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Okay, it's only one week and counting until our lives change forever...
As long as I remember to breathe I'm doing all right.
Lily, on the other hand, is beyond excited. Lily has been counting down the "sleeps" until she starts kindergarten.
I have to be honest, I am beyond thrilled that Lily is so excited to start kindergarten.
I don't know what I would do with myself if both of us were dreading it.
Oops. Did I say "dreading"?
What I meant to say was...
well...
DREADING!!!
The other day Lily received a card from her kindergarten teacher. Lily was SO excited! Miss Sullivan mentioned in her card how excited she was for the new school year to start.
Lily quickly said, "Mommy, we need to send Miss Sullivan a letter to tell her I'm SOOOOOOOO excited, too!!!"
Consider it done.
We've only hit one teeny, tiny snag during school preparations...school shoes!
Lily does *NOT* like the shoes that are part of her school's uniform. At. All.
When Lily and I went to the shoe store she was not at all happy with her choices.
I know I'm a mean mommy, but it really was kinda funny. When I showed Lily her choices she kept saying, "Mommy, I don't like *ANY* of them."
I told Lily that I understood, but she still needed to pick one. To which Lily would respond, "Mommy, I don't like *ANY* of them."
It was as if we were stuck in some kind of crazy unending loop!
I might add that it didn't help one bit that 3 separate employees of the shoe store stopped by to let us know that we were in the "Boys" section of the store. Lily was none too happy.
Finally...reluctantly...Lily conceded to a pair of suede Bucks.
Then a funny thing happened....
When we got home from the shoe store Lily happened to see the bottom of her new shoes. There was a dump truck and a backhoe on the bottom of her shoes and Lily was....
beyond...
THRILLED!!!!
Seriously.
Lily said, "Mommy, does every child in kindergarten get to wear shoes with construction equipment on the bottom???"
If only I had known it was that simple...I would've flipped the shoes over in the store!!
On Monday, James, Lily, and I went fishing.
Okay, that might be overstating my involvement just a bit. It would probably be more accurate to say...on Monday, James and Lily went fishing. I tagged along to serve as chauffeur and photographer.
There's just something about worms...and hooks...and fish...that skeeve me out more than a little bit.
What can I say?? I have issues. Lots and lots of issues! Hey, at least I freely admit it!!
Thankfully, Lily has an awesome cousin like James to make up for her mother's short comings!
Not only did James bait Lily's hooks and help her with casting...he also provided Lily with her very own place to sit!
Lily had such a great time fishing and caught a total of 5 fish!
It wasn't only the fishing that was fun...it was the opportunity for James and Lily to spend time together. They are so funny, sweet, and extremely LOUD when they're together! Oh, and when I say LOUD I don't just mean James' shorts and Lily's shirt!!
If you are ever in a bad mood I know the perfect remedy. Spend a little time with James and Lily...especially when James is trying to convince Lily to go "hand fishing"!
If seeing these two crazy kids together can't put a smile on your face I don't think anything will!
While Tony was off we went to the National Zoo. I honestly can't remember the last time I have been there. All I know is it had been a very long, long time!
By far the 3 highlights of Lily's day were: seeing her Godfather, riding the subway, and walking under the misters at the zoo.
Lily absolutely LOVES riding trains! The fact that the "trains" to DC go underground...well, that makes them all the better! For Lily that is. For me??? Not so much.
To be honest, riding in the subway Freaks. Me. Out.
On the outside I try to appear calm, cool, and collected...but inside I'm dying. Literally.
Of course, Lily's color commentary doesn't help:
"Wow, look how long this escalator is! We must be going really, really far down into the ground!!"
~ Geez, thanks kiddo! You're killing me here!
"You know what's really cool??? There aren't any windows down here. I mean, you can't even tell if it's day time or night time!"
~ Um, okay. I can do this...if only I can remember to breathe!
"I bet if the lights went out it would be really, really, realllllly dark down here."
~ Alrighty then. Does anyone else hear that ringing in my ears??
"What would happen if the train just stopped in one of these tunnels? Would we just get out and walk?"
~ Will someone please just kill me now?!? Please.
I honestly don't know how people ride the subway every day. I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it!
Since we were riding the subway...and I was heavily sedated ;-)...we decided to make a slight detour for a quick visit with Rich, our friend and Lily's Godfather.
It's always wonderful to see Rich. Even if it is only for a few minutes!
After our quick visit we hopped back on the subway ~yippee~ and headed to the zoo.
It wasn't particularly hot the day we visited the zoo. That fact didn't stop Lily from standing under every mister we passed until she literally had water dripping from her nose and chin! Go figure.
It wasn't just Uncle Rich, the subway, and the misters that Lily enjoyed. Lily also enjoyed seeing all the animals.
For reasons I can't begin to explain, Lily showed every animal the map she was carrying. I'm not exaggerating. Lily held the map up to each glass enclosure or open exhibit we visited. Every. Single. One.
I'm not sure if Lily's goal was to let the animals know where they were or maybe she was helping them plan their escape. All I know for sure is that Lily was getting the biggest kick out of herself...and so were her father and I!!
Last week Tony took off a few days and we had a bit of a staycation. Um...a staycation in the sense that we didn't spend the night in any hotels...but we didn't spend the days at home either!
On one of Tony's days off we headed to the Science Center. Tony hadn't been to the Science Center since he was a child.
Not to worry, Lily appointed herself Daddy's personal tour guide and ensured he didn't miss a thing!
When we arrived at the Science Center they were launching swim noodle rockets off the second floor balcony into the lobby below. A bit of a strange greeting I'll admit, but when Lily learned she could join in the fun she practically flew up the stairs to the second floor.
The three of us had a wonderful time. We spent the entire day there and still didn't see all there is to see.
As for Lily, lying on a bed of nails, playing in a "tornado", digging for dinosaur fossils, and taking in two planetarium shows were fun...but they paled in comparison to the fun she had launching swim noodle rockets. She literally could have done that all day!!
Last weekend Tony, Lily, and I headed up to The Turkey Hill Experience.
What? You've never heard of it???
Either had I until I got one of those Groupon type e-mails offering 50% off admission. I mean, it's all about Turkey Hill Ice Cream and Iced Tea. How bad could it be?
So, when our plans to go to the county fair on Saturday got rained out we decided to take a little road trip to Columbia, PA instead.
It was definitely worth the drive. Lily had a blast!
Lily "milked" a fake cow, "drove" a milk truck, decided to accept/reject batches of ice cream based on the bacteria present, designed the packaging for a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, shot a commercial...and more.
I should probably also mention Lily got to sample some ice cream. Oh, and then Lily also had a very large ice cream cone...all before dinner!!
Let me tell you, in Lily's little world that was akin to hitting the lottery. In fact, she hasn't stopped talking about it! It really is all about life's simple pleasures.
As you may have guessed, one of my simple pleasures is iced tea. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the Turkey Hill iced tea at all.
What can I say? I'm a boring iced tea drinker. I don't want sugar...much less blueberry, peach, or pomegranate in my iced tea! YUCK!!
Give me good old plain, iced, black tea with a slice of fresh lemon and I think I've died and gone to heaven.
Speaking of heaven, if they serve ice cream in heaven...and I'm quite certain they do...it is heaven after all...I'm guessing this flavor is on the menu:
Oh. My. Word.
This stuff takes life's simple pleasures to a whole 'nother level. In fact, it almost made me forget how bad the iced tea was ;-)
All and all not a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday!
This week Lily and I went to a "Pick Your Own" farm and picked our weight in peaches and raspberries!
Speaking of "Pick Your Own"...can you guess who picked out her own outfit??? Oy!!!
I wish I could tell you that Lily had a wonderful time, but that would be a lie! There were A TON of grasshoppers and more than a couple of bees and all the flying insects made my little peach none too happy.
Once we got home and Lily ate 3 peaches and a pint of raspberries...those pesky bugs were a distant, albeit unpleasant, memory!!
...mourning.
Oops, I mean counting.
One month from today, Lily starts Kindergarten.
Lily is so, so excited!
As for me???
Well, I'm trying my best to be excited.
Really, I am. It's just not as easy as it sounds!
I'm still kinda stuck in the, "How did this happen so fast?" stage.
At the risk of sounding terribly obnoxious, I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of being Lily's mother. Truth is, I'm just not ready to share Lily.
Pretty pathetic aren't I???
The last 4 years I've spent at home with Lily have been such a gift.
Okay, maybe that's not entirely true. We don't actually spend a lot of time at home!
It would probably be more accurate to say I've enjoyed all the time we've spent:
at the park
at the library
at the playground
playing in the backyard
painting
playing Candyland
reading books
grocery shopping
baking
at the art museum
working on crafts
at Panera
on play dates
You get the idea.
Somehow, I still feel the urge to cram an incredible amount of "stuff" into the next few weeks.
Impossible and ridiculous, I know.
It's just that somehow I keep hearing this tick...tick...tick...sound in my head!
Did I already say ridiculous?!?
Oh...and yes...I know that Lily will only be at school for half a day.
And, yes, I know we'll still be able to do a lot of fun things together.
I also know that Lily will have a wonderful time at school and I believe she'll really thrive in her new environment.
I'll even go as far as to say that that I might actually enjoy having a little "TJ Time".
But, when all is said and done...
I'm going to miss my Sweet Little Lily. TERRIBLY!
Okay. Obviously, I should have known better. Seriously.
So, those bushy-tailed little rats are no longer afraid of the mylar pinwheels. Nope. Not. One. Little. Bit.
You know what's really insulting??? The @%*& squirrels don't even eat the @%*& tomatoes. They just take them off the plant...take a bite or two out of them...and then leave them in plain sight.
I loathe, detest, and despise these little rodents.
I know, I know, I know. I shouldn't take it so personally...but I really, Really, REALLY do.
I'm going to sign off now and go search online for an anger management class. I need one. Desperately.
Before I go find that anger management class let me share a picture of the little sweetie that brings me so much joy.
