Kayla has been asking about helping out the homeless folks we see lately. The girls and I had an opportunity today to package some food for a nearby foodbank, and so we went to help. It was arranged for the toddler-preschool age, so Kayla, Julia and 3 other kids bagged up the rice. They bagged up 200 pounds of rice. Way to go! In a few weeks we’ll be able to make pb & J sandwiches for Heroes for the Homeless, that will be brought directly to the homeless.
Well, we rallied for the Chilly Hilly despite waking up to rain, and my having been sick in bed the whole day before. I was a bit dizzy that morning and not so sure I could do the 33 mile pretty hilly ride on Bainbridge Island. But, we went and prevailed. Tim pulled the girls in the trailer and he did great up those hills. The girls did well in the trailer too and though they certainly enjoyed the ferry ride, I can’t say for sure they enjoyed being in the trailer that long but they really didn’t complain. Tim and the girls took the “shortcut” to the finish line after 20 miles (and several cookies at the cider stop on the route), and I finished the last 14 miles solo. It was a really pretty part of the ride, and I finished it even though I went pretty darn slow. I’m glad we got out as I’m sure the girls’ll be to heavy to pull in the trailer next year, and I can barely pull myself let alone extra weight. Maybe next time there might be a bit more training first :-).
The girls and Owen sat right in the middle of this box filled with necklaces that was out at the children’s museum. It would have made it a bit difficult for other kids to try them on, but luckily no one else came over while the kids were in it.
It’s been really fun to watch Kayla and some of her friends lately. She still seems more comfortable 1-1 with kids, and just shines her beautiful smile at them, and mostly has fun running around outside at the park.
Julia is getting better at “keeping up” with the older kids and can interact with the younger 3’s in a more friend-like fashion. I’m trying to get her around some other 2 year olds, but it’s not always so easy.
I’m not sure where the girls found their love of getting so muddy, (maybe Kayla’s school?), but they sure don’t mind the puddles and such. Here they found a mud puddle at our local park. Not sure what kind of mud it was that didn’t come out of Julia’s white shirt, but I’m not going to think too much about that. This picture only shows the start of Julia’s mud adventure. If I had known we would venture away from the playground into this, I would have dressed them more appropriately. There was really no way to keep them out. Julia slipped and fell repeatedly managing to get most of herself super muddy and wet. It was all fun until the 2 year old had enough then it was instant screaming all the way home. At least I knew to expect it. Kayla and her friend Micah were great about leaving right away, though they were bummed to leave their “clay” makings (otherwise known as mud pies) behind.