We had a blast this past weekend with my niece M who was visiting with us. The girls spent about 85% of their time playing dress up. Almost every game they played seemed to involve some kind of princess -- usually played by M in full princess regalia including a gown, shoes and a crown. K varied between being a doctor, a Jedi knight, and the mother of the princess, who was coincidentally a princess herself. Both girls had a lot of fun spending time with one another. We had tea parties, went shopping, even played beauty parlor. Playtime definitely had a more feminine feel without their 2 older brothers around.
But, we did some other fun stuff too. We went to a small farm to see the animals, visited a butterfly exhibit at a local park and even managed to do a bit of frog hunting at our neighborhood pond.
We didn't manage to catch this big fella, but Mr. Crackers was quick enough to net a couple of his friends.
We've been catching frogs at the pond for years. K has never been the least bit squeamish about touching bugs or reptiles. This is a trait that she shares with her Daddy. My son C & I like to accompany them of their frog hunting exhibitions, but we only touch those things under a bit of duress. For the two of us, frog catching is a really more of a spectator sport. I really don't even like to try to catch them - that's Mr. Crackers game. Knowing my lack of coordination, I'd manage to trip right into the pond trying to net my first frog.
But K, she loves frogs. She loves holding them...
And she loves tossing them back into the pond again. We've tried to get her to gently set them back into the water, but she prefers the overhanded toss. The frogs kind of do a mid-air ballet as they tumble head over flippers before landing with a gentle splash back into the murky waters. I'm not sure they enjoy the ride, but at least it doesn't hurt them.
M wasn't too sure about all this frog touching and throwing.
It took some convincing from her cousin and her uncle. And they went through quite a few frogs in their whole catch-and-release fun until finally....
She did it. She reached out her little fingers and petted this small guy a few times. Mr. Crackers wasn't quite able to convince her to hold the frog, but then he's not able to get me to try to hold on to them either.
After a few failed attempts at catching another frog, we called it a night and headed home to get cleaned up.
I'm sure this guy was relieved to see us go. But he shouldn't relax too much, I'm sure we'll be going back again soon. 
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