The County Fair

This year, I got sick on the day we planned to take Katie to the county fair. Katie was excited to go anyway, so my mom, Jennifer, and Garyldine took her and made sure to take some pictures for me. It sounds like she had a lot of fun. She still liked looking at the animals this year, but she was only brave enough to pet the llamas and the bunnies. The rest of the animals just got looked at.

Katie did play her first carnival game and was very happy with the prize she won. She also liked the blow-up kitty that Garyldine bought for her.

It was raining a little, so Garyldine wore 5 layers to the fair. 

How do I always end up on this side of the cows? 

Garyldine lifted me up, so I could see the goats better. 

They're big! 

I saw llamas too! 

I decided to pet one with everyone else. 

I did it! I did it! 

I'll try one more time. 

I liked the horses, but I didn't want to pet one. 

Then we saw some pigs. 

I don't want to go any closer though. 

After lots of hand sanitizer, I had a refreshing drink of water. 

Then we took a small break. 

What are we doing next, Grandma?

This lady showed me how to catch ducks in a net. 

I caught one! 

I'll try again for another duck! 

I won a cow head! Who doesn't need one of those? Garyldine also bought me this cat. I'm a lucky girl!

I'm ready to go home!

Accessorizing

Katie cracks me up with the choices she makes as far as her accessories. She can never seem to leave the house without them!

I had to bring my change purse on my walk to the school. You never know if you'll need a dime.

A Sandcastle

Katie was using her Play-Doh one morning. She got started on some project, and she was just happily molding away. She didn't want any help from me at all. Finally she held up her creation. I asked her what it was, and she looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing. "A sandcastle!"  She was so incredibly proud of her creation. After she showed it to me, she showed it to my mom, Chloe, Bingle, and Winnie the Pooh. Then, even though her sandcastle was perfect as it was, she decided to make a "Big sandcastle."

Presenting my sandcastle! 

I think it's lovely! 

I wanted to make it even grander. 

Ta-daaaaa!

Music Class

None of Katie's friends from music class could come to classes over the summer, so she had some one-on-one attention from her music teacher, which she loved. She still missed her friends though, so it was nice when her friend, Elijah joined her for one of her classes. After music, we went to get a sandwich together.

We started music class in Miss Jodi's backyard, looking for animals. I found a butterfly and caterpillar! 

We had fun with shakers! 

We shake to the beat of the music. 

I got to dance with Miss Jodi at the end of music. 

Elijah and I got to sit at our own table. 

We felt really grown-up. 

Elijah cracks me up!

Coloring

The other night, I went to see what Katie was doing. I knew she was busy with Chloe and with her pencil bag. She had decided to color with Chloe. She also wanted to spotlight Chloe. It doesn't show up in the picture, but she had her flashlight turned on and pointed at Chloe.

It's fun to hang out and relax with Chloe.

Blackberry Season

It's wild blackberry season again - something that puts a big smile on Katie's face! As I've mentioned before, we're lucky enough to have wild blackberry bushes surrounding our house, so Katie seems to want blackberries whenever we go outside.

The blackberries got sweet a week or two before we went on our trip. While we were in Victoria, Katie spotted some blackberry bushes and instantly wanted to eat the berries. Their berries weren't as ripe as ours though. After seeing those bushes, this is what we heard on the way home..."Aunt Jennifer, do you have blackberries? Grandpa, do you have blackberries? Grandma, do you have blackberries? Mama, do you have blackberries?"

This year it's a little harder to pick the berries by our house because some of the bushes have been cut back a little, so Katie has done more watching as I've climbed the hills and gotten stuck in the prickly bushes! Recently though I found some blackberry bushes that she could reach. It was fun for her to get berries on her own.

I see berries!

I'm so glad to do part of the picking! 

I had already picked quite a few berries. One went in my container. The rest went in my tummy. 

Where should I go next? 

Right there! 

Nothing beats fresh berries! 

When I finished picking, I got to go on our deck to eat. 

I love summer!

Peek-A-Boo Bear

My Aunt Jody sent Katie a Peek-a-Boo bear, and she quickly decided to love the bear. If you've never seen one, it's a cute teddy bear that holds a blanket in front of its face. When its paw is pushed, the bear talks and plays peek-a-boo by moving the blanket up and down.

Katie quickly learned how to make the bear work, and she interacts with the bear like it's someone real. It's so much fun for her. The night she got it, I was busy packing for our trip while she played with the bear. I looked over to see that she had my iPod, and she was taking pictures of the bear as it played Peek-a-Boo. When she got done taking pictures, I checked my iPod to see that she had taken 96 pictures! I guess she wanted to capture their fun memories together!

Why is the bear holding the blanket up? 

Peek-a-Boo! 

I quickly learned to push its paw to make it work. 

I liked the bear so much that I decided to share my bracelets with it. 

At nighttime, I decided to capture my favorite moments.