Summer catch up

It's time to catch up with some blogging. I will have to put up some pictures from our trips to Colorado and Pennsylvania this summer, but not today since I am at work without the pictures. But I have some pictures from August and September that I want to put up before I get too far behind. These pictures are from a family fun fair put on by a residents/fellows association at work. They held it at the local athletic club and brought in a petting zoo, bouncy castles, and other fun stuff. Charlotte had a blast.

These baby goats kept hopping out of the gate and skedaddling away!

Charlotte looks like she's trying to strangle this little guy, but I think she's really just petting him.

This was her second pony ride (first one was at last year's picnic). She was so excited!

You can see here that the horse was not as excited. The next little girl in line did not get much of a ride as Mr. Pony decided he was tired of giving rides.

Please click on this picture to enlarge it to get the full effect of her facial expression.

Enjoying the pool. We got her these water wings for her birthday in Colorado and they were the best idea EVER! She used to be so scared in the water, but now she'll happily paddle around without fear.

The end to our day of fun? Charlotte got sand kicked in her eyes. Not just a few specks, but huge globs. We were unsuccessful in getting much out with trying to pour water in (have you ever tried to do that with a four year old?!). Being the great physicians we are, we asked a pediatrician friend of ours at the picnic what to do, who told us to just keep rinsing with water. The sand didn't seem to bother her much, so we just took her home, put her in the bathtub and then poured cups of water over her head when she wasn't expecting it and had her eyes open. Then, as depicted in this photo, she let Mama pull down her eyelids and gently wipe the sand out. It was such a sad sight, but she was so good. This was a great way to teach her why we don't throw sand at the playground.

Little ballerina

Charlotte loves to dance around the living room. Normally she won't let me videotape her, but she was in the zone and didn't seem to mind this time. While I was recording this it really struck me how grown up she has become. I was thinking back to her dancing in this living room at age 2, which doesn't seem so long ago. But when I saw that grown up little face and long arms and legs, she suddenly seemed so old.

Later she wore this same outfit to the grocery store. :)

Beauty Parlor

While brushing my hair for me this morning:

Mama, you don't want your hair to look un-nice, do you?

Pretend you don't know me

Last night we went to a concert in the cities; it was Sara Groves, one of Kristi's all-time favorite singer/songwriters. Check her out at www.saragroves.com. We took Charlotte, which was interesting. :) She enjoyed it a lot, but it was a no-nap day, which made it hard for her to sit quietly and not get fussy until 10 pm. She was happy to hear her favorite Sara Groves song "You Cannot Lose My Love" (she calls it "The Baby Teeth Song"--you'll have to listen to it to know why). She and the little girl sitting next to her (also 4 years old) were dancing and twirling in the very narrow rows of seats. At one point, Charlotte said to Matt "Daddy, pretend you don't know me."

Also, very strangely, Charlotte looks extremely similar to Sara's little girl Ruby (also 4 years old). One of Sara's family friends mistook Charlotte for Ruby before the show, and then both Matt and I noticed it on a music video with Ruby during the show, and in person when Ruby was running around after the show. Very strange.

Boys and girls

Charlotte: It's a girl frog (talking about an art project frog she made today).
Mama: Oh really? How do you know it's a girl?
Charlotte: Because she has girl parts.
Mama: What are girl parts? (cringing at the direction this conversation might go, but wondering what she meant)
Charlotte: I don't know....like earrings?
Mama: (relieved at this answer) Hmmm, yes maybe...
Charlotte: But boys wear earrings sometimes too. So I don't know.

At least we know she's not allergic

to bees, that is. Charlotte got her first (and second!) bee stings today. Poor little lamb cried and cried at first, but settled down with some love, an ice pack, and a couple of band-aids. We're glad that we she got stung here rather than while we're in Africa so that we weren't dealing with an anaphylactic reaction without any emergency medical care available. Whew!

Last night at supper Charlotte asked...

"Could we maybe talk about getting a pony?"