June 2011: The first half of the month was extremely busy for Kathy as the end of the school year means
additional work events in the evenings and on weekends. Good thing Jon was always willing to help out
by picking Aurora up from daycare or being a single parent for an evening! Potty training continued and
by the middle of the month Aurora could go a full day in big girl panties with minimal accidents. Sometimes,
she preferred to be in a diaper or pullup, other times she wanted to wear her panties. If she was distracted
by playing or watching a DVD, she often went in her pullup instead of pausing the activity to go potty.
Aurora stayed in daycare a couple of weeks after Kathy was done with school to allow Mama some time to clean up the house
and her classroom. Then it was time to started preparing for the big trip to Taipei for Tai Nai Nai's 100th birthday!
June 4, 2011: Aurora likes her new toolbox and helping Baba fix things around the house. Today, she
decided the lock to the basement door needed some work, so she got her stool and her screwdriver and fixed it
for us.
Later that morning, we head out to Needham for a small festival. First thing Aurora does
when wew get there? - she tries out all the "rides"! We are so proud of how patiently she can wait
for her turn for the pony rides and the bouncy house. The only thing she didn't like was the occasional
loud noise as a balloon popped.
Video: Pony ride
June 7, 2011: It's Scooperbowl time again! We head out for an evening of ice cream and more ice cream. I think
this was the best dinner EVER, from Aurora's point of view (and maybe Jon's too). Turns out, 3 people sharing
24 small scoops of ice cream in under 2 hours leads to ice cream overload. Aurora really like splashing in the puddles and
dancing to
the Michael Jackson music they played over the loudspeakers. She even went poop in the port-a-potty!
Video: Grooving
Video: What kind of ice cream?
Video: Dancing
Video: Can't stop dancing
By the end of the event, everyone's tummies were feeling quite full and perhaps a little queasy.
June 8, 2011: Uncle Anthony stopped by briefly that evening.
June 11, 2011: Walnut Hill graduation day! Once again, Jon gets to babysit - and this time he has two extra kids too!
June 18, 2011: We drive 1.5 miles with all the bikes (trying out the new bike rack we bought) to Commonwealth Avenue
to go biking along the carriage lane. Aurora did great - going up and down hills, stopping and looking both ways before
crossing streets - biking about 2 miles! Of course, there were frequent breaks for snacks and to check things out.
Video: Biking 1
Video: Biking 2
Luckily, the library was open and close by for a potty break. Aurora read some books while Baba jogged over to
the car and picked everyone up.
June 19, 2011: Happy Father's Day! Aurora treats Baba to a trip out to Davis' Farmland. She's still pretty wary of
some of the animals and refuses to feed any of them (though one baby gaot tries to eat her shorts!),
but the small fuzzy ones are nice to pet.
Video: Pony ride
Driving (and repairing) a tractor then going fishing.
The blue cow bouncer is always fun!
Video: Bouncing 1
Video: Bouncing 2
Video: Bouncing 3
Doing the musical maze for the first time.
Video: Ringing the bell
Video: Pipes
Aurora discovers the animal clinic and helps treat the ducks and the puppies.
Video: Playing vet 1
Video: Playing vet 2
Just hanging out with Baba is so much fun!
Roasting marshmallows on the campfire! They're hot, so don't forget to blow them!
Playing in a sandbox.
Lunch break before heading to the water park!
Video: Spray!
Aurora loved the bubble pool and tried out the slide a couple of times.
Video: Sliding 1
Video: Sliding 2
Video: Getting wet
Back into the bubble pool!
After she was done playing in the spray park, we headed to the playground. Aurora climbed up a big rock, but
then discovered it was harder to get down without help. She quickly figured out how to pedal and steer the go carts,
then moved on the "painting". She even painted Baba's toenails! The last thing Aurora tried was the scooters. It took
her a little while, but she soon figured how to make them go.
Video: Go carts 1
Video: Go carts 2
Video: Scooters
Time for ice cream!
Video: Rock lobster
Video: Crocodile rock
Video: Running up hill
Video: Dancing more
Video: Dancing more too
The last thing we did that day was go on a hay ride. We had to wait about
15 minutes, so Aurora checked out some of the nearby animals.
Video: Mary had a little lamb
A big day for everyone!
June 21, 2011: We met up with some friends for dinner. Jen and Ben (and their kids Josie and Nate) were in town
for a few days. Aurora and Greer and Josie had a blast together!
June 26, 2011: Aurora gets a haircut and dresses like a flower child. She has liked eating dinner outdoors lately,
though the bugs (ants and mosquitos) scare her.
Video: Dancing 1
Video: Dancing 2
Video: Dancing 3