Toby

My beloved dog of 14 years, Toby, had to be put down yesterday. I will not be updating Linda's blog for a while. I just wanted everyone to know the reason why I am not updating.

Caterpillar update

The caterpillar Linda was playing with was a tiger swallowtail caterpillar. http://www.pbase.com/crocodile/image/33579846

I had never seen one before. It was amazing.

Camping at the river

We went camping this weekend and had such a wonderful time. Linda was so excited to go. We told her all about the different things she would be doing. The pictures are actually reversed, meaning the last picture should be first for sequence. It was in the mid 90s on Sat, so that was difficult. It wasn't bad if you were in the water down at the river though. She had a lot of fun w/Lynn on the kayak. Lynn was nervous b/c Linda is wiggly, and well it's a kayak, lol. The water at the river is only like 3' deep for way out. That made me feel better. I still made sure she wore her life vest at all times in the water. It was murky, and you couldn't see in it at all.

She was some sort of excited to go fishing as well. We got a free fishing pole (scooby doo) and she used that. The fish weren't biting very well. That could have been the time of day we went (4pm). I was w/them for a little bit and then started back to camp to work on dinner. No fish were caught, but she did hold a fish someone else caught.

She enjoyed her s'more so much. she doesn't get treats like that very much. We have taught her to savor her food. That is the pic w/her head back and her eyes closed. She is savoring it, lol. I told her she was getting one s'more. She was so excited. My dad leaned over and asked if he could have some. She immediately got up and offered him some. My heart just melted right there. Here's a kid that doesn't get a lot of junk. She is only getting one s'more, is asked to share it, and immediately shares. She is some amazing kid.

This morning we found some sort of crazy caterpillar that I had never seen before. Of course Linda was immediately picking it up. I love her interest in bugs. We were at the river and there was a bug I wasn't familiar with. She went to pick it up and I told her it might bite or sting, but she could pick it up if she wanted to. She bent down and picked it right up. I just love that. She has fear of some things in life, but definitely not bugs!

So we just really had a great time camping. I can't wait to do it again. And yes, she really is as dirty and greasy as she looks in the pics, lol. I think swimming in the river helped clean her off too, so imagine how grubby she would have been if she hadn't have gone in. She said the sweetest thing at prayer for lunch today. She was praying and said, "Thank you Heavenly Father for such a nice time camping." It melted my heart and I just started crying. We really have one very special little girl.

My Little Ballerina...NOT

So we have finally found something Linda is not interested in doing. Last night was the last night of her ballet class, and the parents were allowed in to watch. I spoke to the instructor, and she said Linda is about 50/50 in the class. 50% of the time she really listens, and 50% she is in la la land, lol. I thought about this b/c this is so out of character for Linda. I determined my own 50/50 equation, lol. She 50% doesn't care for ballet, and 50% the time of the class wasn't good for her. It was from 6pm-7pm. Linda is usually in her jammies at 7pm. She plays so hard all day, that she is mentally tired at night. This was a wonderful class though. We only paid $30 for 5 weeks. She said several times that she liked the class, but her actions definitely said different. In her gym class, library programs, and other stuff she does, she follows all the instructions given w/o a problem. Now we know to wait a couple more years and if she wants to, try again. I included the CUTE pic of her w/her play clothes, hat and cow boots, b/c this really is Linda. She is such a tom boy. Oh well, she can't be everything!

The Lighthouse

We had such a nice time today at the lighthouse. The girls were too short to go up. They were a little bit disappointed, but we went over to the memorial area and they enjoyed that. It was sprinkling most the time, so Linda wanted to wear her new rain jacket. We played some games, climbed up to the overlook area, and played down on the beach. Linda thought it was neat to see a real lighthouse, as we had been studying them informally all week. She knows that they help the boats navigate. She also learned some of the history of the place. When we left she said she wanted to go back, lol. It was a nice morning.

Ponies, Braids and Movies

It was raining the other day, so Linda got to watch her very first movie. It was Winnie the Pooh. She liked it very much! For church on Sunday she looked so cute in her skirt, shirt, and braids that I had to take a couple of pics. She was precious. And of course, you can never have too many pony pics!

The Gym

a few cute pictures from the gym. Linda still loves coming here so much. Tonight she has ballet class. This is the last class before the parents are allowed in for the final class. I am so excited about that class! I'll take lots of video and pics.

A Day at the Beach!

To say Linda and Ryleigh had a good time, would be a gross understatement! Those girls had an absolute blast at the beach today! We met some friends down there and stayed two hours. In previous visits to the ocean, Linda has been somewhat apprehensive about the ocean. Today she jumped right in and played and played. I had to really watch her b/c of the rip current. They were so tired at the end and are passed out now for naps.

We also met some more people who spoke French. Linda and I went up to them so Linda could practice her French. She said, "Bonjour, Je m'appelle Linda." (hello, my name is Linda) The lady asked her how old she was, which Linda didn't understand. I helped Linda say "J'ai trois ans." Linda held up her little hand w/three fingers. It was so cute. Linda asked them how are you? and she made a new friend Emily who was 5 years old. Emily was so cute. She missed her friends and asked Linda if she wanted to play w/her. In a few years if we meet someone like that we could probably start a pen pal sort of thing. Linda just did so good speaking her French and she was so cute!