A Great Day!

We met Brian and Max at the mall today, so the kids could play at the mall playground. These are quickly becoming one of my favorite places to take Maya because all the stuff is soft foam, the floor is padded, and there are walls. Plus, she loves to play with and amongst other kids! She just thrives in these little germ pits! She climbs and runs the entire time we are there. It's awesome! The turtle (in the picture above) was her favorite thing to crawl on. It actually stands about 6 inches taller than her, and she scaled that thing in no time! It was quite impressive! After working up an appetite, we ate lunch at my favorite food court spot, Sbarro's Pizza. Yummy! When lunch ended, Brian and Max went home, and Maya and I walked down to Gap Kids to look for some new jammies. I love their long pant/long sleeve jammies, but they are really expensive. Normally, they cost about $22 a pair, but I've never paid more than $10 for them. I always check to see if there are any on sale and buy them when I find them cheap! Last week, I found a pair that have firetrucks on them and decided that Maya could wear them, and she could pass them on to her brother when he's big enough! Double bonus! Who cares if she's wearing boy jammies to bed?! Not me!! Well, we didn't have any luck today. The cheapest pair were marked down to $16.99, not cheap enough for me! We didn't leave the mall entirely empty handed, though. We stopped at Mrs. Field's and bought some miniature cookies. They were pretty good!

Maya woke up from her afternoon nap to find some company at our house. Miriam and the girls came over for a visit, and we were so happy to have them. Maya just adores those girls! She showered them with hugs and kisses. At one point, Maya was sitting on my lap, and Mackenzie was sitting on her lap. She was holding on tight, squeezing and rocking her. It was so cute. She kept giving them toys, and she's getting very good about being gentle with them. Whew! After both girls had been fed a snack, we headed outside for some fresh air. The girls stretched out on a blanket with Miriam, and Maya blew bubbles and played in the pool. She actually blew a few bubbles today! Most of the time, the wand was partially in her mouth while she was blowing, so her lips and chin would be all sudsy. She's learning, though, so I let it slide. Here's a picture of Maya and her best bubble yet...Pretty good, huh?! Look at how her little cheeks are all puffed out. She concentrates so hard! After bubble-blowing, Maya got into the pool, and I sat Mackenzie on the edge with her legs dangling into the water. She splashed and stomped her feet, and every time Maya would make a splash or face or something, Mackenzie would totally crack up! It was so funny. She got such a kick out of watching Maya. It reminded me of how Maya used to crack up at the Collier girls, Erin and Ashley. It must be something about bigger kids being silly that makes babies laugh... maybe because they are so close to their same size or because it just comes so naturally to kids to be funny! I don't know, but it makes me laugh! After our outside fun, we came in, popped in a Baby Einstein movie, and all the girls watched the movie while I made some spaghetti and bread for dinner. Dinner was delicious, and shortly after we finished eating, Miriam and the girls headed out. Maya and I played for the rest of the evening, and we were having so much fun, I actually didn't want to put her down for bed! She's starting to give closed-mouth kisses, and I got three of them before bed! So sweet... she even makes a little *smack* sound! I just love her so much...