Friday, July 30, 2010

Summer 2010 - Week #5

It has been a slower week last week.
We haven't done much, but it has been an easy, enjoyable week.

We have been to three library programs,


one free Tae-kwon-do lesson (which she absolutely LOVED),


one market and one park,










one art gallery,



Jaymi has built a fort in the backyard (with Mark's help and lots of power tools),






we have had one dinner outside,


we have watched the making of a beautiful, elaborate local fountain,


we have been princesses together for a day, which involved:
talking like princesses ("farewell" instead of "goodbye", "after you!" when we go through doorways, "I adore you" instead of "I love you", walking on tip-toes, walking softly and NOT thumping, holding our purses correctly and standing with our feet together, and sitting properly).
Jaymi has been 'teaching' me about how to be a princess.


And she has bought her very own little adult-like purse from the dollar store.  She had a lot of fun while we sat outside of Starbucks, organizing what goes in each pocket (she was happy to find a purse with THREE pockets).  She has the following in her purse:
- keys-house and car (they are really those tiny keys that come with diaries)
- lip balm (to keep a princess's lips soft)
- sunscreen (to protect the princess's soft skin)
- mirror and comb (she says that princesses like to look at themselves)
- kleenex
- cell phone
- cards (her pretend credit card, pretend coupon, and hotel key from a vacation we took - pretending it's another card)
- change


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Summer 2010 - Week #4

Wow - I can't believe we've alread week #4 already, of our summer!

I got to do some promotional pictures for a friend last week, which was fun.  Here are a few of my favourites.





We began our week with Mark having some surgery done on his face - under his nose, specifically.  Many of you know that a few years ago, he was attacked by a pit bull and has undergone many, many operations since then, on his face.  This is hopefully the last one, and was a minor one.  Our family is so used to him going into surgery, unfortunately.  Jaymi has actually formed a club that includes the two of them, since her brain surgery last year.  She collects his hospital bracelets (along with her own - each time she has an MRI as well).  Anyway, we drove him to the hospital and picked him when he was ready to come home.  In the meantime, while waiting, we visited the new Walmart superstore.  I found it huge, but not fantastic.  A lot like our Great Canadian Superstore, with clothing, housewares, etc., and now produce, meat, etc..




Jaymi loved it, especially what she alls the 'cartilator' (the little escalator just for carts).

We also found a great park near the hospital, where Jaymi had lots of fun while we waited.  There was this fantastic climbing area where Jaymi needs lots of arm strength to climb it.




A couple of days before Mark's surgery, my car's brakes started to make a very bad grinding sound, so after Mark went into surgery, I called to get an appointment to bring it in.  I got the appointment for Tuesday and the brakes got fixed.  Jaymi and I dropped the car off at the dealership and then we were planning a downtown adventure - scavenger hunt, etc..

But, friends of ours ended up offering us a ride back near home, and we ended up spending some time with them at the lagoon.





















Jaymi made dinner for us one night this week.  She made pasta (I handled the pot on the stove) but she started the burner, filled the pot, watched the pasta cook, tested it to see if it was ready, grated the cheese, portioned it out, poured milk for all of us, etc..

Jaymi and I did a small study of teeth last week.  It was so much fun.  We have studied teeth before, 3 years ago, but she doesn't remember that.

I found the BEST tooth book!

We played Tic Tac Tooth,


And read another book about teeth,


She played some of the fun games on the Colgate website.


And we made apple mouths, with anatomically correct teeth made of marshmallows, then ate them, of course.

(Here is the same picture, by the way, from when Jaymi was 4 years old and we did the same study)




We set up a pretend dentist's office and treated patients.
And Jaymi spent one evening brushing hr teeth for 8 minutes!  She sat on the toilet lid, reading her tooth book, making sure she brushed absolutely correctly, restarting her electric toothbrush each time it ran out.
She has been so careful to floss and brush properly since our study. :)

The last time we studied teeth, we made a giant tooth out of foam board.

This time, Mark made a big wooden tooth (a molar) covered in blue laminate.  She loves it, and brushes it and takes care of it. :)



They went on to make another wooden tooth, this time, an incisor, and they plan to make a canine tooth as well.





On Saturday, we went to some garage sales, and Jaymi found this cute little cropped jean jacket. :)

and this awesome turquoise eyelet dress!


On Sunday there was a Farm Tour day going on around town.  A bunch of local farms had open houses, with tours and samples, etc.

The first farm we went to was Saanich Christmas Tree Farm.  Obviously they grow Christmas trees, but much more as well.





They grow strawberries, garlic, dahlias, apples, and lots more.
We ate the best ice cream with fresh strawberries on top.



The next farm was a corn farm with a huge market, as well as goats that Jaymi fed, and a mother duck with baby ducklings.





The next farm was Dan's Farm, where we enjoyed another serving of ice cream - this time, in a cone!


Last on the list for the day, was Babe's Honey Farm, where there was a lot to see and do.

We learned all about how honey is collected, what the beekeepers wear, etc..






We tasted about 15 different types of honey (from various plants).  One of our favourites was the wildflower honey.  We bought a little tube of honey that Jaymi enjoyed.


Jaymi got to make a candle out of beeswax.



We tasted bread dipped in balsamic honey vinegar, and I tasted mead (which is made from honey) too.


Of course, last week, again, there was lots of swimming, including friends coming over to swim with Jaymi.




















Jaymi has been experimenting with doing different things in the pool, like....
snorkeling,

and blowing bubbles.





She made me laugh one day, when she showed up ready to swim, wearing a full UV suit and this funny headband that she found at one of the garage sales.

We tried out a new board game together - Upwords.


We had a lot of fun, ate too much ice cream, and stayed up way too late last week. :D