Summer at the Pool

This pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Mm, mmm.

Toddler Robins

I can't help it. More bird pics. This second brood of robins commands more or our attention because the nest is directly outside the kitchen window and the front door.  Truly: those mouths are open from dawn to dusk. Parents are busy snatching up every bug in sight and dropping it down their throats.

There is a third baby bird in the nest which seems to be stepped on and sat on a lot. Here it strains for position in the middle:

I was the second oldest of five and didn't get stepped on too much; neither did my older sister or three younger brothers because they were all too cute or too scrappy. We're a close bunch.

You? Were you stepped on or sat on?  Or too cute? Too scrappy?

Layers

Like many children, both of my grandchildren get up in the morning and start layering. They often begin with 'regular' clothes (shorts or skirt, a shirt) and as the morning moves along, they add layers: boas, an extra skirt or leggings, gloves, necklaces, ribbons, hats.  Each new adornment requires a shift in mannerisms. The blue gloves and purse above prompted an instant "la de da."  In The Unfinished Angel (Sept '09), the character of Zola dresses in multiple layers, just like my granddaughter.

Adornments

At top, granddaughter Pearl with her various adornments, and below, grandson Nico in a 'Spidey' costume. We are having a grand time with Pearl and Nico and all their cousins and aunts and uncles. Much eating, running, jumping, swinging, swimming, singing, falling, bandaids. These are our annual Creech Weeks. Ta da!

Young Creechers

Above are some of the young, fun, buoyant Creechers:  one boy holding his own in this group among five especially cool girls. 

Yesterday, the children selected rocks from the lake, decorated them, added messages, and placed them at the base of a maple tree which we've planted in memory of my brother Dennis who died in January.  The kids made this a sweet, joyous occasion. We sprinkled a little tobacco over the earth because my brother was a smoker and would have appreciated the gesture.

Playhouse Girls

This is one of my favorite photos from last summer: my grandaughter and two cousins in the playhouse, dressing up.  They were completely engrossed. I didn't have my camera handy last night when four of the young cousins ran to the playhouse and came out a half hour later decked in everything from a jazz costume to Batman.  More photos of playhouse and kids (from real time) to come. 

Superheroes

Wednesday, 24 June, 2009

This is Nico and Pearl. Give them paper masks and stickers and, ta da! Superheroes! I love how they get into character so quickly and spin out their fantasies so passionately. Children: ahh.

Kids in a Box

Monday, 8 June 2009

My niece and grandchildren had more fun in this storage box (first photo): hiding in it and surprising aunts, uncles and cousins as they passed by. We laughed so hard because they were laughing so hard.  The cardboard box (second photo) was one of those appliance boxes large enough to make a fort out of, providing days of play.

My own children loved boxes, too, and sheets draped over tables or behind sofas.  I don't remember making indoor forts when I was young, but my siblings and neighbors and I made various rickety outdoor ones with old lumber, branches and leaves.

Kids Making Faces

Sunday, 24 May, 2009

One of my favorite renovation projects was turning an old one-room cottage into a playhouse and filling it with dress-up clothes, board games and art supplies.  Every summer when the grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins come, they entertain us with their changes of costume and their made-up-on-the-spot plays. Kids!  Too cute, too funny.  Here they are making faces for the camera.