Sydney's Turning 4!

Sydney at the zoo

My little sister is growing up. Ok, so the kid is still going to be in preschool next year, but it is crazy. These past four years seem like a blur. It pains me that I missed out on so much of her third year, but this summer has more than made up for it. We have spent so much time together that I have not been able to keep up with this blog, like I thought I would.

In these past couple months we have visited the zoo, splashed around at the beach, and played hide-and-go-seek so many times that the game has actually become who-can-find-the-most-creative-spot-in-the-house. And by that I mean Sydney usually yells "yoo-hoo" if I am taking too long or gets scared if she can't find me. It's a good time.

In honor of her turning four, I thought I would share a few things about her in groups of four.

Four favorites of Sydney:

1. Her favorite color is red.
2. Her favorite movie is Frozen.
3. Her favorite food is cherries. 
4. Her favorite flowers are roses.

Four Sydney obsessions:

1. Flowers. This kid is crazy about flowers. She is obsessed with picking them, smelling them, and saying "Can we buy these for Mommy? She would really like these."
2. Cookies. She is always in the mood for chocolate chip cookies. Nighttime, daytime, before breakfast, after breakfast, she is always ready for them. "Can we makes cookies?" is a phrase often heard in our household. 
3.  Playing. So obviously kids like "playing", whatever that might mean. Whenever I called Sydney from college I would ask what she was doing; the answer was always "playing". She is constantly asking me to "play with her." The other day I told her I had to do other stuff besides play with her sometimes. She snarkily replied, "What if I said, 'I don't want to play with you right now, Taylor'?"
4. Roar. When we're in the car Sydney asks to hear, "Eye of the Tiger". But what she really means is Katy Perry's "Roar." She doesn't know much of the song, but she often sings "I've got the eye of the tiger. The fire. Dancing through the fire." It's pretty cute. 

Four Pictures of Sydney:

"Look Taylor, I'm a bat!"

"You can't see me!"

Sydney being a manikin

"Take a picture of me and Elle."

Being a big sister is kind of cool or something.

Bubbles, Beaches, and Begonias

 Sydney and have had some pretty fun adventures lately. Recently, she acquired a bubble maker. This may not sound all that exciting to someone who is old enough to be reading this, such as yourself. However, to a three-almost-four-year-old this is arguably the best invention around.

"Watch me, Taylor!" and "Pop the bubbles!" are common phrases heard while playing with the aforementioned. It's a good time. And I have to admit, even as a quasi-adult, I was pretty amused as the bubbles floated in every direction.  

Yesterday, we took a trip to the beach. Keep in mind that I am spending time with someone who constantly wants to be on the go. "Can we go to the park? Can we go to Mommy's work? Can we go to the store to get me a mango? Can we go to the Mall of America? Can we go everywhere that my little brain can think of?" The answer depends on how much we have done, what the whether is like, and sometimes how many times I have given into her continual requests in the past 24 hours. So we're getting ready for the beach and she curls up on top of my covers on my bed, eyes heavy, no talking; I thought for sure she was going to take a nap. Instead, she insists we go to the beach, and shuts her eyes during the car ride over. As soon as we got there I set up our chairs, laid out our towels, and watched her prepare for her nap. She wouldn't go in the water, she wouldn't play in the sand, she just wanted to sit there. Finally, I asked her if she wanted to take a nap in the shade and, to my surprise*, she actually nodded her head. And within minutes she was sleeping.

Today we went to this camp in a nearby outdoor mall. They have free activities for small children once a week for about half the summer. Last week it was an activity for making your father a tie for Father's Day. This week was decorating a flower pot, and then they give you a flower and soil to put in it. She is obsessed with flowers and plants. So I knew this would be a hit. She had so much fun, and she knew exactly which flower she wanted when it was our turn to pick out a Begonia. It was adorable. The only bad thing to come of it was that it tipped over in my car. So there is soil everywhere. Maybe I have just been watching Pretty Little Liars too much, but the first thing I thought was that it looked like someone had just crawled out of a grave and into my passenger seat. Hopefully our next adventure can involve taking a vacuum to my car.

Thanks for for reading, and tune in next time to see Sydney and Taylor battling it out over nap time. 
For more of our adventures, check out the posts below or check in later to see what else we are up to.

 *Her wanting to nap was so surprising, because she fights it on a daily basis. As I am writing this she is arguing that she doesn't want a nap, yet she curled up in bed fighting her exhaustion.

P. S. As I am about to publish this I just heard her say to herself "I have an idea". This can't be good.

Meet Sydney

This blog is about the adventures I have this summer with my little sister, Sydney. So I think you ought to meet her.

The Energizer Bunny Takes a Nap

Sydney hasn’t been napping much these days. Everything is much too exciting to miss it for a minute—or so she seems to think. As she rubs her eyes while yawning, I offer a nap, but too often she squeaks back at me and refuses to even look at the bed. Today seemed like one of those days. She refused to leave my brother, Ryan’s room, and insisted that she jump on the bed. We played with Ryan for a while, being silly and letting her make “fart jokes”.  But after a bumped head, an annoyed glance from Ryan, and a request for a snack I knew it was time to go back upstairs. Unfortunately, once we got up to the kitchen she whined endlessly to return to Ryan’s room.

Sometimes you have to just accept with a defeat when arguing with a three-year-old. So I gave in and watched her slide down the stairs, going “ahh-ah, ah, aha, ah,” with every bump. I shook my head and returned to the kitchen to tidy up the mess she had created during craft time. As soon as I was done I went downstairs to retrieve her, but she had already fallen asleep. It turns out the little temper tantrum was part of her fighting the nap. At times it seems like she’ll never stop to take a breath she is so wound up. So when times like this come around, you greatly cherish them. Sometimes you have to take a break from adventure to recharge. 

Sydney Recharging

Taylor Recharging

The Summer of Sydney Begins

This summer Sydney and I are have many adventures planned. I often find myself wanting to share the crazy stuff that comes out of her mouth or the pictures that I am constantly snapping of her. I decided to document what I have dubbed "The Summer of Sydney."

It started when I used it as a hashtag on a Tweet about something she said while we were playing: