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| Sun and Water Festival artwork |
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I love it when a day perfectly encapsulates the things I love about life. We started out the day with the Celebration of Sun and Water at
Seward Child Care Center, where elected officials, kids, families, and supporters got together to recognize two important milestones at the center - solar panels, which were placed on the roof of the center earlier this year, and an effort to reduce the center's rainwater runoff to the Mississippi river supported by a large grant from the
MWMO. The grant will fund a living wall, a water tank to catch rainwater from the roof, a mural, a rain garden, and much more. Awesome stuff!
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| SCCC kids, elected officials, and key partners at the ribbon cutting ceremony |
I was tasked with coordinating kids' activities for the event, most of which had already been identified, and I just needed to implement - making sun/water wands and rain chains. But when I talked to Felix about the event and asked for his ideas, he immediately suggested that we make flags and draw pictures of the sun and water on them. As soon as he said this, I had the idea of hanging a clothesline along the fence and attaching the flags with clothespins. Easy, beautiful, and kid friendly! The end result turned out well. It was awesome to see the kids' involvement in center life represented in so many ways at this event - creating artwork, writing and singing songs, helping with set up and clean up, and so much more.
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| Sun and Water Flags |
Felix could barely contain his excitement at the celebration. He loved giving his grandparents (who kindly came to the event) a tour of the center and showed them everything - including the kids sized toilets, his cubby, and where he stores his lunchbox. While unfortunately, Felix preemptively cut the ribbon for the ribbon-cutting ceremony due to his unbridled enthusiasm, he was able to reign things in long enough to listen to two elected officials who were present for the event (one of whom mostly did "magic tricks", clearly considering the audience he was speaking to) and comments from other partners before the official ribbon cutting took place.
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| Felix showing impressive ribbon restraint |
Felix stuck by Augie's side at the event; I am guessing in part because Augie was going to spend the night at our house which he was super excited about, and in part because, they are great buds and can double the fun factor at any occasion. But for once, they seemed to calm each other down, instead of the usual opposite.
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| Augie and Felix at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony |
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The end of our day was the Augie sleepover segment, which went amazingly well with very few hitches. It enabled Augie's mama to have a much deserved night out on the town, and Augie and Felix to hone their sleepover skills before their 3 day extravaganza coming up at the end of the month, when two mamas will be out of town. It was great to see Felix so happy and enjoying his friendship with Augie - playing duck duck grey duck, eating watermelon, "trading" pajama bottoms, giving goodnight hugs. Sometimes things can devolve quickly into jealousy and insecurity for Felix, or risk-taking danger, where Felix can cajole Augie into jumping off high ledges (not that Augie needs any encouragement in that area). Tonight, for once, we sidestepped both of those quagmires, and just got to enjoy the fun of a 3 and 4 year old's friendship.
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| Funny Faces at dinner in the back yard |
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