Last weekend we had 3 long days of driving for the memorial. Friday we drove to San Simeon (with a little break in Santa Barbara to have lunch and run around a bit, and another in San Luis Obispo at the Mission). San Simeon was socked in with fog and drizzle, but Petra loved the beach anyway. She collected each and every pebble she could find, and there were a few. She'd hand each one to Mommy or Daddy (who would surreptitiously toss it behind their back), then pick up the next. Very sweet. Geologist, I'm sure!
Saturday was then the long drive back, with a break in at the lovely town-cum-tourist-trap Solvang. Truth is, it's not much different than a mall, but the shops at least were independents instead of chains. Petra danced on the street as the clock tower rang (oh so cute!), and ran into an antique store to pound out a few notes on a $19,000 piano (yikes! Run!). She also enjoyed the magic show in the park, though she wouldn't volunteer to disapear into a hat.
Now, what has PETRA been up to? Lots of new words, some with more than one syllable (Tractor = "tracdido" her current favorite), some replacing existing signs (Flower = "Fla"). She's always surprising us with what she knows. She can pick out all the animals in her books (show me the penguin, snake, owl, ghost (!) etc.), she matches objects she sees in one page of the book with the same objects elsewhere in the book. While her drawing skills may not be perfect, she can recognize all the objects and characters Daddy draws on the easel- and his drawing is FAR less than perfect. What a good little brain she has.
I Love this baby!