Pretend Play

The last full week of July, Ellie had musical theater camp, so I got some play time with the little ones while she was away. I know that with them, looser structure is always better, especially since Katie just wants to pretend play all day long with dragons, princesses, and her big sister. So there wasn't really a theme for this week. I thought maybe we could do "jobs," but my middle child does not even accept gentle suggestions on how to play... With that in mind, I figured we could try to pretend play with a few fun printables I found on Pinterest and see if we used them or where the playing took us. 

Animal doctor

Restaurant

Eventually, she just decided to play dragons on her princess castle. 

We built a fort with an E-Z Fort Kit I had stashed in a closet under the stairs, waiting for its letter to Hog--I mean, waiting for us to use it for a castle or house. 

It was pretty neat. 

Then we combined games: animal doctor in the fort!

I think they had fun! I am still not as fun as the biggest sister, though. And when she came home, they were even happier to play pretend together. It'll be an adjustment when school starts. 

Wedding coloring book

Tomorrow we are going to the wedding of an old friend (who also happens to be Anthony's godfather!), and it's going to be a huge, awesome smorgasbord of Catholic families, with just as many kids as adults, and everything that one could expect from such an event... the beauty of a Catholic wedding, the joy of celebrating love, the fun of the party, the screaming and crying of young children that will echo through the church and remind the couple of their vow to welcome children with open hearts... oh yes, it will be amazing!
This will also be the first wedding our kids will be attending, so they're excited but not always super happy about sitting still in a church. So, since I'm me, I made them this coloring/activity book to keep them entertained AND to help them follow along with the wedding events.

 

I drew the pictures by hand and then scanned them... It's far from perfect, and I don't even have Photoshop to really make it something special, but it will do for tomorrow, and it was fun to make! If for some reason, you want to print your own copy, leave a comment with your e-mail address, and I will send you a PDF file with the booklet and printing instructions.

I'm looking forward to getting dressed up and having a good time tomorrow!