For her birthday breakfast, she requested breakfast burritos rather than a pancake bigger than her head. For dinner, we had refried bean melts (refried beans spread on bread with a sprinkle of colby-jack cheese and toasted in the oven), popcorn, Doritos, brownies and ice cream. At her request, we ate dinner while watching a Marvel superhero movie in the living room.
Instead of a party, she wanted us to take her best friend with us to a local waterpark, then go out for frozen custard. In addition to the frozen custard, she wanted a cookie man, which First Daughter made with chocolate chip cookie dough in our cookie man pan then decorated with candy.
Over the summer, Second Daughter decided Kansas Dad was going to take her camping. She had glorious and grandiose plans for their trip but in the end was satisfied when he took her to a state park for a night and most of the following day.
 |
| a picture Second Daughter took |
In all our travels, she still claims Rocky Mountain National Park or the Great Sands Dunes as her favorite vacation spots. But she had a good time with Kansas Dad here in Kansas. They had a campfire and went hiking and swimming.
She was determined to master these parallel bars but didn't have quite enough time.
She liked best all the water snakes and the weird rock just sticking out of the middle of the lake.
Her favorite foods - Reese's Pieces, triple layer chocolate peanut butter cake, shrimp
Her favorite games - Uno, dominoes, games with Second Son, Rat-a-Tat-Cat
She's not the best or most focused child when doing chores. During school, too, she gives herself breaks that often extend into hours of something done outside.
She loves being outside and continues to be the most observant of our family when we're hiking or camping despite seeming oblivious and loud.
The picture below is from the Badlands in South Dakota, one of the places we visited this summer.
favorite books - Survivors series by Erin Hunter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Boxcar Children series
favorite movies - The Princess Bride, The Night at the Opera, Bringing Up Baby, and the Harry Potter movies
 |
| First day of third grade |
Second Daughter started third grade this year. I've given her a lot more independent lessons than First Son did, but she's managing fairly well. Her favorite lessons are maps, birds (continued from last year), and art.
favorite things to do - swim at the waterpark or pool, play in the snow, and not being eaten by bugs in the summer
She celebrated her First Communion last spring and claims Mass isn't so bad now that she can have Communion.
She has more than sixty stuffed animals. We recently imposed a rule that she must get rid of a stuffed animal if she wants to buy a new one. Since the rule was imposed, she's only purchased two more. (Gifts do not require a purge.)
She's been promised a bearded dragon for her birthday but there have been extensive delays due to various circumstances. Hopefully we'll be new pet owners in the next week or so. She's unbelievably excited and I'm nervous. As she always comforts me with her indomitable spirit, "Don't worry, Mom!"
