Tangled and Shining Armor

Is there anything better than after-dinner-playtime in the summer?  Something about it always feels a little like you're defying convention, like you're staying up so late it's a little naughty.  You get to watch the fireflies come out and hear the symphony of the cicadas and crickets.  The frogs are louder and the air turns heavy and finally cooler.  So you play and play and play until someone finally calls you in for the night.

The girls can jump among so many games in such a short amount of time.  While it's not surprising to me anymore to see my niece engaged in imaginative play, it's still fun and special to see the little glimpses of true imagination come out of Sweet Pea.

One of her favorite games is "ice cream."  They sit in the playhouse part of the swing set and pretend to serve each other ice cream cones and lick them.  It's hilarious to watch little Sweet Pea's hands wiggling around as she pretends to scoop ice cream.  She has never scooped ice cream in real life, so in imaginary it's just little wiggly hands.  And her eyes are forever on her cousin as she watches to mimic everything she does.

The swing set has a yellow rope ladder, and Bean loves to pretend she is Rapunzel and the rope is her hair.  She kept asking Sweet Pea to climb her hair, which had Sweet Pea slightly confused.

And finally, what is playing princess if you don't pretend to be a knight for a little while, too?  Just be sure to share your armor, because little two-year-olds will come running to say, "Ma tearn!  Ma tearn!"

Farewell, good friends!  I will be resting easy tonight knowing what a fine and gallant protector of good sleeps beneath my roof.  One with exceptionally adorable knees.

Share