3 and 1/2 and Other Random Stuff

Today is Jocelyn's 3 and 1/2 year old "Birthday" and we celebrated in our usual way!

Remember our buddy Gus?!

Laura, Gigi, Jocelyn,
 Lynette, and Mandy

It's been a really busy couple of weeks.  Jocelyn's camp ended on Thursday and she misses it already.  She really liked everything about camp, and her teachers and they LOVED her! 
Jocelyn held it together long enough to take this picture and then she started crying.  :-( 
I was so proud of her though.  She handled her time without me like a champ.  Each morning, I helped her get involved in some activities before I left, then we said our goodbyes and she was just fine.  When I saw some of the other kids so upset to see their parents leave, I knew how lucky I was.  She even handled it fine if she saw me in the hallway.  She would say "Hi" and give me a hug and go back to follow her class!  Wow!   I still notice that she is behind the other kids in some developmental areas.  She is still not as coordinated and confident with physical activities and (UGH!) she was the only kid in the class that is not potty trained!   I have been assured that she will be potty trained before college.  Let's hope so!

The latest favorite thing in our house is the "Cars" movie.  The whole family went to see "Cars 2" a few weeks ago, and none of us really liked it, but it has sparked a real interest in the original, which luckily, we have on video.  There's lots of "Cars" stuff out now, including books in the library, and Jocelyn has put in her order for a "Light-ing Queen" toy.   (I'm working on that!)  But in the meantime, our friend Colin gave us this great "Mater" toy.  We LOVE him!!  He says the funniest stuff! 


In a couple weeks, we will be traveling with Auntie, to North Carolina to visit Memere and Pepere, and we will get to meet up with Uncle Steve and Uncle Clayton, too!  They live in Georgia, and have planned to make the drive up to see us.  We can't wait! 
And the summer fun continues!

Patapsco and Camp

The Patapsco State Park isn't far from here and we have recently discovered this small creek, that is so much fun to play in!

It's the perfect summer fun activity!

Today was Jocelyn's first day of summer camp.  It runs for the next two weeks.  I wasn't sure how she would do, but she was ready to go this morning and when it was all over for the day, she was making plans to go back tomorrow.  She must have had fun!
Tomorrow, I think Mommy is going to find a nice quiet spot in the nearby library to enjoy my 3 hours of alone time! 
Here is the only picture she would allow this morning as we were getting ready to leave.  Don't ask me why she made us take it in the little corner at the front door!!   She looks worried, but trust me, she was just impatient to get going!

Summer is officially in full swing!

National Aquarium

Last week we took the whole family to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.   It was so *%&@! hot that day, that we decided we would rather spend the day in the AC, then sweating our way around the National Zoo.  We'll do that another day when it's in the more reasonable 70's or something!

So anyway, we had a really nice visit.  If you've been there before, you know that you follow a set path around the aquarium.  Jocelyn was facinated!  She couldn't wait to get to the next thing and the next thing!

I think the turles were Jocelyn's favorite.

But we saw lots of other fun animals too!

And of course the dophins!

At the top of the Aquarium is a giant greenhouse area that is meant to be like a jungle.  The animals there are so interesting.
Allie and Shelby especially liked this little guy...

Some of the birds are really pretty too.

All in all, it was a really fun day!

Catching up

Somewhere between the blog mania of the playhouse build, and present day, I got lost it seems.

So here's what's old, what's recent, what's new, and what's up and coming.

The Old -
The playhouse is done, the outside anyway, and I'm pretty sure Pepere was much relieved to head back to NC.  We all agreed this was the first, last and only project we will ever take on like this.  Jocelyn will have years of enjoyment, but don't ask any of us if it was worth it!

The Recent -
Pepere and Memere headed home and a week later, Grammy came for a visit.  I'm not sure where the 2 weeks went, but Jocelyn had Grammy wrapped around her little finger for the duration!
During Grammy's visit, I finally let Jocelyn stay at Auntie's house over night.  I had no doubt that she would be fine.  It was ME that I was worried about.  I survived, but I definitely did not like not being able to check in on her one more time before I went to bed.  Daddy missed her most in the morning when she wasn't here for their quiet time.  My favorite part was when she got home and was so happy to see me.  My place in her life is secure. 

We discovered with this sleepover that Jocelyn is finally too big for the pack-n-play, but she is still, (yes still) in her crib at home, so we were worried about where and how she would sleep at Auntie's.  Well it seems she managed just fine sleeping on a twin sized air mattress.   Minus a number of shout-outs to Auntie for water, snuggles, etc.!    I was a little afraid that she would want the same freedom here at home, but she went back to the crib just fine.  Whew!!

The New -
Allie and Shelby are officially on school break, so we are doing some fun family stuff.  Last week we went to the local pool and playground.  Check out some comparison shots!

Fall 2008

Summer 2011

Summer 2009

Summer 2011

The Up and Coming -
Next week Allie and Shelby will be here with us for a good part of the week.  It's pretty much the only week all summer that one, two, or all three of the kids don't have camp, so we are planning at least one day trip to the aquarium, the National Zoo, or something.  Stay tuned, and of course there will be plenty of photos!
And for the last two weeks of July, Jocelyn will have her own summer camp.  It's organized by our local county program and it will be all about the alphabet and animals.  She'll have camp 4 days each week for 3 hours each day.  After our success with "My First School" I can't wait to see how she does.  I am already collecting a pile of things to read while I have those hours to myself.  Of course, there's still no guarantee that I will actually leave the school  :-), but reading time is reading time no matter where you get it!
So there is much more summer to come!  Hope you're having a wonderful summer too!