A Magical Place

We returned to Hiawatha Park.  I've watched pretend play here before and it dawned on me that this area in the trees dotted with rocks is a setting that stirs the imagination  Little children enter this space  and make believe just seems to begin spontaneously.  You can almost feel this easily becomes a forest of fairies and elves.  A hazy, soft glow permeates

and even though there is playground equipment, sandboxes, kids running & jumping all around, it creates a special atmosphere of its own.   Now that Bianca is closing in on 3 years old (June 27)  she was part of a circle of little girls creating a little magic there. 

Spring Day

Oh the joy!   A spring day when the sun has come at last.  Over the weekend the sun slipped  out but scooted quickly back behind the clouds unable to commit.  What a tease.  Yesterday, it was bright but still a little cold.  Bianca and I went out tentatively today- there was a shiny orb out there but would it be warm and lasting?   Happily, yes.

                              

 and  Another Library Visit

Once the dolls were gathered, the reading began. We used our whispering library voices. What fun!

Life in the Slow Lane

I took a stay-cation for 2 weeks in January.   I enjoyed doing things that are nearby.   Staying home is easy, relaxing and cheap...    And you get to avoid going through Sea-Tac's body scanners or gropers which is another plus.  

  

 

 Mom was a famous stay at home type.  I would tell

Mom and me 1955

her of an exciting trip I was planning and she would say

things like 'the moon is just the same wherever you go'.

I'm finally taking that to heart.

I rediscovered the Seattle Central Library.  I've only been there a few times since it was built. Now I had time to do something besides admire it from a distance.  I'm usually just catching glimpses of its amazing architecture while driving by.

At the corner of Madison and 5th -



Escalator to book heaven



  There are a million books (literally) in this library.  I checked one out. 



       There is something to say for 'slow living' , staying home, enjoying the little things and rediscovering what is right around you.  Now I'm back into the fast pace, multi-tasking and high energy world of work and liking that too.  The yin and yang of life       

The day of the Lizard

"I don't like em"!   While taking a winter walk Monday, Bianca

spotted this metal lizard attached to  a tree.  It was
a startling vision that made her suddenly jump to
my side.   It's OK its just  pretend - not real, I
told her  but she had a new mantra as we walked on.
'I don't like lizards - I don't like em'  She couldn't
quite shake it.  There are those who
 like every scurrying, slithering and multi-legged kind of
creature and some that really don't - I think I'm in the don't camp.   Not that I harbor ill will
towards any living thing!
 After all, I go through all kinds
of effort to scoop up spiders and return them to the great

oudoors rather than do away with them.   I didn't want Bianca to get the idea there was anything wrong with lizards though so good luck brought us to another in the form of this engraving as we reached the Longfellow creek trail.  Look another lizard - I could see a hint of interest and a slightly less vehement statement of 'I don't like lizards'.
When we returned home, Bianca pointed out my very own not real lizard that I had draped over a handrail and forgotten a while back.   It has been out of her reach but at eye level for her for some time and now she had a new reason to be interested.  Maybe they are not so bad after all... 

       

About Princesses and Ballerinas

Are kids smarter than they used to be or have they always been amazingly smart little creatures who just didn't have the input that today's youngsters have access to? 

For a while now, Bianca has been talking about Odette.  She called one of her dolls Odette and then one day came in announcing  "I'm Odette".  I had no idea where this had come from.   When I dropped her off at home the other day and handed her to the arms of her daddy , she greeted him with a warm "Hi Derek" (his name is Matthew,for those who don't know).  She calls you Derek, I asked bemused and quite a bit curious. 

So it turns out, Bianca is a big fan of this animated film based on the ballet Swan Lake.  She is the Swan princess 'Odette' and her dad is her Prince Derek.  I read the Wikipedia synopsis  and the film has everything... hope and disappointment, evil spells and finally true love.   Seems a bit heavy for a 2 year old. But not a bit evidently.                                            

Erika has been teaching Bianca some ballet exercises which she evidently loves and she has been a fan of  Angelina Ballerina for a 'long time'.


Angelina Ballerina

 Suddenly I find her doing a toddler version of a pirouette across my living room calling out "dance with me"!  She is a continual surprise. 

I'm really loving all this 'girly' fun





Color us Happy

 We had the same color scheme on by coincidence. The color purple in our sweaters , black pants for me and Bianca's black princess skirt.  Great minds think alike and perfect for a picture together - pictures by Erika

Leslie the Librarian

Today was Toddler story time at the West Seattle Library.  I love this place. I love everything about libraries.  Why I didn't become a librarian is a mystery now that I think about it.  Now the big, bad budget crisis is affecting this place too.  Leslie says in a week or so they will know who is staying, who is being reassigned to another location, who loses a job.  And just before Christmas ..

 Reading to the 18mos to 3year olds  she used her froggy voice, her bear voice and her cricket voice to keep this perpetual motion group tuned in to the winter time story.  Bianca was held in rapt attention which bodes well for her school days.                                 

                                         
   The librarian offers a special stamp for your hand at the end of story time.  A nice little reminder of the special occasion.

               

Hope we can keep our priorities straight.  This library and its librarians offer an inviting space for children to explore, run their little hands over the books and allow reading to become a fun and ongoing interest that will serve them well.  And we need these little ones to take over someday so lets teach them well. 

Bianca was so engrossed by the puzzles on the table that I couldn't get her to look up for my picture taking.  Curious George didn't mind posing though.