Pride and Gratitude

Dear M ~

What a great first month of summer! Here are some of our silly, fun, and touching highlights ~ enjoy!

Snapchat fun - don't ask...haha!

One of your first adventures was with Lao Lao who took you to the zoo, just you and her, on a super hot day. It was some great one on one time together, you stayed cool by going from the reptile house to aquatic displays and then checked out the dinosaur boat ride exhibit that they brought back again this year. Yay!

dinosaurs~ rawwwr!

Next was a trip to Skyline with Daddy!

One morning we ate breakfast outside on the front deck and we were lucky enough to watch a bumble bee collecting pollen from our flowers. You told Daddy and I all about how bees collect pollen and take it back to their beehive to produce honey. It was adorable and you can hear it for yourself in the video link below. I just love your little voice!

Mali's lesson on bees

You decided to bust out your makeup one day and did makeovers on both Sophia and Anabelle. They were good sports and as you can see from the first picture, Daddy decided to photo bomb you too. Daddy!!

nice butt

You went to a birthday party for Addi at Glow Putt. It was nice to see some of your school friends again.

We hit Gallery Hop as well, running into and hanging out with Flint for most of the night. Of course, he had to scoop you up and give you a hard time because, well, it's Uncle Flint and that's what he does.

While at the Hop, we tried Greek coffee at The Happy Greek where we also ate flaming cheese (Saganaki Opa) and yummy desserts.

look how tiny the cup is!

And Lao Lao found a silly hat - it says "HOE"...nice. Haha.

We had your friend, Fatima, over for a couple play dates as well. She is an extremely sweet kid. I like her a lot.

My friend, Tanisha (from work), brought you back an M and M blanket from her trip to Atlanta as well. She is always asking about you and thinking about you when she goes on trips. So sweet of her.

One particular day while you were at camp, Daddy and I decided to take a day date and try out a new foot golf course. It was nice to get away with Daddy. Definitely nothing wrong with spending time with your significant other (sans kids). We love you so much and we also love each other so time for just us is very important. Trust me, you will understand when you start dating and/or get married. Just please promise you find someone who makes you laugh and treats you well. I lucked out on both. Your daddy is one of the good ones.

After a day of swimming in our little inflatable pool, popsicles, and playing throughout the neighborhood, you and your two best neighborhood pals (Anabelle and Darion) had a picnic dinner on our deck. These casual summer days, floating from house to house, playing wherever and whatever have been pretty typical this June. It's nice having good friends so close.

Erin (and Scott) ~ my friend from work ~ surprised us one night to hang out and have a fire on our patio. Of course, within 5 minutes they both were trying out your riding toys. I love that they are big kids themselves. So funny to watch them squeeze onto these little toys with you.

And June would never be complete without mentioning that it is PRIDE MONTH (yay!) which means that we got to celebrate with our annual Pride parade and festival. It was awesome (as usual)! I love our city of Columbus and its vibrant support of the LGBTQ community. We definitely have our fair share of problems around here, but this is one thing that our wonderful hometown does right.

walking to the parade

you helped Lao Lao make this sign

your balloon broke so Anabelle's mom was brave
enough to blow up a condom for you ~ haha!

I went to the festival while you headed home, but here I am with
my friends Emery, James, and Troy

The very next day after Pride was Father's Day! Here you are making special pancakes for your favorite Daddy in the world.

all on your own!

You cut this pancake into a tie-fighter because you know Daddy loves his Star Wars. So cute!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You also had your very first outing with just Audrey, in her car, where she was solely responsible for you all afternoon. She was sooooo excited (and a little nervous) to pick you up from camp and take you on a special adventure. You went out to eat lunch, then for a hike in the woods, and wrapped up at Easton. You were together all afternoon and were both so happy when you got home. I am so incredibly thankful that you have a role model like Audrey in your life and I love that you can talk to her about anything in the world. In fact, you and I were going somewhere the other day and talking about the adults that have your back and support you and you said, "I know who would do anything for me." and when I asked, "Who?" you replied, "Audrey". I had to agree and said, "Yes, she loves you as if you were her own child. She would most definitely do anything for you!" You replied with a smirk and a "Yep!". I love that you recognize how her unconditional love knows no bounds. More kids need Auntie Audreys in their lives. We are a lucky, lucky family.

We also hit up ComFest this year. Our first time ever. It was perfect weather and a nice, laid back community festival of art, music, and food. 

splatter painting

playing on the jungle gym with Lao Lao

can you see the license plate on this crazy car?

even the statue was wearing a pussy hat ~ haha!
#resistance

I loved this...and I got my free hug

Popsicles are a summertime staple...these are even from our neighborhood ice cream truck. Yes, the sketchy as ever ice cream truck. Ayiyi.

Darion's parents took the three of you to the drive-in movies one night. I guess you were the only kiddo that stayed up through the entire movie. My little night owl.

Double G is almost camouflaged into our bedspread. Can you see him?

Shooting hoops with your new mini basketball.

And of course, the following are some random little tidbits of conversations with you or things I have shared that made me smile or giggle. It's always something.

You started an Instagram account recently too. I just had to photobomb you.

We decided to retire our old comforter on the bed and gussy things up with a new, brightly colored quilt. It not only got your approval, but Suzy and GG's as well. Pretty, huh?

Finally, I wrapped up June by taking both of our kitties to a new vet to get them all checked out and clean bills of health. Pipsqueak did fine but as you can see, GG freaked, chewed through the handle on his carrier, and climbed onto my shoulders while I was driving. What a little stinker. Oy.

So, honey, not a bad beginning to a fun summer. Looking forward to see what July and August hold for us as well.

Love,

Mama