Children's dance @ PAB

These pictures are from the children's dance we attended a few weeks ago. It also happened to be the hottest day at the cottage. I could only use pictures from early in the evening, since after about 15 minutes at the dance everyone was covered in sweat. It must have been in the 90s and very humid. It was one of those days when you get out of the shower and just start sweating. I don't think I've ever been so uncomfortable in pants.

Annie & Bea had a ton of fun. There was a great band playing classics like the "Hokey Pokey" and the "Chicken Dance," which Annie became quite good at by the way. Annie seems to have an endless amount of energy, and despite the heat she literally never stopped moving the entire time. I do think that doing the hokey pokey managed to keep her in one place, for a somewhat extended period of time. So we may have to try incorporating that into our daily routine!

I think in total we all lasted about 45 minutes before we were all too tired/hot/ to stay any longer. After we left we went on a very long golf cart ride to cool off before dinner, and then managed to have a very pleasant, mostly sweat free evening!

Summer so far

I can't believe our summer has been flying by so fast!

Here are a few pics of what's been going on. We've been doing some boating, Annie got a new tricycle, we've spent time at the cottage, and Karen and the kids have been having a great time in Grosse Pointe!

Annie's fly new whip

Annie recently got a new ride! Karen and the kids have been spending August in Michigan, splitting their time between Grosse Pointe and Pointe Aux Barques. We figured this would be a great time for Annie to get her first tricycle, since there is so much more room for her to roam. And up at the cottage you don't have to worry as much about cars and all the other fun stuff that comes with living in the city.

The pedals are still a bit far for her to reach, which is probably good at this point... Since she's a bit of terror on her own, I can't imagine the havoc she will wreak when she's got full use of her wheels!

Getting more and more adventorous!

Here is Annie at the park. We found this new (to us) park in Charlestown that has lots of great toys; like cars to ride around in, fun things to climb on, and a sprinkler! The fun thing about this park is that it's a good size, fenced in, there's usually a decent amount of kids Annie's age, and Annie loves it. The one drawback is the climbing structures are a bit advanced for Annie. And while she loves to climb, certain parts of it give me a mild heart attack watching her navigate around. I would say she's usually pretty good about knowing her limits and actually responds when you ask her to come back from the edge of something, usually...

The other interesting thing about the park, and all the other city playgrounds are the dynamics/politics among the parents. We try to be the laid back type, not hovering over Annie's every move in the park. Because we believe that Annie will best learn how to play with other kids and resolve differences on her own if we aren't constantly intervening. The problem arises with other parents who like to follow their child around, and happen to be right there when Annie decides to go up to their kid and take a toy he/she was playing with and take her turn with it. I think most times everyone gets that the kids are young and are still figuring things out. With those kids and those parents there usually aren't any issues. You feel bad because your kid just took a toy from another kid and apologize, and the other parent gets that it's no big deal and that's that. After a few park visits you become pretty good at spotting who will and who won't be a problem should Annie have a run in with their kid.

I think the other interesting aspect is the parks on the weekends. On Saturdays it's dad central, which is fun. It can also be complete bedlam. Let's run with the assumption that the moms are usually more organized and have everything (spare clothing, snacks, etc) needed, while most of the dads have a cup of coffee and that's about it. One of the last times we were there these two kids wanted to go through the sprinklers. Their dad didn't have swim suits, so the kids just stripped down and ran around naked. It was hilarious, and you could see some of the other moms who were there just look aghast at the situation. I was glad Annie kept her diaper on at least...