Our fourth of July was a lot of fun. We spent the morning just hanging out (and Dan wanted to go to the gym, so he took Kate along. She always loves going to the kids' club, and that meant that I had an hour and a half of uninterrupted time to read the absolutely phenomenal book--Through a Glass Darkly--that I'm currently plowing through; yay!) Then we went over to Tracy's for grilling out; we had our usual yummy food (hot dogs, chicken terriyaki, etc.), and I brought along some homemade red velvet cupcakes (minus the red dye) that were pretty good, if I do say so myself! It was so hot out that Kate, Rori & I swam from 8 pm until 9:30 pm, and when we got out of the pool, we weren't even cold! We were able to see the Monona fireworks from Tracy's yard, which was nice; Kate loves fireworks now, but I didn't want to deal with the crowds. So this was perfect.
On Friday, the heat wave continued. Dan had plans to hang out with his friends after work to celebrate the release of some software they had worked on, so I decided to take Kate out for a fun little night, just the two of us. First, we went to Laredo's, because I was in the mood for Mexican food (sadly, it's nowhere near as good as Frida's, which was my absolute favorite restaurant in Madison, but that went out of business at the beginning of the year). But it was still good, and of course it's fun to just be with my little Kater-bug. After dinner, we went to open swim at the Sun Prairie Aquatic Center. She loved it! We had a lot of fun splashing, going down the little kids' slides, and just hanging out. We also saw some of our friends from music class and Toddler Tales, so it was fun to chat with them for a bit.
Saturday morning we went swimming in our pool, which was nice and relaxing. Sunday was still nice and warm (although not oppressively hot) so we drove to Hilldale and had dinner at Pasqual's, which has outdoor seating that we took advantage of.
Then yesterday (Tuesday), I had an all-day meeting at work, so Dan stayed home with Kate. He took her to music class and the park, and from all accounts they had a great day together. I'm glad his work is flexible enough that he can stay home once in awhile to spend this time with Kate. I had a pretty good time; I like my co-workers, and we went out afterward to the Old-Fashioned for dinner, with drinks at Brocach Irish Pub afterward. We had fun, but there were some weird musicians and some not-so-funny comedians there (it was open mic night), so we were laughing awkwardly because we couldn't believe what we were hearing! Kate was asleep when I got home, so I was very happy to see her this morning!
So far, we've just spent the morning playing (interspersed with some cleaning, too, of course, since my mom comes tomorrow!) She loves this tower of alphabet blocks that my aunt Chris gave her, so we have a lot of fun stacking that up and knocking it down. I feel like she knows her alphabet so well, and she even knows what some words start with without looking at a book or the blocks (for example, I'll say, "What letter do Kate and kangaroo start with?" and she knows it's "K". Or I'll say "What do alligator and apple start with?" and she proudly responds, "A!") We also finger-painted together for a bit before lunch; she is such a cute little girl who is so proud of her artwork!
My "flag" of red velvet cupcakes
Silly girl; ready to go to Laredo's (complete with purple flip flops!)
I don't know WHAT kind of smile that was!
Enjoying her chips at Laredo's
I love this girl so much!
Chomping at the bit, eager to get in the pool at the aquatic center!
Did I mention I love this cute little face?
Saturday morning, ready to go swimming in our pool
Love the sunglasses from the dollar section at Target!
So serious!
"Why are you taking my picture when I'm trying to finger paint?"
So proud of her artwork!
