Things I Learned At Summer Camp

1. How to look like a cheetah. (Even though they ran out of time at camp, I remembered how to finish my eyebrows at home by myself.)

2. My sister will always try to outshine me.

3. Even at three years old, she will use her charms to get in with the big whigs. (Here she is with the director of my camp.)

4. The art of "pie in the face".

5. Whip cream tastes good.

Fairy House 2010

We started this one at the beginning of our stay, but finished it up right before we left. Here's a view from the back...

I just love all that bark!

Here I started trying to carpet the house with moss. This is how we left it the first time...

...and here is the finished product. I wonder what happened to our big tree in the front yard? Maybe a deer ate it?

I brought some super glue with us to make the ladder. And, as you can see, we finished the carpeting. Then, Bastien decided to do some major landscaping with the other kind of moss. I love it!

See our little campfire in the front yard? We made little benches for the fairies to sit around it out of wood and empty snail shells.

This was how we left it...

It's not directly on a well-travelled path, but it is near a documented Forest Service trail. I love the idea of someone accidentally stumbling upon it (maybe they've made a detour to go have a pee or something?). The possibility of this makes me smile uncontrollably.

Tracks and turds.

Yes, another walk. But this time...

we were joined by Jefe!

He thought it was time the kids learned about tracking. You see he has guide book.

He also thought it was time they learned to identify doo doo. Or droppings, or "scat" if you prefer. They thought that was hilarious.

I think Jefe was trying to feed Bastien some malarkey here...

Maybe he said some poo was dinosaur dookey?

Why the bandaid you ask? No real injury...but, it was Hello Kitty....

Happy Birthday Grand Ma Ma!

In Wyoming, this is how every day starts for Grand Ma Ma...

but today is a special day! It's her birthday. And we've started a tradition of taking pictures like this in this spot each year.

Notice how much Bastien looks like my dad. Same smile...

We added some backyard photos because the poppies and peonies looked so awesome.

More fun photos...

This is Bastien talking to his dad. We miss him so much!

Another walk...

She's so into posing right now. It cracks me up.

One word...trouble.

Throwing rocks.

So, we're back in Wyoming again...

This is us on a walk to Granite Creek.

Don't you think he has a George Harrison 'do?

Is this rock big enough?

Such cuties...

Rock A Bye Baby

So, usually we sing to Isabella before she goes to sleep. Tonight it was actually quiet around here when I sang her the "In A World Of My Own" song from Alice In Wonderland. When I went to tuck Bastien in, he said "I could hear you in there, so I got a song too."

Then it hit me. I realized that though his sister has been a total terror (we may have hit a new record in timeouts tonight), his behavior tonight was stellar. He deserved a song of his own.

I'm not that great at remembering lyrics, so it's hard for me to choose. I started with...

"All the single ladies! (all the single ladies) All the single ladies! Now put your hands up!"

Bastien stopped me.

"No, that's not a bedtime song. That will wake me up. And it's a song for girls, silly."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I replied. "Ok, bedtime song...let's see...how about Rock A Bye Baby?"

He hesitated.

He was probably thinking, "Aren't I too old for that?"

Then, he smiled. "Okay."

...So I sang my little bedtime number. And kissed him goodnight.

"Wait," he said. "What happened to the baby after it fell?"

"Oh, nothing really", I said. "He just floated down like a feather and landed on the ground."

"That's not what Heather said. She said all his insides fell out."

Hmmm..."Well, that's her story. In my mind, the baby floats down like a feather," I countered.

"Yeah, but in real life, his guts would fall out right?" he asked.

I'm not gonna lie to the kid.

"Yeah, they would. But, in real life, nobody would put a baby in a cradle all the way up in a tree."

"Why not?"

Are you kidding me with this? "Because they wouldn't want the baby to fall and have his insides come out." Jeez. "Goodnight."

I'm about to walk away.

"Wait!"

I stop for a second.

He continues, "What if the baby was up in the tree and a tornado came and picked him up and spun him all around, but then, he fell down and landed on a bouncer and then he bounced all the way to China?"

Huh? I'm trying to follow. "Why? Is there a hole in the bottom of the bouncer?" I ask. I did tell him once that if you dug a hole to the other side of the earth, you would hit China. I don't know if that's true, but it's something someone told me as a kid. And it was fun to say.

"No," he says. And, in a voice as if I should have known, "it's the kind of bouncer Isabella had at her party... with no top."

Still trying to understand. "Ok, I get it. So, he falls inside the bouncer. But how does he get to China? Is there a hole in the bottom?"

"No, no, no." He thinks I'm an idiot. He tries to explain. "See, over here is Chinatown, but then he falls and he bounces all the way, far, far, far to China."

??? Nobody said anything about Chinatown? But, I think I get it. "Ok, so he's in the tree and a tornado gets him and throws him on a bouncer and he bounces to China."

Exasperated, "No, he's already in China. The party is in the backyard in China."

"Oh, the party with the bouncer is in China! Ok, so the tornado takes him to China?".

"Yeah."

"Ok, then, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Glad we got that settled.

And I didn't have to answer "What if...?"

Parent:1 Kid:0

Itty Bitty Ballerina

Isabella was taking a class at the Hollywood Y these past few weeks called "Itty Bitty Ballet". It's for three-year-olds only. Talk about ridiculously cute?!!!

The first few classes, I didn't have the correct dance gear, so we improvised...

I

The tank/tutu was a birthday gift from her friend Matisse . I just love it.

This next outfit was a Christmas gift actually...another awesome find by Aunt Susie...

She bought it, then altered/embellished it. I'm not sure what parts are her creation? Well, I do know she was the one who added the little bells on the ends of the tutu. Brilliant.

Here she is taking a bow...

A definite performer.