Adventures of Evie

It was too cold to swim today so after school and work (and a little bit of cleaning) we decided to play out front with some chalks again. We made this game to play and then Evie made me a few smaller games to play too! It was really fun to see what she came up with and how she would make the game work. Mostly she made me avoid things!   After that she used the chalk to paint designs on my legs and arms and we added some hearts to her cheeks and flowers, bees and other assorted things she likes to her legs as well. We were both pretty exhausted today so when we were finished making art we took showers, snuggled up in our bathrobes and had pizza while we surfed YouTube playing song and movie guessing games. It was a relaxing way to end the day. :)

Today we had planned to go to the pool after school and work but after we packe up the whole wagon and walked all the way down there we realized it was closed for the day. Apparently some tiles needed replaced. So we trekked back home and played with chalks in the driveway instead while we waited for the mailman to deliver a package we have been waiting a few days for.  We had a lot of fun making words, letters, games, and our favorite TV characters. Evie's friend Avery even came over for awhile and joined in. After lunch we went out back to play with some dolls. For some time Evie has been BEGGING me for an American Girl doll camper. This stuff is SO huge though and between an LOL house, a Barbie house, an Americal Girl doll house, an ambulance and everything else I've been hesitant. However, when she spotted one WITH the Jeep for $2 there was no stopping her. It was missing a lot of peices, including the oven door, couch cushions, and trailer hitch so while we played with the...

  It was finally warm enough to go outside for awhile today! It's been very chilly in the mornings lately and while I can appreciate that it's no longer too hot to exist at 10AM I'm also not loving being cooped up inside all day. Evie isn't either. We were both in much better spirits today after being able to spend our lunch outside.  We made some chalk art, made up stories about the characters, and ran and played for awhile before it was time to get ready for the bus. Even then Evie was happy to race me down to the stop and ran around playing and singing while she waited for it to come. Fall is heavy upon us but we were both happy for a little sneak of summer today. :)

  Today we had another art camp! Before she had camp we spent the morning doing some practice with writing letters and with her reading. She's already picking up words really quickly and doing really well with making sounds. It's funny to be teaching someone to read because I come across situations where the letters make different sounds and it's so difficult for her but for me it's just a second nature. I don't even think about it. It makes you realize that language and reading are not as easy as they seem! But I'm glad she's sticking with it and she's really excited about learning. We also added a few new chalk drawings to the garage floor. Art camp today was a bird mask. She got to pick her colors again and of course she chose purple and pink! After she glued all the pieces together, she picked some pretty feathers and put those on as well. Unfortunately, it was getting dark out before I snapped a photo so it's a little hard to see the bright colo...

  Today we had an art day. Evie has a TON of sidewalk chalk and we use it all the time. It's one of our favorite afternoon activities. Sometimes we draw castles for her princess dolls, or hospitals for her LOL dolls. Sometimes we draw houses for ourselves or campgrounds for Barbies. Sometimes we just doodle whatever we feel like. Today was one of those days. We spent the afternoon in the garage out of the blistering heat just doodling and laughing and having fun together. She had me draw her a series of characters from her favorite shows... Including Cakey from Gabbys Dollhouse and several of the Heelers (from Bluey). It was a really fun afternoon activity and a good way to be creative together. :) After we finished decorating the garage we went to Kings Island and rode rides and ate snacks til we were both tired and ready for baths, snuggles, books and bed. :)

  Today we played with color mixing. We made a pan of sidewalk paint and started with primary colors, mixing them as we went across the pan. After we finished mixing them up we took the colors we made outside to paint! We did this activity last summer and it was a huge hit then as well. It's messy and creative but also a really good way to learn about colors and practice her writing and drawing skills. Plus it takes less than five minutes to set up! This weekend  I plan to power wash the drive way so we'll get to look at our art for a few days before we sweep it away this time! :) There was also a yummy food truck in our hood tonight. We got these delicious oreo chimney cakes to eat at the park and then had a nice walk home while we enjoyed them. Summer is already shaping up to be lots of fun! 

  We're still working on our summer bucket list and we've made some pretty good progress. This weekend we visited a Touch A Truck event and Evie had tons of fun climbing into recycling trucks, SWAT vehicles, and living her dream of pretending to be a real life excavator driver. We also got snow cones and checked that off the summer bucket list! We have also ridden our fair share of rollercoasters but I forgot to check it off the list!  We typically try to travel over her birthday but this year we didn't since we are working around several schedules. Instead of that I decided to take the first few days of the week off to just relax and have some fun with her. Today we drew a huge Barbie campground and played with her new camper. It's been super hot these last few days so we also took another trip down the pool to swim! Here's hoping that it cools down just enough to be tolerable but not so much that we can't swim! ;)

  Today was Evie's official last day at her daycare/preschool. It was a bittersweet day for me. It's great to not need it and the extra time with her will be awesome (as well as the extra money, am I right?) but she has been there exactly 4 years now and it's an ending I wasn't prepared for. Lots of things have changed for us in the last two years and it's hard to feel settled with it all just yet but this is a change I think will be for the best for us. She begged me to pick her up after lunchtime so even though I was still working I swung by and got her and after I got off we made some chalk lunches and enjoyed the sunshine for a bit.  It wouldn't be a weekday lately without wrapping things up at the pool so after awhile we headed down and we swam for a few hours before making some dinner and tucking in for the night. Tomorrow we have a big adventure planned and I can't wait to get away for a day or two. <3