Vacation

Obviously, we can't go anywhere for a real "vacation" this summer, but luckily, that doesn't seem to matter one bit to the Nugget!

 We spent all afternoon in the sprinkler in the front yard.  I sat in a rocking chair, in the shade, for a solid hour and she screamed and laughed and jumped and played...

...and I decided there's no way a vacation to the lake or the beach or France could ever beat this afternoon.  Ever.  It was glorious!

Last week, we took her to a sprayground.  They have these all over Louisville for free, but there are only a couple of them here, and you have to pay to get in, but we wanted to check it out.  She had a ball, of course, because she's a water bug!

We've also been to the Zoo about....four hundred times.  Sylvain's been taking her at least twice a week.  They go early in the morning and only stay for a couple of hours, which is so nice because she's not exhausted, they get to eat lunch and nap at home, and every time they go they get to see something "new" to her.  I went along last week and we're going again tomorrow, but I have a feeling this will be a Daddy-Sylvia "get out of the house" activity all summer.  They both love it!

Churtles, Mommy, Churtles!

Earlier last week, she was begging to go swimming, but it was way too cold to put on a bathing suit and I was worn out by 9 am anyway.  So, I remembered this idea I found online (thanks, Pinterest!) and I made her a fancy shmancy "waterbox!"  It's just a box of water.  And I didn't go hunting for any special toys that would help her develop all kinds of particular skills in some area or another.  I just dumped a few things from our junk drawer into the water and let her go to town!  It was a hit, and once again, all I had to do was sit in the shade and watch.  Best. Activity. Ever.

Sylvain has been VERY busy in the backyard, and here's one of his day projects from last week - our vegetable garden!  Sylvia insisted on helping.

 It's way better than our last garden because: 1. it's smaller and more managable, and 2. we were much more careful about the materials (cedar planks, landscaping fabric to keep out weeds and chemicals from the ground, and we bought good soil since our yard is at the bottom of a cul-de-sac so our yard soil is probably g.r.o.s.s.).  Last year, I couldn't really feed any of our food to Sylvia because we just used yard dirt and cheap lumber, but now I can feel pretty good about giving her what we grow.  Live and learn!

We check on it every day and we're finally starting to see some shoots and sprouts coming up.  I'm hoping Sylvia will be excited to eat the veggies that she grew herself, but we'll see.  I don't want to jinx myself here, but for the last two nights she's had multiple servings of vegetables at dinner, along with some heaping helpings of everything else on her plate!  I can't even tell you how great it feels to watch her gnaw on her fourth spear of asparagus and then ask for more!  I think she's eating well these days because we keep her so busy and she burns up so much energy.  Or maybe it's just because we're all home, and we're all cooking and eating together for almost every meal, and we're on a pretty decent schedule.  Until you-know-who arrives.......!