Nothing like a pre-bedtime dip

Post bath and in our jammies, of course!

Art Class

On Monday mornings (bright and early!) Kendall and I are attending a class at the Children's Museum called "Scribbles and Dribbles." I waited until after the second class to write up a post on it, thinking perhaps her interest in art would surface in class #2 ... but as you will see in the pictures, Kendall's current interest in art consists of eating paint. So the class really is more like "Mommy Scribbles ... and Kendall Dribbles paint ... into her mouth." But she does seem to enjoy getting messy. VERY messy!

This is what she did after I slathered her hands with paint (removed them from her mouth) and got two handprints on her canvas:

... and she insisted on eating her crunchies throughout the remainder of the class.

At least she LOOKS like she's been painting!

My kid does love her snacks!

After class, we spent some time playing in the Children's Museum with her friend Zoe. Both girls seemed to enjoy this much more than the actual class. Notice that Zoe isn't covered in paint like Kendall is ... and Zoe actually did participate in the painting activities!

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Here are some pictures from Class #2. At first, Kendall sat herself right down at the table and grabbed the paint "dotters." I was so excited because it looked like she was actually going to paint something other than herself! Then she did this right as I snapped the picture:

She DID paint more than she did in the first class ... and we did not even take any snacks with us this time!

She looks so proud of the "art" on her hands and arms and face! The clean-up station (tubs of soapy water) were great fun. And quite tasty, as well. Sigh! As for now, I have 4 pieces of art with Kendall's name on them at home and I'm not really sure what to do with them. My inclination is to throw them away because they're horrible! I feel comfortable calling them "horrible" because Kendall had little to nothing to do with the creation of any of them and I have never claimed to be an artist. Fingers crossed that next week we'll work with clay!

SPLASH!

Splash PARK that is! We have discovered two within 5 minutes of our house ... one is significantly nicer than the other and where we will be returning. Whoever came up with this idea is nothing short of brilliant, in my opinion. Kendall has had a blast each time we've gone. And, as an added bonus, every other woman there is a mom or nanny. Therefore, I have no problem being in my bathing suit since there are no 20-something bimbos prancing around with their mostly naked, perfect little bodies. My body is nearing 40 years of age, and it has grown a human .... a perfect little human at that! So I have honestly accepted (but not quite embraced) the extra fat rolls and dimples ... as well as the fact that gravity seems to have doubled its effect on certain areas. I'd just really rather NOT stand next to the aforementioned 20-something bimbos! Anyhow, here are some pictures of my perfect little human enjoying the splash parks:

Evil ... InCARnate!

Never before have I had such strong feelings of dislike for an inanimate object ... until I met Kendall's Little Tikes Cozy Coupe car. Kendall discovered one at her friend Sean's house and spent the vast majority of the 2 hour playgroup sitting in it ... and kicking everyone who dared to attempt to join her OUT of it. So I knew that she needed one. And literally days after I shared some pictures with Nana of the little darling in Sean's car, a box containing the car "parts" showed up on the doorstep. "Awesome!" I initially thought. Then I saw the 31 step picture directions. No words, just vague pictures. Apparently drafted for illiterate parents. Two days later, I was still on step 10. Then I found the video instructions online which are MUCH better, but on day 3 I was still on step 12 .... which ultimately required a phone call to Little Tikes customer service, where I received the oh so technical recommendation of "heating up the plastic with a hairdryer" (to the point of nearly melting it) and "lubing it up with dishsoap." Interestingly enough, the recommendations worked. It took 4 days, several headaches, many bruises, and Kendall's introduction to a whole new (inappropriate) vocabulary, but the thing is finally together. And it smiles at me every time I come downstairs. Like it's taunting me. But it's little girl LOVES IT! Children test the patience levels of their parents enough. Must their toys be designed to do the same???

Professional Family Photos!

As promised, we FINALLY had them done and I'm very happy with them! It was humid enough to need gills to breath the morning we had them taken at the Arboretum. Kendall was a good sport for the first 30 minutes and then she was definitively "ished." So Chris gave her a snack cup with raisins so the second half of our pictures portray Kendall clutching a lovely green snack trap and/or with a mouthful of raisins. I think the photographer photoshopped them out of the better pictures. Given everything working against us that day, I truly believe that our photographer worked miracles! Here are some of my favorites:

Kendall's Korner: The Swimsuit Edition!

Several of these pictures have been posted before, but I felt the need to re-post them in a formal Kendall's Korner "Swimsuit Edition" post. It is only the beginning of June, and I have just realized that the child has been in four different bathing suits already this year. You'd think she swims a lot (she does not.) Or perhaps her mother just finds her irresistibly adorable in bathing suits so she wears them around the house a lot!

Here is the first suit of the year:

And here is her latest acquisition:

And here is a testament to the absorbency of Target brand diapers: "Baby got BACK!" LOL!

Here is her bikini, which her father says she is only allowed to wear at home ... if at all!

And here's my all time favorite! I think she looks like a 1940's starlet in her little Florence Eiseman "puffy suit!"