We spent a low stress day at home today with the girls playing with their castle. It involved a lot of water, sand, and hard playing. I think the water went a long way to make the warm day bearable. They were soaked from head to toe by the time they came in. For the most part they played quietly in their own worlds. Any noise between them was generally a complaint that the other one took something they were playing with. It was a sweet way to spend the morning.

Emily expressed an interest in building a house in the living room with books. We tried a few different things and this is what we ended up with. We planned a door and window. Julia wanted to walk through the window and Emily closed the window and the door when they entered the house. They invited their stuffed animals for a picnic and consented to stop playing for a photo. The house remained up so that Daddy could see their creation. Emily’s only disappointment was that we couldn’t put a roof on the house.

Emily met me this morning and informed me that she wanted Julia to be in her bed with her and that it would be safe for her. I told her that I could put Julia in her bed, but Julia might not stay. Emily had a little pillow set up in her bed so that she could share the space. It was all very sweet and I was hoping that Julia would want to stay with Emily for a few minutes. I gave them their morning milk together in the bed and both were very content to lay very still.

After the milk was finished they stayed for a few minutes more, each with a book. Actually, Emily’s was a toy catalog that she has been holding on to for over a week. Julia’s book was “Blue Hat, Green Hat” by Sandra Boynton. Emily kept telling Julia that she should read the book and say “Oops”. Too cute! Julia will giggle when I read the “Oops” pages, but hasn’t mastered that word yet.

All good things come to and end and Julia climbed down and went off to play. Emily followed so that she wouldn’t be left out of any fun. What a sweet moment to remember.

The girls decided to sit next to each other and play with puzzles. I wish scenes like these happened more often, but I sure do appreciate them when they occur.

Emily was pushing Julia’s swing from the front. It is more fun when you can see the face of the one you are pushing.

We let the girls experience the billiard table from a different angle. They enjoyed rolling the balls into the holes and checking out the cool colors and stripes found on the balls.