meet Chou Chou

This is Chou Chou.  Named by the manufacturer, Chou Chou may be the best present Nana and Papa ever gave to Elizabeth.
For years, Chou Chou has been dragged around and driven around.  E is one loyal little Mommy.  Many diapers have been changed.  You see, Chou Chou is a big girl, and newborn-sized diapers fit her well.
I have carried Chou Chou many miles.  When she first came to live with us on Fernbrook Circle, she was "too heaby" for E to carry.
By the way, today was jungle day at camp.  (Are the program directors trying to complicate our mornings or does it come naturally?)  We have a perfectly clever tiger costume but that would have been too convenient.  This is our version of a cheetah.  

Sunday evening

Here are our girls.  One is freshly showered and ready for bed.  The other barked and roamed a bit more before hitting the hay.  

 E is working for the pose.

Here it is.

Last week was Prairie Critter week at day camp.  The first day campers spent "a long time" looking for and not finding critters.  "Well, Miss Cindy had to go to a funeral, and these men were there instead and kept telling us to look for prairie critters but we could not go in the woods because of poison ivy so we just kept looking and not finding."  

Miss Cindy returned Tuesday when the paced picked up making fairy houses and shadowboxes.  Did you know that fairies sleep on beds of REAL flowers?  No photos since Daddy went to the picnic.  I did see E's fairy house.  Very stylish!

night night

Night night Prayer Bear and Quackley.

And to all a good night.

grilling

What does Sadie smell?
Oh, it must be the grill.

Check out the filets with grilled red peppers, served with parmesan buttered mushrooms and tomato cucumber salad.  The plate is on a glass table but doesn't it look like it is on the ground?
See also a doggie who refuses to pose.

new glasses

Look received when E realized the delivered frames did not have pink plastic covering the ear pieces like the floor model suggested. 
Lightening up a bit.

moovin and groovin

Coffee can drum.
Dance moves.
Orange t-shirt danced his heart out.  
Twinkle twinkle little star by the bell choir.
More Twinkle Twinkle on the Kazoo.
All in a super cool loft of 1905 barn.  Not pictured but the big hit of the week was playing with Lincoln logs.  Also not pictured was Mommy doing the "YMCA".  Parents were encouraged, E begged and suddenly I was moving to the Village People.  Frightening.

hanging

Just hanging out. How about you?

drama camp

Here is my girl before the performance.  She's wearing shorts.  I promise.
In the moves.

See.  Here are her shorts.


Shake it Liz.

E sang and danced her heart out at the drama camp showcase.  She was all smiles and spoke her line into the microphone loudly and clearly.  "This feeling's like no other."  But there would be no staying for big kids' showcase.  E likes riding ponies much better and knows that Nana's childhood theatre camp must have been much different!

pony follow-up

A friend at work gave E a fabulous collection of ponies and horses.  Wow!

lesson learned

Dark chocolate fudge cake mix plus strawberry flavored icing is not our favorite.

pony camp

Elizabeth posing in the sun,
joining the morning circle,
and outside the pony ring.
The big arena.

E:  I will tell you the story.  It was fun at pony camp.  I had a great time.  I loved it.  I got to brush the pony. I got to ride Huckleberry.  I got to ride in the arena and ride on a a trail and sing songs.  "Sitting on fence post chewing my bubble gum (chomp chomp).  Playing with my yo-yo (woo woo).  Along came wormy the worm.."  Now that's the end of the song.  We had lots of fun.  We made a bracelet.  We found gold rocks.  We tie-dyed a shirt.  That's almost the end.  Oh, we had a horse show and I didn't get to go to it because I went somewhere else.  For the horse show practice, I got to jump over a pole.

Happy 4th of July!

Fireworks from a bedroom window.

chef Lizzy

Tonight we had a simple supper and E begged to make the tuna salad.
She loves to work with food and does a great job.  I just had an encouraging thought.  Between E and J, I may never have to prepare food again!