Accessorizing

Red, white and blue!

It was red, white and blue day at school :-)

Wonder where she gets it...

It couldn't possibly be her father's influence :-)  Maya's first drawing of a T-Rex!

A weekend away

A few weeks ago our family of four spent a long weekend in Seabrook, WA.  It is a quiet little town right on the ocean and was the perfect escape from the daily grind that we all needed.  We spent our days going on walks to the beach, kite flying, sand castle building, bike riding, playing at the park and swimming in the pool.  We even found a giant tree house to play in! The house we rented was the perfect size for us and included anything we could ever need.  The girls slept in bunk beds which they thought was the coolest thing ever.  There was a firepit in the back so we spent evenings roasting marshmellows and making smores.  The best part was having no particular schedule and nothing that needed to be done.  This will definitely be a place we visit again - Laurel keeps asking when we get to "go to our new house again".

(Maya made a treasure map)

A birthday party

The girls had a joint birthday party with all of their friends from school (and cousins) this year.  They decided together that a bouncy house was their choice.  It was a blast!  I didn't take many pictures (and I have ZERO pictures of Maya's family birthday party) but here are a couple that I did capture.

Five!!

Wow!  Unbelievable that Maya has already reached 5 years old.  It seems like such a big milestone - we are officially reaching "school age".



Some of my favorite things about my soon-to-be-kindergartner:

- Her excitement to learn.  Once it clicked, she picked up reading very quickly.  She knows a giant list of sight words and is getting quite good at sounding out words she doesn't know.  She received a watch for her birthday and is working hard on figuring out how to tell time.

- She is thrilled to be starting Kindergarten next year and quite often asks when it will be September.  After a lot of back and forth, we decided to send her to the nearby elementary school instead of her current daycare which does offer a private kindergarten class.  We visited the school for a tour and she likes to tell anyone who will listen that it will be her school.

- Her love for her sister.  They can bicker and argue like no other, but it is the quiet moments where they show their love without knowing we are watching that make my heart melt.  Laurel was struggling with some painful constipation (sorry for the TMI kid, but it is a big part of your life) and I walked into the bathroom to find Maya with a stack of books "reading" her stories so Laurel wouldn't have to be alone and sad.  We had a special "Maya and Mommy" day not too long ago and halfway through the day she began to ask about Laurel and said that she wished she could be there with us.  Until recently they had afternoon recess together at school and I was told by both teachers how great they are together and they really look forward to that play time together.

- She is constantly making up songs.  On our car rides, she always asks me what I want to hear a song about and then lists categories of songs and specific songs within those categories for me to pick from.  Lately it has been the "Fourth of July" category with specific choices of fireworks, sun and american flags.

- Knock knock jokes are a big favorite.  I would be a happy person if I never had to hear the banana knock knock joke again.

- She loves her sleep.  It is very difficult to get her up in the morning as she hides under the blankets saying "two more minutes, two more minutes".

Protection and comfort...

It's what big sisters do best.