Summer Spirit

We made a trip to the Toronto Public Library last week, specifically to get the Summer Reading Club booklets for Noah, Leila, and Amadea.

Marcellus absolutely loved the library.

Though pictured quietly reading here, most of the time he was exuberantly running up and down the isles in the children's section, gleefully vocalizing. You can do this when you're 1. Even at a library.

The girls found a graphic novel of the movie, Frozen. This type of book would be far beyond their ability, even to understand me reading it to them. But not with Frozen. They know that story like they know their favourite colours. We checked it out, and I have been reading it to them. Amadea's focus with books is always excellent. She often chooses longer stories. Leila, on the other hand, has trouble, at times, remaining for the duration of a story. Her attention span wanders and she leaves the couch to play. I have to say, that has not happened with this book, and I have even been reading it for much longer periods of time than with other books. They are mesmerized. :)

One night, we took a massive amount of water balloons to the park. It was stinkin' hot, and I didn't think we could make it through the evening without them.



Amadea, Marcellus, and their mother joined us for the fun!



They were so much fun. Still, they didn't last long; water balloons never do.

We played out back a few times this week. Pictured below is Leila on Noah's roller coaster. Noah has always enjoyed pretending to take one or more of us on a train or roller coaster. It dates back to when he was about three years old. I can remember a few meltdowns brought on when I, for whatever reason, could not ride his roller coaster, or had to get off his roller coaster. :)

Since we don't have our own backyard, we have to enjoy the right of passage that is running through sprinklers when we spot them! Dea and Drew are both trying to take a drink here.

Marcellus, at only 13 months, is extremely brave! After I took this shot, the sprinkler slowly turned right, spraying his belly with cold water. It was a surprise for him, but he took it all in stride. He is a darling.

I believe Noah is talking to the girls about rides again here. He and Leila were very much into this pretend play, due to their resent excursion to Canada's Wonderland.

And then there were the puddles that the sprinklers created.

Sassy girl trying on big brother's old hat. It kind of suits the outfit!

Another day, another sprinkler out back. This time, it was planned. Our landlord put it out especially for us.

Noah and Dea absolutely love the water. The other three are a little shy. I wish Leila would just get in there, but she just does not care for cold water. When I sign her up for swimming lessons this fall, I'm definitely choosing the warmer pools. Otherwise, she's just miserable.

Marcellus has a love of textiles. He likes to drag random clothing items around the apartment.

Practising their gymnastics skills.

Every day is a day for either a freezie, or a home-made Jello Popsicle. We make a different flavour every week.

We also made pizza this week!

Tasting the ingredients is Leila's favourite part. We had it for dinner, and shared it with Noah and Leila's Oma and Opa! It was yummy!

I had brought the little guys to the splash pad at High Park already, but this was their first time at a wading pool this year (with me, anyway).

Clearly, they hated it. lol

Amadea could not fall asleep for nap time one afternoon this week, so she painted instead.

She is such an artist. She really enjoys any kind of art.

She accidentally got a smudge of purply-blue paint combination on her leg. She requested that we leave it and let it dry. See? She is open to using any canvas. Creative. I love it.

The next day, Drew had a turn painting at the easel.

He is all about making verticle lines. It's his signature style. If he would have limited it to one single vertical red stripe or something, I'm sure we could have sold it to the AGO and made a fortune. :)

He then moved on to painting a fire truck.

We took a walk around the block yesterday morning, as it was a little bit rainy. I let Drew and Marcellus come out and walk when we got to High Park Avenue. It's safer for them on this street, with the large boulevards between the sidewalk and the road.

The photos below are some of my favourite recent photos. Little Drew in the big wide world. You got this, Drew.

Even though Marcellus had the option to walk, he made it clear that he would like to remain in the wagon, eating his snacks.

Dea collected some rocks. We are finally going to paint a collection of rocks we have amassed in the past few months. We are going to wait until Leila is back to do this activity with Dea. (My kids are currently at my parents' place, spending some quality time together.)

I had to get this sign in the picture, because Dea read the world "sold". We then, of course, had to talk about what "sold" means. I am very impressed with Amadea's reading ability as of late. She is really coming along, blending words far more easily. Most importantly, she takes the chance of getting it wrong. I think that's the hardest part for kids when they are learning to read - the fear of being wrong. She's delighted to see just how often she is right!

We fed some birds and squirrels on the way home.

I had to get Marcellus with his bags. He is so adorable.

This is how I found these two after nap time. Their playpens are kept side by side for nap time, to make Marcellus feel more secure with his big sis by his side.

Marcellus got a turn to paint too! It was short-lived, but he did produce, and we will display his first masterpiece!

That's the update for now. Enjoy the weekend!