It has been a HOT summer around these parts. 

Yes...that hot. 

So we've spent a lot of time indoors enjoying the a/c as much as possible.  But sometimes we've just GOT to get outside, and then we head straight for the nearest body of water.  Lucky for us, my brother and sister-in-law have a pool  =).

So Kerry and I suited up and went for a dip that ended up lasting all afternoon.  Like I said, it's been HOT!

 

Kerry has really been enjoying her new-found independence in the water.  She's always enjoyed the water, as long as she had one of us to hold on to..or at least to help her swim/float.  Now, she just puts on her arm floaties and she's good to go! 

                                                                                                            Oh how I miss my Canon.  I can not wait to have it fixed!

Playing peek-a-boo in the banana tree.

Kerry has also been spending a lot of time in her "splashin' pool" at home.   And yes, even in 18 inches of water she still likes to play with all of her floaties.  Mommy enjoys using this time to kick back in the lounge chair in the shade with a tall glass of iced tea and a magazine =).

Stage fright? Not this girl.

Since last August, Kerry has been going to a Mother's Day Out "Kids Kamp" program on Thursdays.  Some of her little classmates will be graduating and moving on to Kindergarten soon and apparently they put together a little commencement program and decided to let the entire class take part in a little performance.  I got a call yesterday to inform me that this would all take place at the end of the school day and that Kerry was "very excited and enthusiastic" about taking part in the show.  So I left work a bit early and, luckily, had my little digital camera in my purse so I was able to take some video.  SO glad I did because this was Kerry's very first time "on stage" and, apparently, my girl has ZERO performance anxiety.  Oh boy.  The loudest little munchkin voice you hear belongs to Kerry. 

The little ones wearing sashes are the graduates. You'll have to excuse the quality of the video, at some points I had to kind of hold the camera up in the air and hope it was aimed right. And had I known she would be doing this I might have sent her to school in something a bit nicer..maybe a dress to make it harder for her to expose her midriff. 

I love this girl of mine and I hope she never loses this confidence and boldness.  Last night she watched one of the videos and then said " I used my stage voice"..haha!  Miss Dana said she didn't know what they would have done without her.  I think Miss Dana may have created a monster =).

So we were watching the Olympic gymnastic trials when a certain little 4 year old announced that she wanted to do gymnastics, too.  She also requested a purple leotard.   This mommy was just waiting to hear those words and was more than happy to call up the nearest gym for a trial lesson.   

And as you can see, we found a purple leotard..athough there are some minor, umm, wardrobe malfunctions with it.  Luckily I found a pink leotard as well, with a "shorts" type bottom half. 

She was just a tad bit nervous when we first got to the gym, but after I assured her that I would sit right where she could see me the whole time..she was fine.  She went right back with the coach and 4 other little girls around her age and she did fantastic!  It was just plain cute to watch, too =). 

 The balance beam was what she was most excited to try.  But she also got to to somersaults down a padded ramp, jump on a floor level trampoline, and jump into the foam pit.  She paid close attention and..well..I even noticed her trying to direct a couple of the other girls.  Hmm, might have have a little talk with her about leaving that up to the coach.   As we were leaving she said she wanted do it again, so I guess I will be signing her up for lessons every Tuesday evening. 

We got to spend an absolutely georgeous day at Epcot on Wednesday.  But first, the girls got to get primped, curled and/or updo-ed in preparation for our first stop in Epcot..breakfast with the Princesses! 

Kerry chose to wear her Belle dress, fancy shoes and tiara to the event.  Mommy packed a sundress and sneakers for her to change into afterwards.

Of course we had to get a photo of her with the "real" Belle =).

Look at the smiles!  All of the princess made the rounds through the banquet hall and met with the girls and they even invited all of the girls to take part in a "Princess Procession".   Now remember, my girl loves to dabble in all things girly and princess-y but she can't quite fully commit to it...which brings me to a funny little story.  When Snow White came to our table to invite the girls to join her in the procession my girl..in true Kerry form.. grabbed a piece of bacon from her plate, ripped a chunk off with her teeth, then offered her hand daintily to the amused Snow White.  She does love her bacon =).  Here's a cute video of Kerry and Sydnie with Snow White.

Of course we had to visit China while in Epcot.

Kerry picked out this Chinese parasol in her current favorite color.  She's been wanting one of these for a "gazillion years" (her words).  It made a great sun-shade, too, which brought back memories of Beijing.  I'd never seen so many umbrellas on a cloudless, sunny day.  Our guide explained that many Chinese don't like to get tanned.  Kerry sat happily in her stroller under that thing all day..guess it's in her blood, he hee.

Our first full day at Disney was spent where else but Magic Kingdom.  It was such a pretty day..really beautiful weather and it was so neat to finally be able to experience this place through my all-things-Disney-loving girl's eyes. 

My Sis-in-law Debbie had a friend make us these cute matching shirts with our names on them.  Gray for us big girls, and white for the littles.  For some reason the guys passed on the Minnie shirts =).

Kerry had so much fun riding "It's a Small World" and the teacups and she was tickled to death that the Dumbo ride had a lever that she could operate herself to make the car go up or down.  But at one point we asked what her favorite ride was.

She said "The bus!".  

The other highlight of the day was our dinner at Chef Mickey's where she and cousin Sydnie got to meet the clubhouse characters...especially her favorite, Minnie Mouse.   Just look a the bear hug she has poor Minnie in!  

              My girl was hot and tired after a long, Magical day at the Kingdom.