Warm weather....at last!

...and you can bet we took advantage of it today while Daddy was in DC at a conference (Drew won't be home until late Wednesday night, boo!). We met Rachel's friend Tessa and her mommy, Helen, at Grant Park at 11 a.m. for a picnic...and then proceeded to stay until 3:30! Not kidding. Helen, bless her heart, was tempted to take me up on my offer to make us all fried chicken, but then decided I'd be insane to attempt that with Drew gone, so she told me to bring dessert and she brought everything else. We had a fine time watching the girls play in the Beverly Cleary fountain, then on the play structure. Helen and Tessa left at 1:30 and then we met ANOTHER little girl named Ella, who is almost 5, and came right up to Rachel and introduced herself, then proceeded to "mommy" her on a challenging part of the play structure while I chatted up Ella's mom Shana. Shana is from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and we spent much of the time discussing whether Drew and Rachel and I should do a driving trip up there for Labor Day weekend (it's only 6 hours away; I thought it was much longer). I'll probably research it this week.

I was so proud of Rachel for mastering sliding down the pole at the play structure, which Ella tried to coach her through. It's kind of a stretch from the platform to the pole, and Rachel was very reluctant to try it on her own. I lifted her a few times then insisted she try it. She finally did....and then did it again and again and again, and I kept watching and telling her each time was better than the last. Within four hours, the kid who was too terrified to slide down the pole was sliding down with one hand, the other clutching her fairy wand. She's growing up so fast...

Then it was home for nap; I was so tired that I fell asleep for an hour next to Rachel in her bed; and then I woke her up to meet Noah, Sarah, and Sarah's boyfriend Michael at the Belmont food carts. Rachel had pizza and apple cider; I tried ahi tuna tacos (too spicy, unfortunately), and both kids had strawberry ice cream. It was so fun to watch Noah, who is almost 5, play with Rachel, who of course is about to turn 4 next month. They both pretended to attack each other with karate moves, and then ran around the food cart area, pretending to see birds on the ground and picking up pieces of napkin and ATM machines until we told them to stop. I had to yell at Rachel because at one point she almost kicked Noah in the face; she got blubbery but then I hugged her tight and we went home. Bath, bed and a story (featuring ponies, of course) and she was asleep before 9:30.

Cute Rachel sayings:

yesterday as we were driving Drew to the airport:
"That's a Smart Car!" Rachel said as she looked out the window. "You should buy one. Mommy's SmartPhone and the SmartCar can be friends!"

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Today as we were leaving for our picnic at Grant Park:
"This is going to be one heck of a picnic!" (and it was!)

***

We were listening to Scottsdale Chorus, the gold medal-winning chorus from Scottsdale, Arizona, whose CD I bought at a coaching session a couple months back. Best money I've ever spent, since Rachel has memorized most of the songs.

"A fast song is an uptune," Rachel said.
"How do you KNOW that?" I asked.
"Daddy told me," she said. "What's a slow song called?"
"A slow song is called a ballad," I replied.
"I like ballads better than uptunes," she said. "They're really beautiful!"

If sung the right way...then yes.