Hidden Benefit of Living in a Mobile Home Park

You get to see fire trucks up close and personal at least once every other week.

I know it's not really nice to benefit from someone else's problems, but we just happen to live on a circle with two ladies who require frequent emergency medical attention. We had (she just died a few weeks ago) one neighbor a few doors down who had a pace maker that frequently had issues. And by frequently, I mean at least once a week. Now that she's gone, a different neighbor has been getting frequent fire truck visits due to falls.

The girls always stand out on the porch and cheer and wave when they drive by. Sometimes, they circle the block and come back with their lights on, sometimes they just wave. This morning, they turned on the siren for us and let us run up to the truck and get stickers. It's like our own private parade. I think it's a great way for the girls to get comfortable with fire fighters, in case we ever have our own emergency. And I don't mind seeing a bunch of really good looking men in uniform either.

That Funny Girl

If you're not around Matea often, you may not know that she talks A LOT. Because she's so tiny, strangers are always surprised when she opens her mouth and speaks in full, clear sentences. Everyday, she cracks us up with something new she says. Here are a few quotes from the last week:

-"Who body drew dat on dere?"
-"I can do it MY-BY-SELF!"
-after secretly sneaking a drink of my sprite/peach-mango juice..."Mmmmm, dat's spicy"

Another Camping Trip

We took the girls camping in Morro Bay this weekend. The campground itself isn't that great but I did pick one of the better spots, if I do say so myself. And, it's nice that the campground is just a few minutes from town so there's plenty to do. My mom came over on Friday night and Saturday and went with us to hang out around town. We took the girls to the museum and had a really good time. It's undergone a complete renovation since I was a kid and is really hands on and interesting now. And the best part is, it's only $2 for adults and free for kids.

Both girls enjoyed camping, as usual. And the weather was actually really nice and sunny which isn't typical at all of Morro Bay. It was really warm at night but we still snuck into the trailer to watch movies like we always do.

Smart Cookie

I'm always amazed at how interested Bella is in learning and how easily she masters new skills. We've been working with her a little bit on reading. She knows the sounds that most letters make, occasionally getting hung up on the vowels, so we've started working on putting sounds together. While out for a walk today, she read her first three words! Stop, pet and dirt! She was so proud of herself and thinks she can read anything now.

How Cute Is She?

Today's Bella's first day at her new school. She was so excited and has been asking for the last week when school would be starting. Then she told me she couldn't sleep last night because she was so excited. I think her new pre-k program will be a really good fit for her and she's already told me how happy she is that her classroom is much bigger.

Here she is modeling the first day of school outfit I made for her before we headed out to school this afternoon. I showed her the pattern for the skirt and she gave her approval but wasn't at all happy with my fabric choice because it's not pink. Lucky for me, the skirt is super twirly, thus distracting her from the lack of pink.

Pinkalicious

Pinkalicious is the girls' favorite book. It's about a girl who loves pink so much and eats so many pink cupcakes, she turns pink. Bella's favorite part is when Pinkalicious says she cried pink tears because she was so beautiful:)

Anyway, as I was coloring my hair last week, Bella asked how old she had to be to color hers. I told her that I would try to remember to get her some temporary color next time I was in town. You can't imagine how excited she was to see pink! After I did her hair, she ran around the house singing a song about how pretty she was and how much she loved it. Three points for mommy!