...apparently. But I will get to those stories in a bit.
Esther and I spent a week house-sitting for Nana Carolyn and Esther got to play in the backyard to her heart's content. The dogs had a blast as well getting their zoomies out and I got to shoo them outside if they got too rambunctious indoors (which included E as well). Esther got to ride her new bike everyday while I walked the dogs. The street was pretty pebbly but E got better and better at maneuvering over them.
The last day we were there, I heard a lot of birds carrying on outside and looked out the window to see Esther holding up a dead bird while some loud crows called from the trees. I assumed the crows had killed the bird. Turns out Esther saw the bird hurt on the ground (probably from the crows) and decided to step on it. Really? Should I be concerned? She did put it out of it's misery, but that wasn't her intention. I know E has a scientific mind and likes to see what happens if she does "x" to "y" but where does scientist stop and psychopath start. I'm kind of kidding, but not completely. She wanted to know what happened if she stepped on the poor bird and was excited to see it's guts. "I saw it's intestines and it's bladder!" She told me later she wished I hadn't seen the bird and she could have put it in her backpack. Could you imagine finding a dead bird with it's intestines hanging out in your kids backpack? I think that would have sent me over the edge. Gene and I have talked with her about having compassion toward other living things and hope she will be able to balance curiousness with compassion.
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| Hamming it up for the camera and playing with the dogs. |
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| Her "sad" face. |
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| Playing keep away with Frankie. |
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| And she's spent. |
Friday we got to spend some time with friends at the beach. It was a beautiful day and the girls had a blast. Claire, Lea and Esther played down by the water for a while, finding cool creatures. Some boys had created a little pool for some tadpoles and Claire became very concerned that the poor fish were suffering. She was trying to put them back in the ocean, but the boys were not pleased. Esther was curious and kept trying to hold the tadpoles. Finally we left the boys up to their own devices. When we got home E. showed me a jar full of water and guess what was in it? A dead tadpole. At the beach, she had stealthily stuck one in her pocket. When she got home she put it in water hoping it would swim around again. Good try, kiddo. Curiosity strikes again.
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| Lea and Esther build a cool drift wood art instillation. |
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| Watching the train go by. |
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| "I think there is more wood that way." |
For the Fourth of July, we hung out at home and watched the fireworks on TV. I know, we are wild and crazy! As we watched the fireworks, Esther said, "Hey, they're making nebulas." And "Those are portals!" Yes, yes they are.
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