Imagination

Thought I would share a little bit about our walk today. Each day I spend with Dawson, she just amazes me with her language development and her imagination. Here's how our walk went this afternoon......

Dawson - "Mommy, mommy I see monkey in the tree."

Me - "Where do you see that?"

Dawson - "In tree over there. I go get it down."

Me - "OK." (not knowing where this conversation was going)

Dawson - (looking up into the tree) "Come here monkey, I need you." "I got you monkey."

She proceeds to reach up, grab an imaginary monkey and carry him over to me.

"See mommy, you hold him."

Me - "OK, I will hold him"

Dawson - "I go get another monkey up in the tree. I want two." (proceeds to walk towards me) "Mommy, I put the monkeys in my pockets now. Please give me monkey back."

Me - "OK, here is the monkey." She then puts one monkey in each pocket and we continue

walking around the neighborhood.

It was just such a funny conversation when I wasn't expecting anything at all! I love this girl!

I didn't take many pictures today since we were just enjoying our walk. We did pick up a lot of sticks on our walk and were having fun hitting the trees. I'm surprised a monkey didn't fall on our heads!

Gymnastics Finale

We have been taking classes the past 6 weeks at a new gymnastics place since our local Little Gym has closed. It's was not the same but, it was fun seeing Lynn and Grace each week. I also love doing things together with Dawson. It's only a matter of time when the mom and me events are over! I have not been overly thrilled with the class so I decided to leave my camera at home. Thank goodness Lynn brought hers and got a few great shots!

Dawson was running down the airtrack and jumped off the end. Great shot Lynn...midair!

Climbing and hiding in the circle mat.

Doing the "FLAMINGO" walking down the beam. My girl just LOVES the beam.

(and she has an amazing sense of balance)

Trick or Treat 2009

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead, better know to us in the U.S. as All Saint's Day is celebrated November 1st in Guatemala. The celebration is much different is Guatemala than here in the U.S. The tradition is for families to honor the dead by going to the cemeteries and preparing special foods. The most popular dish is known as Fiambre, which is only made and eaten once a year as a traditional dish of Day of the Dead. It is served cold and consists of a mix of cheese, meat, eggs and vegetables cured in vinegar. Some recipes call for as many as 50 different ingredients.

Traditional Fiambre

Often times families spend all day eating, drinking and flying kites at the cemetery. In Santiago Sacatepequez, the largest and most well-known kite festival is held. Thousands of kites are flown by families, locals and religious groups to honor the dead. The elaborate kites span several feet and are constructed almost entirely of bamboo and tissue paper.

I did not take any of these pictures but, pulled them off various websites. One of my favorite websites is www.antiguadailyphoto.com It really gives one a sense of what is going on in Guatemala on a daily basis and does it with pictures too!

Carving Time

It was pumpkin carving time today! I laid out the newspaper, plugged in Spongebob, cut open the pumpkin and put Dawson to work. As we were carving, a few more friends came over. They went out and bought some more pumpkins to join in the festivities. We ended up cooking out, carving pumpkins and cooking the seeds. Three hours later, our pumpkins were complete and ready for Halloween Trick or Treating...which for us is Sunday!

Standing, in her socks, stirring up the seeds and pumpkin insides!

Pulling out the seeds so mommy can cook them! She didn't seem to mind the slime factor!

I wonder what's inside that big pumpkin?

Our final pumpkins...Logan's, Jordan's, Kennedy's, Dawson's and MINE!

Boo....

At the Zoo 2009

As I looked outside early this morning, I noticed a beautiful Fall day. The sun was shining, the leaves are all different colors and the temperature was supposed to get up to 60. I made a last minute decision...how about if we head to Boo at the Zoo! It could not have been a better day for trick or treating. It was a little different this year than last. First, Dawson really looked around at everyone and everything just trying to take in what was happening. She was not scared, just observant! She walked the entire time and went up to each station by herself. Of course, I was only a few feet behind her because she was a little hesitant.

Cinderella with her crown she would not keep on and her wand.

Walking up to get a treat.

Here she is looking over the fence at the horses. As we were walking through the zoo, Dawson kept saying "I see more animals." She is so familiar with the zoo that she stopped at every animal and told me what they were. She enjoyed looking at the animals more than the candy! It was just our summer routine...going to the zoo all the time!

I love this picture. I was hiding down in the hay maze and she was trying to find me.

Another one of my favorite pictures...Cinderella holding up her dress so she could get through the hay maze.

Finally we took a break and had a few chips and a chocolate cupcake. Finally all our walking and work paid off!

Stellaluna

Girls day out to the theater...KIND OF.....Lynn was sick so it ended up three girls and Kyle! A theater near us had a children's series that looked just perfect for Dawson. The package consisted of four shows through out the year, each one about an hour in length and an optional behind the scenes craft and discussion after the show. Today's show was Stellaluna. A story about a baby bat that is dropped by her mother (due to an owl attack). The tiny bat lands in nest of baby birds but, only on the condition that Stellaluna will act like a bird not a bat. . Soon, Stellaluna has learned to behave like a good bird should – she quits hanging by her feet and starts eating bugs. When she finally has an opportunity to show her bird siblings
what life as a bat is like, all of them are confounded. Anyone who has ever been asked to be someone they’re not will understand the conflicts – and possibilities – Stellaluna faces.

The show was "OK." The girls listened and paid attention for the first 30 minutes and then they lost interest...so did everyone else! The puppets were not quite large enough for everyone to see so the kids kind of got tired of watching. My whole purpose of taking Dawson to the theater at this age is experience. When we got in the car, she told me all about the play. She even described the characters and called them by name. She also said "I see show again." Dawson really did pick up a lot of information from just a short show experience. It always amazes me what she can remember. We can't wait until the next show..."The Very Hungry Caterpillar!"