Beautiful Sunday Evening at the Beach

We had been meaning to make it to the beach for a few weeks now.  The weather is just how I like it forthe beach: warm but with a cool breeze and the water is still to cold to really swim in but great for walking.  I love the feeling of cold water on my feet.  It feels crisp and clean.  The ocean water in late summer here is warm like a bath and grimey and smelly.  But this time I leave the beach feeling refreshed, if a bit sandy and greasy from sunblock. 

We brought sandwitches for an early beach supper.  It was fun and satisfying to eat on the blanket and then walk to the water and see what we could discover.  We found lots of living conchs, snails, and sea combs.  I found an entire sea urchin shell and there was a jellyfish washed up on the shore.

Dot was most interested in the jelly.  She wanted to touch it but I was afraid she could still get stung even if it was dead so she settled for dropping shells on it and laughing about how they bounced away.

ARTpool art party!

The party was loads of fun!  Dottie had a blast with markers, glitter, artichoke 'popcicles', and dancing to the live music!

Here is Dot enjoying her 3rd or 4th artichoke popcicle!  Compliments of Cafe Alma! 

Here is the lovely Marina Williams, Bride of PBR, the owner of ARTpool.  She is a fabulous photographer, artist, entrepreneur!

PlaySilks

I love playsilks!  Dot has had so much fun playing with them and they fill me a really wholsome feeling whenever she asks to get them out.  I, being of the crafty and rather poor persuasion, could not buy them at $10 a peice.  Instead I bought the plain silk scarves from Dharma Trading Company and dyed them myself using food coloring.  The colors really come out bright and I love the feel of the silk and the way they float in the air.  I decided to make some to sell and so far, almost all of my etsy sales have been playsilks.  It is kind of discouraging that my dolls don't sell but the profit I have made from the silks has enabled me to buy more wooden supplies...

and so I have these new doll-types.  I decided they should be fairies.  These prototypes will likely stay here and become Dot's toys.  She had fun with them the other day.  The were eating plates of salad and tending their mushroom garden.

Beautiful day for a boat ride

We were lucky enough to spend over an hour out on my parents' boat today. The weather was beautiful. Warm (hot is the sun when going through no wake zones) with a cool breeze. We saw a few dolphins. Dottie really enjoyed it. She has been hit-and-miss in the past on the boat. Sometimes she is scared to go fast, other times she hates to go slow. This time she wanted to go fast the whole time and to sit by herself with no one holding on to her. She is getting so brave lately.
At 2.5 she is starting to get interested in climbing the ladders and going down the slides at the playground. We try hard to encourage her lightly but never to push her, and she is starting to enjoy these things on her own. It is always interesting for me to see how kids much younger than Dot are so confident on the playground and she so unsteady. Early to talk, slow to walk? Sensory Integration Dysfunction? I don't really care. I just try to be sensitive to her needs and not slap on the label 'stubborn' or 'spoiled' when she reacts to things differently than other kids seem to (or than i want her to).

I wish i had some pictures from the boat ride. My camera kinda sucks and it is hard for me to remember to lug it around.

Tonight we are going to a party at a local art gallery/vintage boutique where i try to sell my painted dolls ans stuff. There is going to be a craft table for kids, live bands, food, drinks, and living art (people painted head to toe). Should be fun.

mama's outdoor log ;)

i haven't got any pictures but will post about our outdoor time today.

i realised before dinner that we actually had not been outdoors today except in the car with windows down.

so we decided to have dinner in the backyard! it was loads of fun even if (and actually because) Dot ran around the yard picking wild flowers between bites. she also tried to get me to eat some leaves off our trumpet vine plant since i was a 'hungery carnivore.' we are still playing with food habit terminology.

it was warm but the breeze was chilly. this has been an exceptionally cold spring here in Florida and we are relishing it!

mushroom garden

i painted up some pull knobs as mushrooms. i made 2 sets so Dottie can actually play with them! i will put the other set up on my etsy after they have debuted in our science class.

camping

we took our first family camping adventure. it was reasonably sucessful. Dottie roasted her own (turkey) hot-dog over the fire and has her very first marshmellows. the most fun were the hikes with Dot in the mai tei and playing on the river bank.