We went to listen to Ms. Caryn read for Storytime. The girls enjoyed exploring the kids book section and listening to Ms. Caryn’s book too. After storytime we enjoyed lunch at Market Square. We got on the road for home before the rain moved in. We hope to make it at least once a month for this fun time.

Julia has loved going to school twice a week with her special friend. It is easier to leave Mama when your friend is there playing with play-doh already. Our warm sunny days have made playing at the playground a lot of fun too.

M’s fashion shot!

Julia has missed having Emily around to play with. Still, Julia is great at playing by herself and is also enjoying having time with Mama to herself. While much of our time isn’t spent doing "exciting" things, we try to have fun in just the normal moments of life. As an exercise Mama has tried to take random photos of the things we do. Here is a selection of our life.

Someone blew the bubble and then caught it back. It looks like her fancy magnifying glass.

Some of our morning walks are on chilly mornings. To stay warm Julia prefers blankets to a coat.

Who can pass a random bike rack without having to play with it before moving on?

Coloring anywhere is fun, but the front porch is as good as anyplace.

When we walk Julia has great smiles to share with others. Her favorite song to sing while we walk is "twinkle, twinkle, little star".

Just loving and playing with our toys are fun things to do too.

We are on-the-go so long some days that we just give out in the car. This day was really funny because five minutes before this photo was taken, Julia had just informed Mama that she was not tired.

Rainy days are great days to jump in random puddles. This one was outside of the preschool.

A week can’t go by without some train building. This day she made the Diego house into the train station. The trains are lined up on the porch waiting for their turn on the track.

Never underestimate the fun of helping Mama shop at the super-warehouse store. Yes, the cheese puffs are almost as big as she was. And yes, her Mama bought it because she was so darn cute.

Driving the grocery car is always a bonus. She informed me that she was Milli driving her UmiCar. If you don’t know the reference you have not been watching Team Umizoomi like we do.

There is always the fun of an after-lunch slide to go down.

Julia doesn’t always stroller on our walk. Although it is not so strenuous for Mama, little girls have to stretch their legs too.

Weekends have been different since school started. It is the time the girls are together and some Mama/Emily time that we were used to. There is nothing better than spending the morning together not necessarily doing much, but just hanging out.

Mama and Julia getting some snuggling in!

Side-by-side sister coloring – never to be under appreciated.

Julia used her playtime to build herself a track. It started simply with the track coming up to Diego’s Treehouse. Then over the day she continued to build onto it. She was very intent as she built the two loop pieces into a bigger loop. After she finished she proudly showed it to Mama saying “it took me forever”. Then later she added the mountain track loop. She was delighted to show it off to her Daddy too. This little track has also gotten a lot of play. I guess it is fun to take the train to see Diego. Mama was pleased with her creativity and joy over her creation.

Her complicated loop that “took forever”

Julia is starting a new pre-school program this year called Camp Faith. This program has a few advantages for us. It is two days a week and it is right at the end of our short street. Today was her first day and she was excited to go and play at “her church” as she calls it.

We got there on time, so there were only two other kids already there. She was quick to sit down and pick out the color of play-dough she wanted. She hardly gave Mama a good-bye before she got involved in her own world of play. Her best friend is also in the class with her this year. The teacher told me that they sat together all day as they changed activities. When I picked her up she was happily digging through a “treasure chest” for a prize. She picked out a Sponge Bob plastic toy that she has taken to calling “Big Bob”. Funny kid.

Because of our close proximity of the church to our house we walked home today. Hopefully this will be something we can make into a habit. The distance seemed pretty short when walking it alone, but once Mama was joined by the 3-1/2 year old it got a bit longer. I bet this distance will shrink each week as we walk it.

It is going to be a great year for her!

Julia out in front of the church with the pretty (and wet) flowers wearing her favorite kitty outfit.

Julia playing with Juno at the beginning of class. Juno lives up the street and two years ago was in the same swim class with Julia. Small world.