Birthday Girl

Emma was SO excited for it to be her birthday (back in May...). For weeks leading up to her birthday she said just wanted a cupcake and a "happy spiderman balloon". Eventually I got her to explain that a happy spiderman balloon is a balloon that has spiderman on it and says Happy Birthday. We were relieved that we were able to find one! Chris's parents were in town for her birthday, and she was so excited to have them here! Emma is currently obsessed with Care Bears, so she was very excited to get some big Care Bear figurines for her birthday, along with a blue wooden mailbox which has been great for her imaginative play. 

For her birthday she got Candyland. It just took one round for her to totally get it. She's great at taking turns, can figure out where she needs to go, and LOVES the pink cards with characters on it. If someone else gets one of the special cards (Princess Frostine, the Gingerbread Man, Grandma Nutt, Jolly, Lolli, and Mr. Mint) she lets them go to that space, but then wants to put the pink card in front of her and count them all the time. She's pretty funny.

Uncle Jeremiah and Aunt Kara sent Emma this adorable wooden stable with horses in it. Emma was excited to name her horses and she tries to ride them around the house. She sure loves her horsies! 

We also had a little birthday playdate with friends, but I was too busy enjoying the playdate to take pictures. She has the sweetest little friends and they had a blast playing up in our playroom for an hour or so before eating cupcakes!

Swimming!

I wish I had more photos of this, but this summer Emma really has LOVED swimming! At my family reunion she got some time in the pool with Aunt Kristi, who has taught swimming lessons for years! Aunt Kristi helped Emma overcome her fear of getting her face wet in the pool and she taught Emma how to jump into the water. This first picture is from right after Emma jumped into my arms in the pool, she was so excited!

Since coming home from our family reunion, Emma has asked to go swimming several times. Thankfully we live in a neighborhood with a swimming pool, and some of our good friends also have pools in their neighborhoods, so we've been able to swim lots! 

Emma is getting better at being patient while we put on sunscreen, and she's got the sweetest tan lines on her bum from her swimsuit. She loves to jump into the pool, either into my arms or just straight into the water. She's a pro at kicking her feet and is working on how to move her arms. One of her friends is a 5 year old who likes to play with diving rings at the pool. Emma likes to help throw the rings, and then swim around the pool and show Savannah where the rings are.

We will be so sad in October when our pool closes again for a few months.