And not to many of Julia because she was attachedto me for much of the play time.

This park has a playground right next to the water area so that the kids can move freely between the two areas safely. Emily chose to play in the playground and not get wet for quite a while. And even after she got wet, she really enjoyed the playground area best this day. She was little ‘Miss Outgoing’ and hung out with some big girls who were great to include Emily in their play. Emily warmed up to the slide slowly as usual, but while holding Mommy’s hand she decided that it was OK. Her wet suit made her very fast down the slide.

Julia hung out with me most of the time. We tried the bumbo next to some squirting water so that she could explore it on her own. Almost immediately, a little boy came to play and inadvertently splashed Julia with water, which she didn’t like. I got her settled and Emily came to check on her. She was very sweet to talk to her and even pet her on the head. The funny thing was that Emily decided that she wanted to put her foot in the water and used Julia’s head to steady herself. The pulling of Julia’s hair was the last straw of Julia’s patience with sitting by the water and she wanted nothing less than to be held. I don’t really blame her, I wouldn’t like my hair being pulled and water splashed in my face either.

This was by far my favorite park and splat pad we have visited for a playdate. The location was good for meeting for a playdate, the size of the park was great for small kids, and the water made it easy to cool off and a lot of fun!

A fun visit with our Florida grandparents just came to a close. Visits are too far apart and always too short. Especially at the speed the girls are growing. During their visit we went to visit the Mayfield Dairy and saw how they make jugs, fill them, and move ice cream around the plant. We also ate some yummy ice cream. During their visit we ate good food, splashed at pool time, did some shopping, and stopped by a park for some quick play before a storm blew in. In and between all the other activities there was also a lot of play, hugs, and stories.

I lucked onto the idea of the grandparent photo by the swing. It worked really well to keep the two year old contained and looking somewhat toward the camera. You can’t get enough photos of grandparents and their grandkids.

I thought it would be fun to let Julia ‘play’ with the big toys when we took her to the park. She fits well in the play bucket. I tried to get a photo with Emily, but she wasn’t interested in doing anything that involved standing still. Julia can hug the ball pretty well, although she preferred to chew and drool on it.

Julia is up to lots of stuff these days. Just a quick update for 6-1/2 months.

• She will roll over almost every time I put her on her tummy and still doesn’t like being on her tummy. She has rolled from her back to tummy a few times, but she has to be lucky or on an easy surface.
• You have to be careful of what you put in front of her. She will reach and take things that are in front of her nowadays, and then put them in her mouth. I’m starting to get better about remembering.
• She enjoys her exersaucer for brief periods of time, but it is not a long term place to play.
• She is making a lot of noise especially with squeals. You will look at her while she is making all of her noise and when you make eye contact her face lights up and she smiles. I think she knows how to get attention.
• Julia is still sleeping in her cradle at night in our room. She is sleeping through the night now with one feeding just before Robby gets up for work. If the cradle was wider I might worry that she could roll over, but it is pretty narrow. She would be fine to move in with Emily if I was ready. We will have a pack-n-play replace the cradle in our room for naps and ‘safe play’.
• Our nap schedule is getting pretty regular now, or at least the first one of the day is. Julia is ready for a nap around 10:30-11:00 each morning. She will nap for a couple of hours and then will take another one later in the afternoon, but that one is not as regularly timed.
• Julia likes to ride in the car and has stopped her screaming while we are in a drive-thru. She will go to sleep in the car pretty regularly. When you take her out she almost always wakes up with the movement.
• Julia has been sampling baby cereal for about a week now. She hasn’t figured out what to do with it yet. I made it with formula at first and have changed to mommy’s milk. When I made that change she made less funny faces and seemed to like it in her mouth more. She still spits it out, but seems to enjoy the flavor more.