Beach Trip to Corolla

The weather around here has been absolutely bizarre the last few weeks.  We went from snow on Kasia's birthday to the upper 70's by the end of the week.  It's 80 one day and 40 the next.  

Fortunately we had a beautiful weekend recently, and we did what any sensible family does on a nice day.  We went to the beach.

One of the beaches that I had never been to since living here is the beach up in Corolla.  It also happens to be the only beach in the county in which we live and pay taxes in.  So we decided to take a trip down and see what our beach was all about.

As I should have known, it was gorgeous.  The center piece of Corolla is the old Corolla lighthouse, which remains in its original, unpainted state.  Of course, since this is the off season, the whole place was closed and we couldn't climb to the top or anything fun like that.  But on the plus side, since it was the off season, there weren't any crowds to deal with.  

So we wandered around the lighthouse for a little while before heading across the street and spending some time collecting sea shells on the beach.  Kasia had been talking all winter about how she wanted to go to the beach, and she finally got her wish.  She even wanted to walk in the water, despite the fact that the temperature of the water was around -2 degrees.  She just loved it.  Kara hated it.  And I was too big a wimp to get my feet wet.  I mean, it was freezing.  

Then as the waves kept getting higher and higher, Kasia became obsessed with making sure our shoes and things didn't get wet.  She kept picking them up and moving them high and higher on to the beach.  

After we got all the sea shells we could carry, it was time to have a little ice cream and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  Easier said than done however.  Apparently most of the ice cream shops in town are closed during the off season, and finding a scoop of ice cream turned out to be a rather difficult task.  We must have stopped in five different places before we finally found a coffee shop that also served ice cream cones.  

Now, as I look outside and see it rain, and know that it's in the 40's again, I find myself longing to go back to the beach again.  Hopefully next time we'll have an easier time finding some ice cream.  

Kasia Turns Three!

It's hard to believe, but Kasia is now three years old. It doesn't seem like it has been three years since she was born, but the calendar doesn't lie.
We had a small get together over the weekend to celebrate. It was nothing too big or fancy, and basically just included cake and ice cream, which is all Kasia would eat. She enjoyed getting some new toys, and loved unwrapping the presents. It's just taking her awhile adjusting to the fact that she's three. She's been going around telling everyone she's two for so long, that it just sounds wrong when she says three. She'll get it though.
For her actual birthday, we decided to really spoil her. We gave her some more presents and then took her for a late lunch to McDonald's. We got her a Happy Meal, but she didn't eat it. All she wanted was the little toy, and to be able to play in the play area for as long as she wanted. So we let her, and all day long just basically let her get away with whatever she wanted. It was kind of the poor man's birthday party, but Kasia doesn't need a lot to be happy (which is good because we don't have a lot to give her).
So the next time you see her, ask her how old she is, and hopefully she'll tell you three. I make no promises, but hopefully she'll have learned by then.

She Wears a Dress

Kasia wore a dress on Valentine's Day. It had little hearts on it and she looked really cute (as you can see). The unusual part about it was that she chose to wear the dress, we didn't make her.
Kara came down with the dress and another outfit with pants and a shirt. She made the comment, "Well, since you probably won't wear the dress, let's put this shirt on you." To this, Kasia floored us all and said, "I want to wear the dress." What?? Whose child is this?
Kara was shocked with disbelief. She asked "You want to wear the dress? This dress? This one right here?"
"Yes. I want to to wear the dress." Wow. Ok, so she wore the dress, and doesn't she look cute? Now if only she would do this with food. I could say something like, "Do you want some peanut butter?" and she would say, "I want to eat some carrots." A parent can only dream.

MINE!

Kasia is that stage in life where everything is "MINE!" The other day when we were playing at Little Birdies, she dove on to a pile of toys, like a future Medal of Honor winner diving on a land mine, and shouted "MINE!" Of course, she mean they were hers... not that they were an actual land mine or anything. She was probably still hoping for a prize though.
Then I brought my old keyboard down from the attic because I thought she would enjoy playing with it. The first thing she did was instantly declare it "MINE!" I was not allowed to touch it or show her how it worked.
"MINE! MINE! MINE!"
Fine, I said. If this is yours, then where did you buy it?
Without thought or hesitation, she immediately said, "Food Lion."
"Really? Food Lion? You bought this keyboard at Food Lion?"
She thought about it for a minute and then corrected her statement. "Dollar Tree. I got it at Dollar Tree."

Then I went to show her how to turn it on, and I was stopped with "MINE!" Fine. It's hers.

Keeping Order

The Little Peoples Airport can be a rough place.  Often times, chaos is the rule and not the exception.  Wild animals from the 100 Acre Wood and Noah's Ark have taken control of the place.  Thankfully there's a new sheriff in town to keep the law.  Johnny Thunder.

Tigger was getting a little out of line and needed to be brought down.  Johnny Thunder used a tranquilizer gun from a 100 yards.   At least he said it was a tranquilizer gun.

Peace has once again been restored.

Kasia Sleeps in a Real Bed Now

It took us just shy of three years, but we finally did it.  We finally took the bars down and let Kasia sleep in her very own bed.  I don't know what we were thinking, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Over the weekend, we took the bars off her crib and converted it into a toddler bed.  We put some Strawberry Shortcake sheets on, and Kasia loved it.  We put a gate up at the top of the steps so that wandering toddlers wouldn't fall down in the middle night.  We changed everything in one fell swoop.  

Now, Kasia wakes up for no reason in the middle of the night and comes in to our room.  Why?  I mean, I know kids do that.  I use to do that, but why is she doing it?  Why do I find her standing in the hallway at one in the morning?  The odd thing is that we just walk her back to her bed, and she goes right back to sleep.  And she'll wake up bright and early now in the mornings.  We used to be able to get up before her and have some "me" time, but not anymore.  The strange thing is that now I can't sleep.  I'm constantly paranoid that every little sound I hear is her walking in to our room.  Every time the blanket shifts, I think it's Kasia hitting my feet.  So maybe this weekend we'll put the bars back up and see how that works out.  Well, maybe not, but it was worth a try.

Kasia Kicks it Old School

Kara got me some Old School Sesame Street dvds awhile ago.  They start off with a warning that states these early episodes are meant for adults and may not be appropriate for today's pre-school child.  

Well, they may not be appropriate, but I have to tell you, our pre-school child loves them.  I mean, she LOVES them.  She'll sit there and watch these things over and over.  She counts with them.  She talks back with them.  She learns her letters.  All Old School.

The funny thing is that she doesn't really like watching the modern Sesame Street.  She likes Elmo and Zoe and some of the other characters, but as a whole show, she won't watch it.  So what is it about the Old School ones that don't make it appropriate, and yet make it a wonderful learning tool?

Could it be the afro?  None of the people on today sport the afro anymore.  The long sideburns are also gone.  Were they the secret ingredient to learning the ABC's?  Or was it that they focused on a few, simple ideas and tried to teach them?  One word, repeated over and over throughout the episode.

I watched Sesame Street the other day... and they were talking all about "estimating."  Not exactly 1,2, 3 but I guess it's useful.  Zoe and Elmo had to estimate how many hats they were wearing.  Both of them won.  Everyone won.  Nobody lost.  Old School Sesame Street had people who lost.