Entries from September 2012 ↓

A few more photos from apple picking adventures. . .

Small silo filled with 6 – 8 inches of feedcorn = awesome fun.

I am making a Corn Angel!

Ezri enjoyed sending these ducks swimming by pumping the water into the gutter.

We met a live llama and its mama.

Applicious good times.

We were invited to a backyard fall fun party.

There was a fire. Here all the girls want to see the fire getting started.

There was a big tent in the backyard where the kids had a “chaos party” which is where you dance around all crazy according to one of the older girls.

And there was yummy food too.

Ezri and I went to see the park district program where they put lots of big trucks in display for the kids to explore.  Turns out

she loved all the trucks, but particularly liked the bouncy house and “Freddie” the  fire dept talking mini fire truck.

Ezri and I celebrated “International Talk Like a Pirate Day” at the ARRRRRRboretum’s new tree houses. We celebrate all the important holidays. We found the treehouse that is shaped like a ship and boarded her while talking like pirates.

Ezri came up with a new pirate joke. I am so proud of her.
What does a scurvy dog say?
ARRRRRF! ARRRRRRRF!

She also spent part of our play as “Sunflower the Robot” who at times was a robot pirate who said, “ARRRRR, matey – beep-beep,” in a robotic voice. Sunflower the robot is a repeated character from Ezri’s pretend play. She also repeatedly pretends to be “Charlotte Q.” for realistic household play (Charlotte is a college friend’s faraway daughter whose blog we follow) and “the Pink Ninja” for wild adventures (The Pink Ninja is a character created with a friend she made on vacation).

The photos:

The photographer:

“Clean as a whistle. Dirty as a flute.” Not sure where this one came from but it was only made cuter by her inability to distinctly pronounce the word “flute.”

Ezri – There’s bird poop right there.
Me: Yes, it looks like a bird pooped on our windshield.
Ezri: Well, the birds could all wear diapers. Then no poop on the car, no poop on the windshield.
I explained that it would be hard to diaper all birds.
Ezri: Well, we could make a bird potty. I know how to use the potty. I will teach them.
Ezri is gonna potty train all birds everywhere. I love the problem solving here.

Words that are adorable when spoken by Ezri
warthog
squirrel
whirlpool
The vowel and “R” combination is a tricky sound and she doesn’t quite have it yet.

Me: That is the Snake River.
Ezri: Does it have snakes in it?
Me: No, it’s named for it’s shape. It is shaped like a snake.
Ezri: Does it have crocodiles in it?
Me: No, no crocodiles.
Ezri: Does it have sharks in it?
Me: Nope, no sharks either.
I guess that the Snake River is not as exciting as the name might’ve have indicated to Ezri.

There is a lot of superhero play around here.

Ezri: I am Batgirl.
Eric: Who am I?
Ezri: You are Batman. You are my assistant.

“DALEK! I am going to fight you with my sword, but first I am going to put on my underwear and clothes.”
Dr. Who is obviously a superhero. Ivan was a mini-Dalek who according to Ezri turned good and said, “Exterminate we are the good Daleks.”

Yesterday, Eric made us a secret lair in the backyard out of pruned limbs from our aggressive shrubbery. Unfortunately, Ezri told us that we gave GPS’s to the bad guys with our secret lair’s location, so they found us. We are considering relabeling our home address “secret lair” in our GPS.

Playing with a friend in her room. I hear Ezri say with conviction, “We are naked spies.” Ezri then emerged wearing only underwear. Her friend had on only over-sized sunglasses. We tried to think of places they could infiltrate: Nudist colony, Onsen (Japanese baths), Life drawing class, really wild night of Mardi Gras – really no end to work for the naked spies. I think it has possibilities as a future HBO show.

Batman, Batgirl and Spider-man hanging in the secret lair:

“I am a Play dough Pirate! ARRRR!”

Here are some other assorted conversations with Ezri.

Ezri (to me with a heavy sigh): ‘When you are cranky like this, I just don’t know what to do with you.”
Children are like verbal mirrors. This was after I raised my voice to get her to put on her underwear after using the potty – oh, the crankiness.

“Daddy is a good cook, he can cook at McDonald’s. Amanda, you can cook at a restaurant where only stuffed animals eat.”

Ezri speaks the truth about me when we are playing superheroes and she tells me,
“You are not a bad guy. You are Wonder Woman!”

“You expect NOTHING!”
I have a habit of saying, “You suspect nothing,” when I am sneaking up on someone to tickle them. Ezri pointing at me and saying, “You expect NOTHING!” before she planned to sneak up and tickle me was hilarious.

Ezri explained to me that a pirate has a dog named Scurvy. This because of hearing the phrase, “ARRRR! Ye scurvy dogs!” If we ever get a dog at my house, we may just name him Scurvy.

She has decided it is the most funny joke ever to say, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of PEE,” in her pirate voice. This because a friend took the liquor out of the phrase by saying, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of pop.” And because nothing is funny like urine to a three-year-old. Okay, it’s possible that poops and farts are even funnier.

These are a few favorites being returned to the library today.

I Must Have Bobo! by Eileen Rosenthal
Bobo is the stuffed monkey that Willy needs to be brave on the slide. Earl is the cat who likes to steal Bobo. Ezri was very amused by Earl in the illustrations sneaking up to take Bobo while Willy was busy playing with blocks.

Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly by Carolyn Parkhurst
Henry, the older brother, is trying to put on a pretend cooking show. Elliebelly, the little sister, tries to make the show her own by doing things like adding pirates and having her baby doll swim in the mixing bowl.
Ezri is currently fascinated by nicknames and loved that Elliebelly’s real name was Eleanor and that she called Henry “Henny.”
I liked the way the siblings compromised and managed to work together to create a game they could both play.

Brownie and Pearl Get Dolled Up by Cynthia Rylant
Brownie and her cat, Pearl, play dress-up. That’s about it, but that’s what I love in these very simple books with bright illustrations. The whole Brownie and Pearl series is great for quick reads with very preschool/toddler friendly fun.

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett
A fairytale mix-up in which a piglet and a princess accidentally swap places. Everyone believes the princess Priscilla has been enchanted and will be restored from pigginess to beauty one day, but really she’s just a pig. The poor farmer believes that his pig named Pigmella has been replaced by the baby he and his wife always wanted. “It’s the sort of thing that happens all the time in books,” is the refrain of the story. The illustrations of the pig in her princess finery are priceless.

Ezri is firefighter Ezri. Ivan is obviously trapped in a burning building.

There’s still nothing as fun as a box.

The box was Ezri’s car and she invited all her stuffed animals to a car party. Many attended.