Snippets of Summertime

The girls were trying to agree on a movie to watch. The Boogie showed Peabody video after video until Peabody finally saw one she liked.
"That one!" she shouted. "I wanna watch Seven Dalmations!"
"No, Peabody," the Boogie corrected her, "it isn't called Seven Dalmations, it's called Ten Thousand Dalmations."

Peabody was describing something she saw. "It was so funny! I just can't believe my eyes!" she declared, then added, "They are sparkly blue."

Peabody told me about her dream. "It was a bad dream. Dere was a big dog. A scary dog. A skeleton dog."
"A skeleton dog?" I repeated, surprised. "Where did you hear about that?"
"Oh, it was from Nerk City," she said matter-of-factly. That didn't answer my question regarding the skeleton dogs, but Nerk City has been on her mind a lot lately. She mentions it often. She's never been there, and I guess if she thinks scary skeleton dogs come from there she never will want to visit.

The Boogie woke early yesterday morning with a sore throat. And when I say early, I mean 4 a.m. When she woke again later she still complained of a sore throat but otherwise seemed all right, so when I told her we were going for a walk and she said, "But I'm sick!" I replied, "It's just a cold, you'll be fine." She had to walk most of the way since she's just too heavy for me to push in the stroller. Needless to say, I felt pretty bad later when she started running a fever. Anyway, that was to preface this: in the mid-afternoon she started asking when Daddy would be home. "In a couple of hours," was my response. A few minutes later she asked again. "Not for a couple of hours, remember?" I said.
"But Honey," she protested, "you said in a couple of minutes."
"No, I really said a couple of hours. Why do you need him?"
"Well, I don't really need him," she said, starting to get weepy, "I just really want him to come home." She continued to ask periodically how much longer it would be till he came home, if he would be home soon, and was he in the car coming home yet. I honestly don't remember that ever happening before. I hate that she isn't feeling well but it warmed my heart that she just wanted her daddy. When he came home he sat on the couch with her until she went to bed, which seemed to make her feel a little better. Well ... that, and the 1966 movie Batman, which has inexplicably become a favorite of both girls to watch when they aren't feeling well.

At some point in the movie, Peabody informed me that "I just don't like the criminals." I sincerely hope that the Joker and the Penguin adequately deter Peabody from embarking on a life of crime. I also hope that if she decides to fight crime she will avoid any superhero costumes that include tights.

We drove past a park that had a couple of large tents set up. The Boogie asked what it was for. I didn't know. "Maybe the boss of that park is having a birthday," she suggested, "and they're having a party."

Toy Story is still a huge obsession. They really don't watch any of the movies that often, but they have lots of toys and books that they play with daily. We found some wall decals and every now and then Eric puts some more up on the playroom walls after the girls are asleep. Lowe's has free children's workshops every now and then -- today we went so we could build Pizza Planet trucks. The girls didn't know we were going. They were totally surprised and had a blast!

 

We bought a large inflatable pool. It's a lot bigger than I anticipated. It takes a long time to fill with even a few inches of water, and boy is it hard to empty! Today was the first time we were really able to use it -- I'd filled it once but the weather just hadn't been good enough. We all fit in nicely with plenty of room to spare, and didn't mind the few little showers that came through.

The other day we met Eric at Chick-fil-a for dinner before grocery shopping. On our way there the Boogie tried to guess where we were going. I tried to give her some hints.
"What time is it?" I asked. She didn't know.
"Okay, well, if we were at home, Daddy would just be getting home. Where am I, usually, when Daddy gets home?"
"At home," she guessed.
"Well, yes, I'm home, but where at home?"
"In the kitchen."
"Right! And what am I doing in the kitchen?" I was going for "making dinner."
"You're working," she said.
"Okay, yes, I'm working. But what kind of work?"
"Um ... cooking." Okay, we're getting closer.
"Yes, I'm cooking. Cooking what?"
"Oh!" Now she was excited. "Food!" Argh.
"What kind of food?" I pressed on.
"Um ... " long pause, "I don't know."
"I mean, why am I making food? What is it for?"
"Ohhhhh, you're making food for dinner!" Finally! Good grief!
"Yes! I'd be making dinner! So, if I'd be making dinner right now at home, what time is it?"
"Dinnertime!"
Whew. And that is an example of what most of our conversations with her are like.

Tonight we met some friends at our favorite ice cream place. When it got dark enough we went outside and watched fireworks in the distance. It was the perfect end to a really fun day!