Yee Ha! It’s time for the SAP Picnic!

| August 30, 2015

Yesterday was the annual SAP summer picnic. Sam loves the picnic, and the cowboy theme this year was a big hit with her. After last year’s waterlogged mess (boy, can rain ruin a picnic) we were so happy to have a warm sunny day ahead!

Sam wore a denim dress sent up by my Aunt Barbara (perfect), and her cowboy boots we bought on our trip to Texas a while back. Ponytails completed her look and she was ready to go!

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As soon as we got there, Sam couldn’t wait to play games. Her daddy helped her win at the shooting game.

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We went inside for a while to get out of the sun and Sam found sand art! She loves sand art, even though we only did it at home once. The floor was an utter mess, but hey, it’s Mark’s office, not my house, so what do I care? Go for it, Sam! She made a cute cactus, all green. We tried to get her to mix colors, but she knows cactuses are green, so she wasn’t having it.

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We snapped this picture at an area they had set up for dressing up and photo shoots.

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Don’t we look fabulous? Ha! Oh boy. I was never so happy for modern clothes. How did they wear the stuff back in the day? The clothes were hot and oh so attractive.

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Back outside and ready for more rides. Sam was thrilled when she found they had a spooky house just like on the boardwalk!

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It wasn’t nearly as good as the one in Ocean City, NJ, but we still had fun pretending to be terrified.

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The carousel is a perpetual favorite and this time was no different. Ride ’em, cowgirl!

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And the balloon ride…Sam loves the balloon ride….and the spinning…the endless spinning….

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Since it was a cowboy theme, there were pony rides. I was really happy to see that Sam couldn’t wait to ride a pony! We have tried so many times before to get to try and she always seemed scared. Not anymore. She is a big girl now. We snatched her hat off of one of the tables. It was full of candy, but looks much nicer on Sam’s head.

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She loved riding the pony, but her only comment was, “Mommy, ponies stink!” Ha. Yes, yes they do. Gotta love the farm animals.

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Back inside for more fun and games. In this one, the kids had a set amount of time to dig, dig, dig for prizes. Sam came home with quite a bag of loot.

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We let her make a few more sand art items before we left. She made two stars, this time with multiple colors.

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One last thing before we go. A sack race with her Daddy!

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All in all, we had a great time, as usual. Sam looks forward to the picnic every year, and so do we. I can’t even remember how many we went to before we had Sam. It is infinitely more fun with her, that is for sure!

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One of her little prizes was a pair of handcuffs, for catching the bandits, you know. Boo Boo must have been a very bad girl. Sam locked her up! Poor Boo Boo.

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Sam the Pet Vet? Or Flutist? Hmmm…so many choices.

| August 29, 2015

Sam has been seeing commercials for new episodes of Doc McStuffins, which she loves, where Doc is a pet vet. I have been hearing about it for weeks! Thankfully, the episodes finally came on and Sam couldn’t wait to watch. Mark and I had to get some pictures of her playing. While the episode was on, she got out all of her doctor stuff and gave her stuffed doggie a checkup.

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Poor puppy seems to have a cast, and is getting a shot. Doctor Sam to the rescue! Maybe she’ll go to veterinary school someday. We certainly love animals in our house.

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Or maybe not. After the show was over, it was time for a concert. It started out just Sam and Mark goofing around, then it turned into a whole band! I didn’t know her stuffed animals were so talented. 🙂

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Popcorn, anyone?

| August 27, 2015

The township commissioners started putting on these outside movie nights this summer. We didn’t go to the first one because they were showing The Sandlot and Mark had little desire to see a baseball movie. When the second one came around we decided to go. It seemed like a fun night out and we thought Sam might enjoy the experience, even if the movie was a bit of an odd choice. It was The Goonies. That movie came out in 1985 and I have to admit, I don’t think I ever saw it. I was in high school at the time, and I can guarantee you, that movie would definitely have not been up my alley.

When we explained to Sam that we were going to go over to the sledding hill, sit on the grass and watch a movie outside she was so thrilled she was jumping up and down. Here are Sam and Mark all ready to watch the show, free popcorn in hand (not that Sam ate any…)

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Here’s the setup. If you look closely, you can see Sam and Mark right down in front. I guess this is the closest thing to a drive in we are going to get anymore. I have to admit, it was a pretty good substitute.

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Sam’s friend, Julia, and her mom came and watched with us, which made it an ever better experience for Sam. (As you can see, Julia is missing a tooth – Sam is so jealous!)

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The movie was, well….not that great. Why it is considered sort of a classic, I have no idea. 80’s nostalgia, maybe? But at any rate, it was a fun night. Sam wound up falling asleep (she did wake up to see the end of the movie) and we got home insanely late, but being that we only had to walk up our street to get home, it wasn’t a huge deal. It was actually really great. I hope the Township decides to make this a regular thing while the warm weather holds out!

Robot!

| August 16, 2015

Sam and Mark decided to build a robot, just like the ones Tobey has on Word Girl, one of Sam’s favorite cartoons. Sam and Mark watch it together all the time. I love how they come up with these projects!

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New treehouses!

| August 15, 2015

The summer is starting to seem long, and we desperately needed something to do to get Sam outside and out of our hair! We decided to go to Tyler Arboretum, which anyone who reads this blog should know, is one of our favorite places. There were a few new treehouses constructed so we had to check them out. The new ones were not in the same location where the other houses are so it was actually nice to explore an area we don’t get to often.

This treehouse was really beautiful and elaborate. You can tell how new it is by how fresh and non-weather beaten the wood looks.

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Sam’s favorite part (and the part that befuddled her a bit) was the kitchen! Not a functioning one, of course, in any way, but one made entirely of wood. Sam loved it.

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The other treehouse was Fort Tyler. Not as interesting inside, but really beautiful. It is amazing to me how complex these structures are. I hope Sam realizes how lucky she is to have this available to explore.

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After seeing the new houses, we wandered a bit. Sam liked exploring this little cave of sorts.

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Our selfie inside our little fortress.

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We did stop at the butterfly house and Sam saw a lot of beautiful butterflies and found a chrysalis (or two, or three – she was better at finding them than anyone!)

Last stop was the pond, a regular stop for us each time we go to Tyler. Sometimes we don’t see a darn thing, but this time, it was quiet and we had a little turtle friend following us around! I am so glad Sam finds it as much fun to go out and about exploring as she does playing with toys. Our little adventure girl!

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