Little Acorn

The Beach

Of course you go on a holiday to the beach to GO to the beach, which was easy for us as it was just steps from our room.

The weather was mostly sunny and a bit windy, but not too cold to still get wet at the beach...

That just-after-supper walk on the beach is always my favourite. The water is shallow and warmed from coming in over the hot sand and it feels like you can walk out forever without it ever getting above your knees. This night we weren't planning to get wet, but I just totally and completely understand about the need to get in the water. I was (and still am) a water-baby, so I'm so glad Adeline loves to be in the water, whether it's the ocean, a bath tub, a water park or a puddle.

 

Kite Flying

Some of the great pleasures in life are the simplest. We were only a few hours drive from home, but Adeline couldn't have had a better holiday anywhere in the world. Sometimes I lament that we don't have the money to head off to tropical locations for holidays, but I just have to remember how much fun was had with a two dollar kite at the beach to remind myself that for Adeline it's all about family, friends and the simple joys of the world.

The Playground

Another one of the reasons our beach hotel is so awesome is that a five minute walk down the boardwalk is a big and so very fun playground. Adeline remembered the "helicopter park" from last year and was excited to get back there, although she really did seem genuinely surprised that the helicopter wasn't actually flying...

Adeline told me she was "tightrope walking" and she was quite brave on this rope climber, even when some teenagers got on and made it very wobbly. Adeline does seem to be getting a little more cautious at the playground, which isn't a bad thing, as she was quite fearless before.

 

David couldn't resist trying the zipline and once Adeline saw her Daddy take a turn she had to try it. David was totally holding her up, but she really thought she was ziplining and you could tell that she found it completely thrilling. I do think she's going to be an "extreme sports" kind of girl - she doesn't like the up and down like on the carousel, but she does like to go FAST or HIGH or BOTH.

 

We always holidayed in the same area when I was little and this has ALWAYS been the best playground, although gone are the crazy fun and not-so-safe roundabouts, huge (and I mean HUGE) metal slides and the very tall climbers. I'm so glad that some of the equipment I remember like the helicopter, the plane and some of the bouncy animals have been restored and are still there for Adeline to make memories with.

More seaside holiday posts to come!

Summer Holiday

For the second year in a row we went to the beach for an early summer holiday and for the second year in a row it was FABULOUS. This year we went with the two other families who adopted their children from Adeline's orphanage at the same time as us and it was wonderful to see the three not-babies-anymore and one little sister having such a great time really playing together.

I'll let the pictures mostly tell the story as I'm not ready to be home from vacation yet, and this is feeling just the teensiest bit like work. Also I think it needs to be in at least two parts, as we really had a lot of fun - the beach, the playground, campfires, visiting a farm, going to a water park and all sorts of adventures with her family and friends.

Adeline's treasures from the beach - a feather, a crab and some very lovely clam shells. The weather was great, but in the evenings you needed a sweater.

Playing outside with friends from morning until it got dark was the best part.

Adeline had her first s'more and she thought it was delicious!

We're already planning our trip back for next year!

I'm not ready to be home yet...

 

Summer

We have had drizzly, chilly, cuddle-under-a-blanket weather for weeks now and I was feeling like we were going to skip summer altogether and head straight back to winter, but finally, FINALLY, the sun is shining!

Bring on SUMMER!

We have an entire garden full of hand-me-down plastic eye-sores fun, including a climbing structure, two slides, a sand table, and a rocking whale, but what Adeline loves most is this long plank of wood leaned up to make a ramp. She likes the way it bounces and wobbles when she runs and jumps on it, she likes the way things roll down it, she likes how it can be her surf board or snow board or a mountain for her dinosaurs to climb. Adeline is really into dinosaurs lately, although they mosty do very un-dinosaury things like pretend to go to the library or the swimming pool.

We love heading outside after supper for one last play, although it usually just ends up with snuggling and swinging together while we watch sea planes and herons fly overhead.

 

Happy almost-summer!

 

An Art Invitation

We paint at our house about once a week, which is pretty good considering I spend wayyyy more time setting up and cleaning up than Adeline does actually painting. Adeline doesn't love to make a painting, mostly she likes to paint her hands and smoosh paint around with her fingers and find new ways to splat and swirl the brushes and she has no interest in what she's creating as "art" or even something to care about the minute she's done exploring it. This is all developmentally appropriate and right where she should be as a two year old, but slowly I can see her expanding beyond exploring paint strictly with her senses.

Recently Adeline brought me home some sunflowers from the grocery store. She thought they were SO BEAUTIFUL.

While Adeline was napping I decided to set up an art invitation and see what happened. I set the bouquet of flowers near the easel and carefully mixed paints to just the right sunflowery shades of yellow, gold, brown and green.

When Adeline got up all I did was show her that the sunflowers were the same colour as the paint I had put out. I certainly wasn't trying to get her to "paint a sunflower" and I never would have showed her what to do or suggested that she should try to do anything but just paint.

She immediately got to work in a much more focused way than I'd ever seen before.

After she methodically tested all the colours, she got to work, making painting after painting and stopping frequently to look at the sunflower bouquet.

Interestingly she never even thought to paint her hands or start finger painting. You could tell she was very serious about her project.

Adeline made many paintings and kept at her work for much longer than I'd ever seen. It was amazing to watch. She was even way more interested in her finished paintings than in the past, and she was eager to show them to Daddy when he got home. Adeline seems much more driven to make music than she is to make art, but I want to support her creative growth in any way I can, even if that means finding dried paint spatter in every nook and cranny of the kitchen.