High Park Home Daycare: Daycare News and Nostalgia

It wasn't pretty, but we made it through the heat wave last week. Unfortunately, my air conditioner stops working in intense heat (when you need it most), so the wading pools were pure and utter bliss.

During our visits to the wading pools and splash pads, it was mandatory that the children got cool water on their heads (this has to be done especially delicately for some). Leila is one who will be completely overheated, and yet resist the opportunity to cool off. Last week, cooling off wasn't a choice.

It wasn't even a choice for me, but that was okay. I was happy to get soaked. Amadea and Leila love to pour buckets of water on my head, so this worked out well.

After daycare hours one night, we headed to our big pool. We invited Amadea, Marcellus, and their dad along. We have to share our pool whenever we can! Have I mentioned yet that Amadea can swim completely on her own? At 3 years old! She can also do fancy jumps off her daddy's shoulders. Leila's not yet inspired by her friend to step up her swimming skills by practicing bobs or anything. Leila's like, "Yeah....you do you." She'll get there in her own time. :) Actually, one of her water wings leaks out air at a slow pace, so that is the extent of her swimming lessons this summer. In the fall, Noah and Leila go back to official lessons.

This week, the temperature was much more manageable.

And we got Noah! He's done with camp for the summer.

I just thought Amadea looked especially cute this day; hence the extra photos of her.

She can jump a whole 3 steps, and I got the picture to prove it!

This little guy...always monkeying around!

Noah and the girls were playing Hide and Seek. Drew is picking up parts of the game and trying to join in. Cuteness!

One of the days, we had a rainy walk. I heard a few grumbles about going out in the rain, but I'm trying to teach them that there is nothing bad about warm summer rain, with no thunder or lightning present.

I want them to embrace it (though I did add, "only if the person taking care of you says it's okay, and I'm more than okay with it", lol). It's different if they have to stay dry because they're going somewhere special, or their school teacher doesn't have time to change their soggy clothes. But with a small group of kids, I have the time.

We always end up playing a little while in this bus shelter. It's just how we roll.

Noah was very impressed by Drew's strength in pulling his buddy in the wagon. He persisted for quite a while, too!

Noah and Leila got to go with Dea and her dad to "Sky Zone" on Wednesday morning. It's a place with lots of trampolines and I believe, a foam pit. So, that left me with the babies. I decided to go drop some of our children's books off at the library. As we dropped them off, I realized that they were running a "baby time" program in the basement. Well, with these two babies, we qualified! :)

Drew and Marcellus have been in this room numerous times for the drop-in program, but this was a bit different. They were both shy. Drew especially was very unsure of the situation. Okay, let's be frank: he was terrified. As you can see from the above pictures, it was true horror. Haha. In Drew's defense, this man had a very loud, deep voice. Anyhoo, I ended up getting tons of cuddles out of it. ;)

We stopped to buy some lemonade from 5-year-old Margot, who was running the business with her dad. It was delicious!

We stopped off for some fun at the playground. These two are becoming such good friends.

I just love them so much. I hope they can come for lots of visits in the fall.

I took care of Noah's friend Hugo and his little brother Enzo yesterday, to help their parents in a pinch. It was great for Noah to get an extended play date!

Here's Enzo, posing for a pic with the girls. He was so good, really. He doesn't know us too well, so he was shy. Big brother Hugo helped make him feel more comfortable.

Lunch time was super busy!

Last night, we had Aidas for a sleepover. Remember, Aidas was the first child to ever come to the daycare, starting roughly seven years ago (from age 1-4). We have never had him for a sleepover before, so it was pretty exciting for them. Leila was just as excited as Noah. She is super-social these days, which bodes well for the beginning of her school career.

How lucky were we to hear the ice cream truck?! LOL I told the kids we were going to get ice cream, and went to grab my money from my bag. When I caught up, Aidas was already talking to the man in the truck, placing his order. Don't need to tell him twice! :)

Aidas was yearning for a ride in the wagon, like the good ol' daycare days. I pulled them most of the way home, but when the wagon started to make a funny noise I panicked and told the big boys to get out. :)

Watching the boys play at Lithuania Park was surreal. I kept seeing flashes of the two of them playing together as babies. Take a trip with me down memory lane...

I could go on with more photos but I'll stop for now, in the interests of finishing this post. ;)

So anyway, they were about to settle in for bed, but Aidas was getting a little home sick, I think. When I realized that I had forgotten their waters at the park, I invited them to walk back with me to get them (even though I could have left them with Dan for a minute, and ran over to the park myself). I thought it would be fun to bring some glow sticks outside, and have a little fun; help ease Aidas's nerves.