Summer Break

Ms. Faye's Daycare is on summer break this week so we were left without daycare again.  Last year we shuffled Esme to a different friends house each day but this year we decided to fly in Esme's own babysitter all the way from Hawaii - Nana!  My mom arrived last Friday so we had the weekend to hang out together and for Esme to get used to having her around.  Of course Esme's so easy and warms up to people right away so it wasn't a big deal at all.  She loves waking up and looking across the hall to see if Nana's in her room.  And I love coming home at the end of the day and dinner's all made and Esme's all tired out from playing with Nana all day.  It's a great feeling!  I drew them a map of our neighborhood so they can walk to the park or the store for little adventures during the day.

Over the weekend we watched the Blue Angels over Lake Washington.  We hit some record heat that day, up in the 90s, so Esme had a hard time napping at the park while we watched the air show.  She kept fighting it but she was sooooooooooo ready.  Finally she took a nap in the car on the way home.  I think she was just happy to have AC again!

                                                      
                       These girls love copying each other                                                                           The tired little girl
                    
                                   Blue Angels air show                                                                             Watching the air show from the shores

We also visited the Ballard Locks to watch the ships travel between the Puget Sound and Lake Union.  Esme liked watching the boats rise and sink in the Locks but that was before we got to the the fish ladder.  She was mesmerized by the salmon swimming up the fish ladder and we had a hard time peeling her away from that area.
                                    
                         Watching the ships in the locks                                                                                              Ta-da!
                                                     
                                  Signing "birdie"                                                                                    Playing near the salmon ladder

Our backyard apple tree is loaded with apples right now so we've been trying to come up with apple dishes to make use of them all.  Nana made a apply crisp with her new apple peeling machine and Esme enjoyed playing with the cores and the peels.  She liked to wear the string of peels over her neck.  
                    
          Watching Nana work the apple peeling contraption                                                        Wearing the apple peel lei

We hit record heat in Washington this past weekend so we were glad we repaired our AC this year.  Our house stayed nice and cool but Esme thought it was better to just sit in the fridge to cool off.  She also had fun running around naked in the backyard and splashing in her little pool.

Chillin in the fridge