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| Friends |
This is an age where friendship means a lot to Ronan. Gone are the days of "parallel play" where kids played along side each other but looked to the grownups. When a friend comes over, they are off to their own world. As often as not, playdates begin by stripping naked and then dressing up in diapers, big cat costumes, a friends' dress, or nothing at all. I'm not sure why they are so eager for play dates after spending all day together in daycare, but see if you can guess what these kids want:
Since last month, Ro witnessed fireworks twice, once near the local park a week before the 4th and once in Vermont on the night of. Both times the displays were impressive and VERY CLOSE BY. A big difference from the distant shows I'm used to with city living. Vermont was gorgeous and convinced Ro (and his parents) of the joy of pond swimming in hot weather. A few days later we went camping at a local lake with our camping friends and once again the water was a highlight. We've had a stinky hot week this week (coinciding perfectly with the dates I've needed to do field work each day) so I am ready for something cooler.
In addition to making strides in the swimming department, last week Ronan just figured out the pedal bikes at his school. Here is his first stretch at preschool. Moments later he was navigating the turns through the whole loop!
As the productive phase of summer draws to an end and the travel part begins (before the prep-for-classes part), we instigated a party for our best friends here before they go away. I feel lucky to have had three great years of hanging out (many times weekly) with the parents of Ronan's best bud. (Fortunately the parents staying behind are pretty cool too). That same day we got the sad news my uncle had passed away from cancer. I have many great memories of him from my childhood and it makes me think about the lasting impressions we make on each other.
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| Going away party...sniff |
Ro Quotes:
R: I like a variety of foods. First I like a sandwich. And second, I like frozen yogurt. Third I like ice cream. And fourth I like mac and cheese.
[takes an unexpected turn]
A: What would you wish for?
R: A magic wand. So that if someone wanted to sit down after hard work brooming up a mess I would just wand away the chair! And if someone is trying to drink an ice cold glass of water, Zoop, Zoop, no glass!
A: Can I have a hug?
R: Sure, cuz I have lots of hugs left in me.
A: That's good -- you have a lot of hugs in your future.
R: I have like 23 hugs.
R+S: Let's play "we eat boys on toast"! [I think this comes from a school book about a giant]
R: You know what mom? When I am downstairs, Maile goes upstairs. And when I am upstairs, Maile turns around and runs downstairs. [now why might that be...?]
R: Guess what? I'm a little thirsty because all the water evaporated outta me.
Parents repeatedly asking "what do you like" and "what else do you like" generated this list:
Thunder, black pepper, thunderclouds at night, beavers in the afternoon.
Play date dress up:
(As always, more pictures are here)
