Simple Joys in Fancy Pearls

We received a few passing rain showers today. It seemed like the perfect afternoon to test drive Lia's new ballerina umbrella. And if you give a girl a ballerina umbrella, chances are she is going to want her ballerina outfit, rain boots and some fabulous costume pearls (which sadly....I may have actually worn once to a real event. Out in public. Please don't judge.) to go with it.

A rose by any other name is...well...a Gerber Daisy...

When life gives you lemons...

Enjoying the last lazy days....

Everything

A book is a good friend...or maybe just good...

"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket" ~ Chinese proverb

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested" ~Francis Bacon

Lia apparently took this quote to heart. I was recently cleaning out her bookshelves and came across this lovingly chewed up edition of one our favorite books. I can hardly remember those first few months home with Lia, when she chewed (and ate!) everything! Her favorite was paper...but obviously she also enjoyed a good book from time to time! :-)

How I love that funny face...

After yesterday's very prim and proper tea party post...I thought I would share another side of Lia. While we do put a premium on good manners and good behavior, we also aspire to a certain amount of, shall we say....goofiness, in our house. Lia is rapidly learning to run with the big dog (Daddy!), and will often ask after she tries out a "bit", "Is that funny Mommy??". She can whip off a killer knock knock joke (mostly funny for it's nonsensical nature) in the wink of an eye...and well...the faces pretty much speak for themselves.

Aunt Carolyn...this one's for you!

One Lump or Two??

Thank you to Aunt Janie who bought this tea set for Lia! She LOVES it! When she is not fixing "tea" for me...she is bound to be brewing a cup for one or two of her stuffed friends!!

Sprinkler Bliss

I know these pictures are not the best in composition or quality (mostly because I didn't want to get my camera wet! :-))...but I DO think they capture just how happy running in the sprinkler made Lia this morning. She literally stood in the water LAUGHING out loud....chortling really...pure bliss...for her...and for me too.

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve

We spent a glorious afternoon in a local wildflower preserve. We had plenty of opportunity to hike, look at flowers and enjoy nature at it's best!

The guide told us that if we were lucky, we might see a turtle...and we did! Can you spot the eyes and his shell sticking up out of the algae?

I asked Lia what she was doing in the following picture. She told me she was "sticking". I am still not at all certain what that means exactly, just that it involves scraping the path...with intense concentration...and it takes a really, really long time. When you are "sticking" several groups of people are bound to pass you and stare quizzically...but that in no way breaks the concentration of the "stick-er".

This is Bowman's Hill Tower...we went to the top by elevator.

The view of the Delaware River from the tower...definitely worth the ride!

Finally...I saved the best picture for last. Lia took this one of her dad...with no help. I am so proud! I bought her a digital camera for her birthday in December...and I think she is going to love it! Maybe she will decide to start her own blog! :-)

Yeah...I totally knew it seemed too quiet...

*Update below*

Can you tell by her expression how pleased Lia was with herself and her "make-up"?? She rocked this look most of the afternoon...but thankfully, since it was washable (and non-toxic!) paint, it came off without too much trouble at bath time!!

Update: Laura wanted to know what Lia used to "fancy herself up"...so Laura...this is for you! (But Bingo sounds fun...let's go sometime!)

For the past two years, Lia has brought home work like this from school. I have dot art in every color and for every season (and I guess, the odd fish thrown in for good luck...it was the only one I could find this morning! :-)).

So when I saw these...I knew Lia would love them!

I use them on finger painting paper, so she can dot...AND use her fingers to "finger paint" with them. They really DO clean up easily and Lia loves painting with them. Before she painted herself, she did produce some great works of art...like this one!