Fabyliss

I think all of the Fancy Nancy books we've been reading to Maya are starting to have some effect on her.

For the past several nights when I've come into Maya's room before I went to bed, I've found my daughter asleep (like she should be), but wearing rings, necklaces and bracelets. Last night, she even had on a headband with a giant white and peach flower on it.

It started after we set up a new bookshelf in her room and placed her jewelry box on top of it. The shelf is low enough that she can reach the box. It turns out that after I tuck her in, she sometimes gets up, retrieves her box and starts making herself fancy. I let her sleep with the jewelry on, except the necklaces.

Today when she woke up, she had put the necklace on again and came out in her pajamas. "I look fabyliss, don't I papa?" she asked him. "Fabyliss."

She didn't stop there. Later, in the car with Guillermo and me, Maya declared "We are all beautiful and handsome in here."

Indeed, we are ;)

Magic Camp

Guillermo went to magic camp this week! Ever since I read him Harry Potter, he has been really excited about magic and his face lit up when I read the camp description to him a few weeks ago. He then told Maya and I all about the spells he was going to cast on his, and none of them sounded very good.

The camp was called Magical Quest and it was at the Carolina Friends School. The kids explored legends, myths and fairtales and learned magical powers of the the natural elements. Here was the agenda for one day: Watch your dragon eggs hatch, make wizard hats and make potions, with lots of playtime mixed in of course. Guillermo brought home some curious light green liquid in a bag and said it was goop or quicksand. Another day he brought home a sorcerer's ring that he made and hung around his neck on a piece of ribbon. He had a great time and he was quick to tell me how great the playgrounds at the Friends School are. (The school is pretty cool!)

Maya, I think, also enjoyed having Guillermo at camp. She had the babysitter all to herself and had more freedom for playdates. One day, she and a friend sat outside the coffee shop next to my office, playing Guess Who and Candyland and eating Cookie Crisp cereal.

She did say that when she is old enough, she would like to go to Guillermo's camp, too. She's been quizzing him all week about what he has learned. On Thursday, she was pretty funny. She smiled sweetly at him at breakfast and in a very nice voice asked: "Guillermo, can you put a spell on me?" And then she broke into a cackle and couldn't stop laughing.

New Boots

Maya and her friend, Sophia.

Will picked himself up some new boots on a recent trip to Texas. Maya is just showing him how to wear them.

Living Room Sleepover

We are settling in for another living room sleepover. If Will is out of town on a weekend night, Guillermo, Maya and I plan a family sleepover: Movies, snacks and living room tents.

Guillermo and Maya started setting up this morning, loading all of their blankets, pillows and stuffed animals to the living room. When I got home from work, Guillermo had filled his tent with midnight snacks, plastic lemons.

I made the mistake one time of sleeping on the floor with the kids and barely got any sleep. The next time, I planned to sleep on the couch but both kids wanted to join me, so we ended up in my bed. Tonight, Guillermo has made a tent behind the couch and Maya has spread out in front of it.

I'm in the middle. Let's hope I get some sleep or I'll have to cancel the tradition.

(Update: I slept all night and woke only once because of terrible animal screams coming from the forest behind my house.)

T-Ball Saturday

At bat: Guillermo drives one past second base.

Guillermo played his first T-ball game today. He had two home runs!

Ok, I'm not sure they were both home runs, but because of the YMCA rules for 5-6 year old t-ball games, he hit grand slams!

The games are cute. All the players take the field, half in the infield, half in the outfield. Then, half of the other team bats during each inning. There are no outs, even if the team in the field actually makes an out. But that doesn't happen too often. Mostly, the ball is hit and then some of the players in the field run after the ball and some of them tackle it, and then they throw it to first base. The batting team advances at least one base. A few of the players slid into home base. That was pretty awesome.

In Guillermo's case, he was the last batter on his team to bat both innings he batted. That meant that no matter where he hit it, he got to round the bases and head home. But I think the first time he hit it, he would have had a genuine home run, regardless of the Y rules. No matter, he was pretty proud of himself and had a great time.

In the Waves

Guillermo had a blast jumping in the waves during our trip to Florida. He even jumped on a boogie board and body surfed into shore a few times. Mostly, he jumped over waves and had a great time. The red warning flags went up a few days after we arrived as Hurricane Alex made its way toward land and that cut down our ocean fun a bit, but we still managed to play in the surf a bit and we took full advantage of the sunshine on our last day at the beach. When they weren't in the water, Guillermo and his cousins were busy building sand castles and towns, or splashing in the pool. And, when they weren't doing that, Guillermo was teaching Will the finer points of Pokemon or battling him at risk or watching the World Cup, playing with his cousins, or, of course, playing his DS. Oh, another fun game they invented with my parents was kick the cap in which Guillermo and Lily kicked a water bottle cap back and forth to each other as they walked down the board walk. Apparently Maya was tired of being ignored from the game at one point so she picked up the cap and dropped onto the beach. That will show them!

Finding Treasures

After a long trip getting to the beach, Maya and Guillermo were pretty excited to arrive at the beach and the condo where we stayed for the week. And, I think that is what sparked one of mine and Maya's favorite memories from our trip.

As soon as we arrived and brought up all of our luggage and towels and games and beach toys, Maya was on a hunt, a treasure hunt she called it. As we unloaded our things, she inspected every inch of our apartment for the week. She marveled at the striped teal and white bedspread in the room she and Guillermo were sharing and opened every closet and drawer, every single one of them. "Mom, we have our own TV!" she shouted (and Guillermo beamed). Even after Will and I had finished unloading the luggage carts, she was still inspecting with wide eyes and a big smile. Besides the TV, her favorite find was a decorative box covered in shells.

Beach Vacation

We just returned from a week at the beach!

We did everything, from jump in the waves and play with our cousins

to roll around in hamster balls

and fly in the sky.

We were able to ride on a horse,

and swing on the beach

and admire a rainbow over the ocean.

Thank you for a wonderful week, ya ya and grandpa. We love you!