Calling Mommy’s bluff
After our trip to the library today, I promised The Little Empress that we could go play at the park across the street. It was pretty late in the day and we still had some errands to do so I told her beforehand that we wouldn’t stay long. She nodded that she understood. She had fun exploring the two playgrounds, sliding down the slides and generally having a grand old time. Fifteen minutes later, playtime was up.
“One more slide and then we’ll go,” I told her.
The Little Empress seemed to consider what I had said and proceeded to climb up onto the play platform.
“Okay, show Mommy your slide,” I coaxed her. “Then we’ll go.”
The Little Empress paused. “No,” she said, crossing her arms in defiance and giving me a stare down.
I tried to compromise. “One slide. Then go,” I tried again, simplifying the words.
The Little Empress scowled, making it clear that she knew that once she slid down, we would leave. And that was not on her agenda. “No,” she said again, sitting down on the platform, just shy of the slide.
I decided to change tactics. “Okay then,” I pretended to yield. I picked up the book bag and waved good-bye. “Mommy leave. Bye-bye.” Normally, any “Mommy leave” tactic would elicit an ear piercing squeal of protest from TLE while she proceeds to superglue herself to my leg.
I walked to the car (still within plain viewing distance) and even got to put the book bag back into the trunk. Not a peep out of TLE.
I looked back. TLE was still sitting next to the slide, watching me thoughtfully but calmly.
I tried one last time. “Goodbye TLE! Mommy’s leaving you all alone at the park now.”
That seemed to be what she was waiting for but “BYE MOM!!!” She waved and grinned, jumping up and down.
Called my bluff. At age two!! My god, what am I in for….
**NOTE** No TLEs were left at the park alone. (Much to her utter disappointment.) Five minutes and two slides later, I finally picked her up and put her in the car. She was NOT. HAPPY. about that.Read More
Gym and Lola’s House
For Day #3 of “Wear Out The Little Empress”, we went to a mother’s club play date at a local gymnastics center. I could barely get The Little Empress off of the trampoline. After all, who WOULDN’T love running and bouncing on a 20′ trampoline?? (A plus: her OT tells me that it is awesome vestibular input!)
J U M P !
After somewhat wearing her out at the gymnastics center, we headed off to Lolo & Lola’s house so she could get some quality time with her grandparents while I got some quality time (and aggravated my carpal tunnel) with my keyboard. Ugh, deadlines. But at least I got to take a quick break to get a photo or two. Here, my mom is holding her (you can see her hand trying to tickle TLE to make her smile. Didn’t work.) while posing her with a photo that her teacher took of her last week. One photo has nothing to do with the other but I think it looks funny. (Plus, I love the crooked, upside down sunglasses in the photo she’s holding. Classic toddler action!)
Double TLE
Later on, TLE decided it was time to practice piano. It is horribly out of tune right now but that didn’t stop TLE from playing. She looooooooves the piano at my parents’ house. Someday, we will move it to our house once we get the money for the move and a good tuning.
TLE and the piano
She got very into her piano playing at one point, banging on the keys with the utmost purpose. I see a tortured artist musician in the making…
Future experimental pianist
Airport Fun
Back in June, her class subject was transportation and she learned all about planes.While we were at the farmer’s market, The Little Empress would look up and point at the sky at planes flying overhead. I remembered that the county airport was pretty close by and was a popular place for homeschool and mom’s groups to gather so the kids could watch planes. And all for the price of FREE. Who could argue with that? (If you have read more than one entry of this blog, I’m sure you have realized by now that I am a cheapskate so this should come as no surprise.)
I asked around to see if anyone from my mom’s group wanted to join us. (The more, the merrier!) As it so happened, S and her kids I and J were able to join us! We hadn’t seen their family in quite awhile since TLE’s been in school so I was so happy to be able to catch up to them.
At the Airport
Once we got to the airfield, I could see why this place is popular with the homeschool and moms crowd. The observation area is one, large FLAT and FENCED IN area for the kids to run wild. The Little Empress loves to test her boundaries and sure enough, she and her friends were trying to scale the chain link fence. Thankfully, they didn’t get too far. (Sadly, I did not get a picture of this!) Sadly, it doesn’t have any shade (why you would design an observation area with NO SHADE in an area known as Diablo Valley is beyond me) but were “lucky” to go when it was overcast and cool. (Summer? We haven’t had a summer.)
The kids loved watching the planes and helicopters takeoff and land. Well, honestly, it was just a few helicopters and maybe one or two planes. The kids liked them just the same. The vehicles were few and far between enough that I was too busy pointing out when one was landing to grab my camera and take a photo of one. (And… I forgot my zoom lens. Because I have no idea where I put the damn thing.) S brought trikes and scooters for the kids to ride in between planes. They had a blast riding their trikes and scooters. I was particularly impressed by the Red Flyer scooter which has a wider base for the little kids to ride on. Great design! I think I know what to put on TLE’s Christmas list 
Bleacher climbing
As the kids tired of the scooters/trikes and running around, they discovered the aluminum bleachers that faced the landing strip. They had an absolute blast clambering up and down the bleachers. J tried to get the girls to play “Follow the Leader” at one point as he deftly climbed from bench to bench and down to the ground. The girls were happy to do their own thing, jumping up and down on the top tier and just basically having a noisy, fun time.
It was such an awesome, free playdate! We will definitely be going back to the airfield as we get the chance to. 
Weekday Farmers Market
In order to wear her the heck out so I can get some work done, take advantage of The Little Empress’ school vacation, I’m trying to fill the days with fun, low-cost outings to pass the time. One of the outings I decided on was to hit up the Concord Farmers Market in Todos Santos Plaza.
I try to hit up a Farmer’s Market or farmer’s stand at least every week or so, to take advantage of the fresh produce we have in this area. There are at least three Farmers Markets within ten miles of us and a countless number of family owned farm stands. (Antioch may be maligned for being way the hell out in nowhere land but it does have its advantages.) The Concord Farmer’s Market isn’t one of the close by Farmers Markets but it is my current favorite due to its location. Todos Santos is a beautiful city square with a park, kids play area and is surrounded by a good selection of shops. These shops include Half Price Books and Peet’s Coffee which is damn near my version of heaven already. Adding a twice weekly Farmers Market on top of it is just icing on the cake! The location is full of mature trees for shade so after meandering through the Farmers Market, you can sit on the grass and let your kid play while you enjoy some fresh produce and whatever hot food happens to be at the market that day.
The Little Empress and I wandered through Half Price Books for a bit before hitting up the Farmers Market. While I’m not nearly as much of a bibliophile as other folks I know, book stores and libraries seriously make me happy and I can stay there for hours. TLE is still a bit young and got restless and I was getting hungry so I decided to head out to find something to eat. There were a bunch of great hot food stalls to choose from, including Argentine Empanadas, tamales, wood fired pizza, gourmet hot dogs… yummy. I decided on a gyro which I thought TLE would like but she didn’t. Alas, no photo of the gyro as it disappeared into my gaping maw way too quickly. It was delicious.
We relaxed on the grass for a bit. Next week, I’ll have to remember to bring a good blanket to sit on as well as a ball for TLE to kick around. I’d thought that she would have wanted to play on the play structure but she was (surprisingly) uninterested. (Lucky for me. The play structure is meant for kids 5+ rather than the toddler set. That usually doesn’t stop TLE who is a total daredevil.) Instead, she entertained herself by watching other kids and running around on the grass near me.
TLE dancing on the grass
Soon enough, she tired of the grass and signed frantically for “apples” which is her way of asking for fruit. It took some convincing to get her back in her stroller. I normally don’t take a stroller anywhere but Farmers Markets are SO much easier to navigate with a stroller rather than carrying her on my back while carrying groceries. (Plus, have you ever had a toddler eating a plum while in a back carry? I personally find the sensation of dripping plum juice down my neck to be decidedly NOT PLEASANT.)
We wandered up and down the aisles of the Farmers Market, looking at all the yummy and delicious fruits. I like to make at least one round of the offerings, to see what’s being offered at what prices. Summer farmer’s markets are always the best, full of stone fruit, delicious berries and awesome vegetables. Plus, fully circumventing the farmers market means I get to pilfer samples from everyone. BWAHAHA. (These samples kept TLE satisfied for quite awhile!)
Free samples? YES PLEASE.
I saw some really lovely tomatoes and a bunch of Asian herbs that I desperately wanted but knew I had no time to really enjoy properly this week so I passed. Seriously, check out these tomatoes!! The heirlooms next to the Early Girls were even more gorgeous but I didn’t get a really good shot of those.
Tomatoes... gorgeous, aren't they?!
After my first round, I stopped at a vendor to pick up a few pounds of naturally sweet, stone fruit goodness. TLE was very happy to get her chance to dig in to a sweet-tart pluot.
Yummy pluot!
Nomilicious indeed!
Read MoreTarget Arts & Wonder Free Family Event
Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event
Want to get out with the kids this weekend without spending a lot of money? Target is sponsoring free admission to selected museums all around the United States this weekend, July 16 to 18, 2010.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the De Young, Asian Art Museum, Zeum are among the museums are participating in the event. More information about the San Francisco museums participating, including free admission hours can be found here. More information on this event as well as participating museums outside of the Bay Area can be found here: Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event.
Read MoreActivity – Bottle + Pasta
Playing with Pasta
I’m always on the lookout for fun activities for The Little Empress to do after school and during the weekends. She does well in school but is very prone to meltdowns once we’re home. We’ve discovered that the key to preventing her epic meltdowns is to keep her busy with activities that appeal to her nearly insatiable drive for sensory input. As I am sure you can imagine, it is always better to provide a safe and fun activity rather than leave her to her own devices. (When left to her own devices shortly after she’d finished with this, she was upstairs climbing onto counters. Oi.)
This is a simple and fun activity that I copied from her school involving an empty parmesan bottle.
MATERIALS
- Empty parmesan bottle (with two different openings)
- Pasta (long & short)
NOTE: You don’t have to use pasta for this activity; it is just what I had on hand. Other fun objects that you could use include coffee stirrers, pompoms, chenille stems, whatever you have handy.
WHAT IT TEACHES KIDS
This activity helps teach kids about size (what fits, what doesn’t), fine motor skills (placing objects through small openings with precision) as well as provides tactile (handling the pasta) and visual stimulation (the shapes of the pasta and colors.)
HOW TO PLAY
Gather the materials and set them in front of the child. If they’ve never seen the activity before, demonstrate how the objects can be put into the container through the different sized openings. Have the child experiment with what will fit and what won’t fit. Another fun thing to do is figure out how to get all the objects out of the container once they are in.
The Little Empress showing off her handiwork
She’s seen it before at school so she was delighted to play at home. She happily dove into the activity which kept her busy for about a half hour as she stuck pieces of pasta into the parmesan bottle and then shook them out. It is pretty rare for something to hold her attention for so long so I was more than delighted with the results.
Shaking it out
And here’s another adorable photo of The Little Empress as she shakes the pasta out of the bottle. I just love the expression on her face.
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Copyright
Text and photographs copyrighted by Michelle N unless otherwise noted.