It feels like summer because we made it to the last day of school! Yeah! I am not sure who is more excited. Maybe it is Emmalyn because now she won't feel left out in the mornings anymore. Mom is probably the most happy because trying to juggle all of the kids school work was challenging. We went out after they finished their schoolwork on the last day for milk shakes at Swensons. Everyone deserved it after living through 2 months of home schooling.
Emmalyn is much more mobile this year and she has a blast going outside. Warm weather means we can spend lots of time outdoors. We love to go on walks and run around on the playset. She has gotten good at climbing up the ladder on the playset and sliding down the slide on her own. Mom typically waits at the bottom to catch her so that she doesn't go down the slide too fast. We can eat on the screen porch and it is now the season of grilling.
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| funny girl |
We also can make smores in our fire pit. Emmalyn had her first one and she enjoyed it!
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| smores |
Summer also means splashing around in the water table. Emmalyn loves play in it on the screen porch. It keeps her in the shade and also mom can keep an eye on her without worrying that she is running off into the front yard.
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| water table |
We have also loved joining the pool this year. Many pools are closed because of COVID-19, so we were thrilled that our pool was still open. The zero entry pool is perfect for Emmalyn this year. It is easy for her to get in and out. While she can't keep up with her older siblings, she enjoys spending time with mom splashing around and playing with buckets on the side of the pool.
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| the pool |
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| pool time |
We celebrated mother's day at home this year. We typically go out to eat because mom likes the break from cooking and cleaning up after dinner. Instead, dad made a nice roasted chicken dinner since restaurants were not open yet.
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| mother's day |
We ordered butterfly caterpillars from Amazon. They are painted lady butterflies and we have been watching our caterpillars slowly grow. They are getting enormous. So enormous that they are starting to sort of gross us out. We are ready for them to make their chrysalis.
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| caterpillars |
We also celebrated Nathaniel's birthday. He turned 7 years old. We had a cinnamon roll breakfast, surprise birthday parade, and steak and lobster for dinner because that is what he wanted for dinner.
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| birthday breakfast |
Emmalyn has the best wake up hair sometimes. She gets sweaty when she sleeps which makes her hair all over the place.
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| bed head |
With school being done, we have had more time to go hiking. Even on rainy days, we can put on our rain gear and head out. If I have Emmalyn on my back, I also bring an umbrella to cover us so that the rain doesn't slide down my back an into her lap.
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| hiking in the rain |
Emmalyn loves stuffed animals and baby dolls She especially loves puppies. She has her own special stuffed animal, her Koala. It is the one thing that she wants to sleep with every night.
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| stuffed animals |
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| snuggling with koala |
Now that we have a bike trailer, we have been hitting up the Ohio to Eerie trail with the kids. It is such a peaceful bike ride. Nathaniel now has his new bike so Clara got his old 16" mini viper, so we are a biking family. We recently biked to the UDF with friends to get ice cream. Even Emmalyn got her own.
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| bike buddies |
Emmalyn is so agreeable, it is hard not to love her. She loves to give kisses and says "muah" when she kisses you. Also, rather than saying yes, she says "uh huh" and nods. One of the things that the other kids find hilarious is that when mom asks a question to the kids, Emmalyn will automatically shout "me". The question just basically has to start with the word who. For example: "What wants to take the first bath? Who would like to water the plants? Who wants to go on a bike ride?" She automatically shouts that she wants to, even if she doesn't know what she is signing herself up for.
Emmalyn is continuing to pick up more words. She still signs for certain words. She likes to sign for milk, more, all done, and please. She says wawa now instead of signing for water. She is able to get her point across but her vocabulary is increasing quickly. We hope she keeps it up!
Looking forward to more summer with our sweet girl.
-eric & anna
