Summer recap Part 2

The rest of our summer was filled with simple fun around town. Emily and I found our new favorite picnic spot. It’s a nice shady park tucked away here in Racine that’s only about a 20 minute bike ride from our house. We discovered it when we went to a Kid’s Event with RFC (Racine Family Club). Since then we’ve gone a couple of times and was even joined by some of Emily’s friends too. It’s funny, every time we go to that park now, she asks if her friend Neela will be there. And if John takes her, she goes on and on about the time they were there together. We just get such a kick out of her memory. It amazes us how she can remember the tiniest detail that happened a month or two ago.

We did a lot with RFC this summer. Maybe, too much. You see I just go through these periods where I feel guilty that I don’t spend enough time with Emily. So when summer comes around I end up trying to do too much. Our July calendar had something on it everyday. We had play dates at the park, crafts with friends, backyard get togethers. The list can go on and on. I know she had a good time but I always second guess myself about if I’m over stimulating her.

We decided to get a membership to the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. If you haven’t been there you should really check it out. They have all sorts of hands on things for the kids to do. The museum had a special exibit this summer having to do with Mr. Potato Head which Emily loved! Her other favorite thing there is the pretend city. She pretended to be a news anchor in a studio (ok, so she didn’t really know what she was doing but liked being on tv and having a microphone, go figure!) and also played for a long time in the supermarket they have. I just love how children can learn through play. She was busy telling me what she was shopping for naming each item as she put it in her cart, using her manners as she gave her groceries to the little girl who was pretending to be the clerk at the register and the best aha for me as a teacher was when she took her cart to go put everything away and had to sort through all the groceries as she was classifying and matching up the food to the pictures on the shelves ! All we can say to that is Awsome! (One of her new found words :) )



Em and I went on some zoo outings too. We did the Milwaukee zoo with her best buddy Aiden. I swear those too are hilarious when they get together. They are both so happy to see eachother it’s almost scary! Emily just loves her Aiden and talks about him all the time. It’s a good thing fall is here and she’s back at the sitter’s cause now she can see him everyday.

We also got to feed the new giraffe at the Racine Zoo thanks to our friends Shannon and Cameron. Em and I talked about it for days before we actually went and she was so excited! But what do you know, when the time comes, she just wanted to leave. So I convinced her that we could do it together.






One of our last outings for the summer was going to Fired Up in downtown Racine. It’s a ceramic place where you can paint a piece of pottery and then they glaze and fire it in a kiln for you. I wasn’t sure how she’d do but I really wanted to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! She had a blast! We picked out a piggy bank and then I let her pick out whatever colors she wanted. She did such a great job and wanted to keep painting that I let her do a second piece that I picked out, a pencil/pen cup for my desk at work. It can be costly to go there but I’d still like to go every once in a while. I can’t wait till she’s old enough to participate in some of the art classes at the art museum. She just loves doing arts and craft things at home.