Rainy Days

So now that we're only a week away from the students' arrival, we've been very busy around here. I've had these pictures ready to post for a couple of days already, but just haven't had the time to write about them and post them.

This summer has been very rainy in Strasbourg, so we've been stuck inside a lot. I've been slowly stocking up on activities for Sophie for those days because I can only watch Monsters, Inc. so many times before my brain is ready to explode. One of the first things I found for Sophie was Play-Doh. She absolutely loved it, and practiced her knife skills on it, insisting on cutting everything we made up into tiny bits.

After she cut the head off the nice rhino I made her:

She also has been more interested in classical music, and I heard her humming Beethoven's Ninth Symphony the other day. The apartment came with a stack of classical CDs, and lo and behold, someone had bought Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Here's a picture of Sophie "watching" the music:


With all of the picture-taking going on since we've moved here, Sophie has become interested in taking pictures herself. Here is one that she "took" of her and me:


Another activity I found was water colors. I think that Sophie may have painted with water colors at daycare, but had never tried it at home. She woke up from a nap one rainy day and declared that she was a princess, so I cut a crown out of some leftover cardboard we had and let her go to town with the paint. She loved it!


Here she is as Princess Sophia:


And finally, Sophie has really enjoyed reading to us lately. She insisted on sitting on my legs one night with her crown and pasta necklace (which she also made) on after tucking me in with her blanket and monkey and read me a story.


We have had a few sunny days, so I'll post some pictures of some of those days as soon as I get a chance again!