Today was a deliciously perfect picnic kind of summer day. It was 75 and sunny with a slight breeze and there haven't been many of those lately. So Cate, Joel and I drove to the park with food and camera in hand.
....the crew....
....our fare....
....Joel having a fabulous time....
.....and the kids decided to do a little weeding of the park area while there....

This Summer, it seems, has been all about Cate. But I suppose she is getting older and able to do more fun things. Joel, though, I can tell feels a little left out- as much as I try to do fun things for him as well.
Another thing that Cate had been asking about (for the past year) is getting her ears pierced. Roger and I have tried to dissuade her, though we don't necessarily have a problem with it, we thought maybe she was too young. I wanted to make sure she understood that it was going to hurt and we would have to make sure to clean them and all the things that come with wounding yourself. For a year these things have worked in discouraging her. This month she has been showing an even greater interest in it and has watched many videos of people getting it done, seeing their tears. She finally decided that it was worth the pain this week- this is quite something for my little girl as she is quite dramatic and cannot even walk for a week after she has skinned a knee. So after Roger and I discussed it at length, we decided that it would be alright, since we felt like she understood how ears were pierced, that it hurts quite a bit and that the after care would get old. So, today we went to the mall and she picked out the earrings she wanted and got them pierced.
The first picture is immediately following the experience- she is trying to smile, but it came out more as a grimace.



This is after they stopped hurting and she was so very excited to tell everyone about it.
I'm not sure how the video ended up on the bottom, but it is the actually piercing. I'm very proud of how well she did. She cried a little, but didn't wail- which is her customary "pain" cry.




Overall it seemed to have been a pleasant experience for her, but now I have to come to grips with how grown up my little girl looks!