August beauty and some new beginnings

 

Last Monday, August 14th, I had Elizer all day because he doesn't go to daycare on Mondays.  It was a beautiful day, and we spent part of the morning at Benner Township Veterans Park.  It's the one at the entrance to our community.  It is so beautifully kept. 

Elizer wanted to run the bases on the ball field.  I was cheering him on and was surprised when he started around the second time.  Home base was slippery and he fell both times he got there.  The second time was worse and he really cried when he saw some blood on his knee.  He usually doesn't cry when he gets hurt, but seeing blood is a whole different story!

Silly poses.

I brought our first tomato inside! There are a lot of green ones hanging on. 

I was tickled when I saw three blooms on my red rose bush.

The latter part of the day was rainy and dreary.  We sat on the porch a couple of times to watch the rain, but after dark it rained really hard.  

On Tuesday I blogged and went to the laundromat.  Our washer is still on the fritz because Dick ordered the wrong part.  Thankfully I can bring my laundry home to dry. 

After I brought Elizer home from daycare we went to the little playground below our house.

I caught this cute video of Destiny and Elizer that evening - she was showing him a video and explaining how tadpoles become frogs.  She's a good teacher.

On Wednesday morning I glimpsed this when I came to the kitchen.  I have rarely seen a sunrise this summer. 

I made Jamaican Rice and Peas and Curried Chicken for Lori and Anthony that day and took it over to their place after I picked Elizer up from daycare.  Anthony and the boys were there, and Elizer was happy to go inside to say hi to them.  

A yellow beauty that day. 

Then I met Destiny at Walmart and we had fun grocery shopping together.

On Thursday I went to the laundromat again and also to TJMaxx to look for birthday gifts for Elizer.  Destiny knew he would be getting toys from other people and wanted me to get him size 3 clothes.  I found several cute outfits, a pair of Spiderman pajamas, and a Spiderman soccer ball.  He's all about Spiderman these days. 

We saw a rainbow and a sunset that evening. 

Friday was Elizer's birthday!  Of course to him "birthday" is synonymous with "party."  We had to explain that Friday was three years since he was born, and we would have a birthday cake at dinner, but Saturday is when we would have a party.  

I had gotten strawberry frosted mini-donuts for him to treat his daycare friends.  His teacher took this picture of him eating his donut with his birthday crown on his head.

 

It was his last day in the daycare class.  He is now in the three-year-old class in a program called "Pre-K Counts."  It's a free five-days-per-week program for eligible parents, which Destiny is.  It is also held at St. Paul's Christian Preschool where he has been in daycare.  After I dropped him off Friday morning I went to take a look at what would be his new classroom and met his new teacher, Miss Christy.  She taught for Headstart for 30 years before coming to teach this program at St. Pauls a few years ago.  So she's experienced, very animated, and fun.  I felt so good after my little visit.  I took some pictures to show Destiny and Elizer.  

At home that day I was cooking the meal Destiny had requested, Creamy Lemon Spinach Ricotta Ravioli with Sausage.  It's a recipe she had made when they lived here and it's been a favorite ever since.  

My day was about to get much more interesting.  Last week was move-in week for Penn State students. All week the amount of cars and pedestrians was increasing, and by Friday it was CRAZY town!!!  It was only by the grace of God that I did not run over anybody when I would turn onto the street his daycare is on.  The parents were as bad as the kids - just walking down the sidewalk, crossing streets without even looking if a car might be trying to turn onto it.  

When I pulled into the parking garage across from his daycare it was PACKED!!  I really thought there was no space available when I spied an empty one.  It didn't look very big, and I didn't want to get too close to the car next to my spot because that's the side I would get out of, SO I ended up getting to close to that wall instead!  

This was my situation when I looked at it more closely after bringing Elizer to the car.   

I tried so hard to back up a little bit, pull front a little bit, turn a little bit.  I tried to see if the rear view mirror would fold in, but it wouldn't.  I ended up making my situation even worse, so I finally called Dick.  It was 15 minutes before his quit time at work, which is just a few blocks away.  He came to my rescue.  And guess what - the mirror DID fold in for him, of course!!  While Elizer and I stood back and watched, he carefully backed my car out of that spot.  But this is what we saw.  GRRRRRR.  

This morning, in the much emptier parking garage, I took pictures of that empty parking spot and the white paint that belongs to my van. 

Back to Friday - as planned, we had Elizer's birthday dinner that evening.  Two of Destiny's friends, Lena and Jina, as well as Jina's 5-year-old brother, joined us.  We were video chatting with Destiny's sisters Jada, Alaya, and V'anni as we ate.  Then when we were ready for the ice cream cake we Face-timed with Lori and the boys who were at a cabin in Hershey for the weekend.  He had a blast trying to blow out the candles!

Icing on the face and loving it!

I gave him the soccer ball I'd gotten, so of course there had to be some soccer practice outside before they all left.  Elizer is really a natural, and I hope we can get him into a soccer program next Spring.  

Meanwhile in Florida Sophie was all moved in to her new dorm apartment at University of Miami.  She has a really sweet roommate, and her coach has two labradoodles just like Lisa and George have!  Sophie has already met one of the dogs, which warmed her heart.  Here are some screenshots I took from Lisa's video.

And here's the new college freshman!

Lisa has taken a first-day-of school photo every year since her first year of preschool.  Some of you probably remember her as a cute little curly head!

Next time I'll have pictures from Elizer's birthday party at Bounce Kraze on Saturday.