In July we always go to the Pioneer Days Parade Preview with my sisters and their kiddos. This is definitely the way to do the biggest Utah parade. By late July my kids were parade experts. We loved watching parades and scrambling for candy. Gwen even got to be in a parade this year - the Children's parade. She thought that was pretty neat. Daddy walked with her and they got to wear matching shirts.
At the parade preview our favorite part is always the face painting and the balloon creations. This year Gwen and Kim had princess crowns and Emily had a butterfly on her arm that she could see. Noah had a Batman mask and Mason had a scary spider. Andrew got a bug on his arm and Max got a tiger on his hand.
At the beginning of August, as our last "hurrah" of such a wonderful summer, my parents planned a trip for everyone to the Grand Tetons. It was so much fun. It was a good way for me to try to forget about all the drama in my life at the moment - I was just barely put on suspension right before the trip and was in agony about it. It was my little family's first ever camping trip. Gwen was so good at hiking. We ended up on a surprise 3 mile hike and she was the best little trooper. I swear it's a struggle getting her to walk through the grocery store, but out in the woods she had a blast riding her pretend horsey "Hallo". She'd gallop ahead of everyone and the pause and wait for us to catch up. Some of her little cousins even got into her pretending spirit and would gallop along with her. Imagine her surprise when we ran into a group of real horseback riders at the end of the hike.
Gwen's little imagination is amazing to me. She has a favorite little cousin, Noah, who is just like her in this regard. They see an item and immediately it becomes something else to them. In Noah's case it's usually a sword or a gun or a super hero gadget. In Gwen's case it's usually a wand or a magical princess item. One day she put her underwear on her head and became "Super Girl". She still pretends to be Super Girl but I have talked her into only wearing her "mask" at home. Her super powers are the ability to make a swooshing sound while holding her hand out and it makes people stop and go. It doesn't always work for very long though.
Gwen turned 4 years old on August 28th. We had a swimming party - entirely her own idea but not really a big surprise since except for her 2nd birthday we've always had a swimming party. It was really, really windy that day and it wasn't as fun as we had hoped. The kids froze once the stepped out of the water and the wind tried to blow away all the gifts and guests. That evening, I asked Gwen what she wanted to do and she chose to go to Lagoon with just me while Daddy and Emily stayed home. We rode a couple rides that we hadn't yet like the Dinosaur Drop which she'd been terrified of because it makes this loud stomping noise. I had to hold her and pretty much stick her on the ride while she was screaming but as soon as it started she liked it. I told her she was braver and bigger now that she was four and could handle scary rides. She liked that idea and then made me measure her while waiting in line before each ride that night to see if she had gotten bigger. Her cake was also her own idea. She wanted her favorite little princesses to have a swimming party too. See how relaxed they are in their pool?
This morning I had to go start my paperwork at my new job (yay!) and when I got home the girls were dancing around to the soundtracks for High School Musical 1, 2, and 3. They were using our ice cream scoop and mixer as microphones. Even little Emily loves to put on a show. Last night Gwen was watching a Dora the Explorer about different jobs and at the end Dora asks "What kind of job do you want when you're grown up?" Gwen answered that she wanted to be a show dancer. When I'm exercising to videos at home in the morning Gwen loves to come and do it too saying that she's doing dancer stretches.
1 comment:
We've had so much fun with you guys this summer! It has been one of the best summers of my life. Noah loved seeing the picture of Gwen with her "supergirl mask" on. Funny, they are so alike because a year or so ago I walked into the room and Noah had his unders on his head in almost the same way and he told me it was his "John Smith helmet". (We had been watching Pocahantas.) I love that they have each other and their immaginations.
-Laura
Post a Comment