August Thus Far

August (or shall I say, late October? The chilly weather feels an awful lot like fall...), has been nice and quiet so far. We've been outside the better part of the month, keeping activities simple and low key and enjoying this last portion of summer.

Today Charlotte is playing in the sprinkler while I assume my all-to-regular role of neighborhood baby-sitter for her friends. Who showed up at 8:45AM at my door this morning, after we both slept terribly from a wicked summer cold. Who showed up again at 9AM, though that time they were just sitting on the porch peering in at us eating breakfast. Innocent? Yes. Creepy? Incredibly. So I'm stuffed full of cold medicine, trying not to fall over from tiredness while they all run amuck. As long as nobody is actually playing in the street, it's pretty much fair game.

So back to August.

Charlotte starts preschool one week from tomorrow. I can't believe it! She's SO excited to go and asks every day if it's time to go to school yet. She's a little mystified as to why she can't ride the school bus yet, especially when the bigger kids on the street get to ride it. Her preschool is very close, a bike ride away, so I'm happy about that--she'll only be going two days a week for three hours, so having it so close to our house means I might actually get something done while she's there.

There was one "first" this month: first time playing putt-putt. Putt-putt with a three year old went pretty much how you would expect it to go. We made it through precisely one hole...:

...before the game ended in tears of frustration. Thankfully there was an indoor playground and games, otherwise the trip would've been a total bust.

Charlotte spent the night at my parents' and got to go to the fair. She had a blast, and she even found her favorite friend Mira there, so it was a double win.

She's been playing lots of grocery store on the porch:

And practicing singing just like the Little Mermaid:

Last week she got to march with the high school band. Every summer they invite the kids to join them during a practice and the kids get to march up and down the field and bring their own instruments. It was hit:

Here she is excitedly dancing before the marching began:

~Stacy