writing in sand

Today, Jessica and her friends, Isabella and Ben, found a new medium for writing. They smoothed out spots in the sand and used to pipes to write each others names.

snapshots from school

Jamison has really been enjoying her new preschool. This past week, they put out rice for the kids to play with and Jamison loved scooping it into containers and then dumping it out.





As usual, she also spent a lot of time exploring the outdoors. Rather than walking up the hill, she had fun crawling up it.



She also spent time pushing the baby stroller around outside.



The trains were out this past week and Jamison enjoyed pushing them around the track.



Jamison loves her teacher Ms. Jesly. This was also one of Jessica's favorite teachers.



Snack time is a time for good food and stories. Jamison seems more interested in the food than the stories.



Meanwhile, Jessica had fun with Isabella in the art studio on her side of the school.

Arden's 5th birthday party

Jessica had a second birthday party last weekend. She also celebrated Arden's 5th birthday. She loved playing on the inflatable slides.

She had a good time with her friends Isabella and Safra.



Here is the group photo from the birthday party.

Bethany and Devin's 5th Birthday Party

This past weekend, Jessica celebrated Bethany and Devin's 5th birthday at a local club. There was dancing, gymnastics, and even swimming. Here are some videos of the dance class.

After everyone had cake, some of the kids went swimming. Jessica and Isabella had a great time swimming.



Jessica practiced with the kick board.



And, she had a great impromptu swim lesson with Coach Barb.

Afterwards, Jessica, Arden, and Isabella relaxed in the hot tub.

a volunteer day at school

On Thursday, I spent the afternoon volunteering in Jessica's classroom. Thursday is music class, so I got to make a trip to the music room. The kids learned all about the different families of instruments. Then, Jessica got to take a turn playing drums with her friend Arden.



Once we got back to her classroom, I helped the kids play Number Bingo. Afterwards, I found Jessica intently working on the computer altering a picture of herself.



One of the reasons I volunteered on Thursday was it because it was Jessica's half birthday celebration (kids with summer birthdays have their half birthdays celebrated). Here is some video from the celebration.

a trip to the park

Last weekend, since the weather was so nice, we took the girls to the park. As usual, Jessica had fun on the elephant statue.



Both Jamison and Jessica had fun playing in the sand tunnels.



Jamison liked playing on the big play structure with Jessica. She followed Jessica everywhere.



She followed her right through the tunnel.






And then over to the slide.



The girls had fun going down the slide together.

Jessica and Jamison around the house

Lately, Jamison has been having fun playing with her baby dolls and play dough.





Both of the girls have been having a good time playing outside while the weather has been so nice. Jamison is learning how to climb up the big play structure and the small slide.

Jamison at school last week

Jamison has really taken to her new school environment and is starting to form bonds with the other children in the program and is participating in lots of big kid activities. Last week, she enjoyed coloring with markers and watching the movement of the marker on the paper.



Esma and Jamison have bonded over the outside space and Jamison spends a lot of time looking curiously at things Esma has discovered and following her lead.



Jamison also enjoyed filling the dump trucks with pebbles.



One of the best things about this program, however, is that Jessica can visit and play with Jamison. Each morning, before Jessica gets dropped off at her part of the school, we play with Jamison in the toddler area. Jamison enjoys playing with both of us in the morning.

fun at the park on Martin Luther King Day

Jessica and Jamison spent the morning of Martin Luther King Day with me at the park. The weather was sunny and the girls loved being outdoors. Jessica had fun on the climbing wall and the twisty slide.




Jamison and Jessica both had fun playing in the sand.

Luke's 3rd Birthday Party

This past weekend, Jessica and Jamison went to Luke's 3rd birthday party, which was at a local pool. Jamison had fun getting in the pool with her Daddy.



Jessica had fun hanging out in the pool too.



Jamison was slightly obsessed with the frog slide at the pool. All she wanted to do was go up and down the slide all night long. Slightly obsessive in perfecting her skill.

She also found the water noodles fun to play with.



The girls loved the pool so much that we've joined the club and already have gone back once this week!

Jessica at school this past week

This past week, Jessica and her friends at school had fun playing with HoverDiscs in the yard.







She also was a princess in a story drama (Aladdin and Jasmine).

ice skating fun

Last Sunday, we took the girls ice skating as Jessica has been asking to go for some time. Jim took her out on the ice.



She had fun skating while holding on to the railing.



And, eventually, she built up her confidence and let go of the rail (while still holding on to Dad).

Jamison even got to take a spin on the ice.

She was glad her daddy took her out on the ice too.

fun in the park

After another birthday party (it seems to be party season), I took Jessica and her friend Isabella to the park. The girls went to visit the koi pond first.



Then, they rode on the train a few times.



After a bit of play, the girls enjoyed sno cones.

Rose's 4th Birthday Party

Last weekend, Jessica went to her Room A buddy's 4th birthday party. It was princess theme and Jessica had fun dressing up in the costumes and jewelry.



Before the special guest arrived, Jessica posed with her friends Ella and Olivia.



Ariel was the special guest and entertained the girls with stories and magic.



Ariel did face painting afterwards and Jessica loved the end result.