Saturday December 5th, 2015

The reason we hung out on a Saturday was because of the Holiday gala at the YWCA. There was crafts, snacks, pictures with Santa and more. Although Lilly wasn't that enthused with any of it she did make a few crafts. They had this cute little booth where one could make a pair of mittens with foam stickers and then pick a real pair from the tree. I thought this was the cutest idea. We were at the Y for about an hour and a half and then Lilly got bored so it was on to the next thing. Lilly's birthday is tomorrow so I took her to get her nails done. She wanted fake nails put on and every place claimed she was too young. Usually soon to be eight year olds don't get fake nails put on but I am not her mom, I can't tell her no. It took us roughly an hour to even find a place that allowed fake nails to be on someone so young. Once we finally found the place, being a Saturday, there was a line out the door. We decided to wait because we really had no choice. I sat in a big massaging chair and Lilly did for awhile to but finally got called for her turn. While waiting for a pot to open, we watched 2 movies, Bridesmaids and then they played a Disney movie, Tangled. I was glad that they had movies playing because it gave Lilly something to do while we waited. Finally, after two and a half long hours, Lilly got called for her turn. She went into the salon thinking that she wanted pink and purple nails; however, she came out with red sparkly nails. They looked super cute on her! The ladies at the nail salon asked if I was her sister and I explained to her my relationship to her. This lady getting her nails done was thrilled when she heard my explanation. She told me that what I was doing was great and told Lilly that she was one lucky little girl. This made me feel so good about my time with Lilly because someone else recognized what I was doing. After Lilly's nails were complete, we headed home. The nail salon took a lot longer than we both intended but it was fine, she was so happy.
A long and crazy 5.5 hours took place today between the Gala at the Y and the nail salon
For a total of: 28.5

Thursday November 19th, 2015

Since Lilly is part fish I think, we decided to go swimming at the YWCA again. She absolutely loves swimming but I cannot blame her. Swim starts 7:30 and Lilly didn't want me to wait that long to pick her up so I decided to pick her up at 5 after we both ate dinner. Lilly showed me her room and toys because she got a new stuffed animal. I talked with her siblings and her mom and then Lilly showed me her swimsuit that a relative bought for her in Las Vegas. It was a cute suit, it reminded me of the ones I used to wear, the bright and wild colors and patterns. We got to the Y extra early but it was fine because there is so much to do there. It like a kiddie paradise. We played on yoga balls, we played tag, hide n go seek, we colored and read books. She read me some books about Halloween and I was very impressed with her reading. She is a strong reader. After several games of tag and balancing on yoga balls, it was finally time to free swim. I unfortunately took my swimsuit home to wash it and forgot all about so I had to sit on the edge of the pool. I still participated just as much as I would have in the pool. I took videos on my phone of Lilly jumping into the water and then she'd climb out and watch them and then make me take another one. We played across the pool with a giant beach ball and I threw sinking toys into the water to see how fast Lilly could go retrieve them. Family swim is only an hour and it went by all too quickly. Before we knew it we had to exit the pool. I waited for Lilly to shower and brush her hair and then she wanted to drive this little car around the upstairs gym for the last half an hour before the YWCA closes. Lilly has the hours of the YWCA down to a science so she knew she had just enough time to drive around the gym. It was a successful trip, better than last week so I felt better. I dropped her off at her house but couldn't leave until I met some of her little cousins who were there. They are all around Lilly's age so she has lots of friends who happen to be family too.
Lilly reminded me consistently that her birthday was during the next month (December) and she requested that I get her a pair of pink cowgirl boots. Don't tell her but I ordered her a pair of pink cowgirl boots, I hope she likes them!
Hours today: 4.5
For a total of: 23 hours 

Friday, November 13th, 2015

I switched it up and picked Lilly up on a Friday this time. I had an event to attend on Thursday and although Lilly was sad, she went along with our date being on Friday. My intended idea was to take Lilly to get a physic reading done on Cortland campus. We both agreed that it would be something fun for us to do. However, plans changed really quick when we learned that there was a waiting list and Lilly was too young anyways. I felt so bad because we were both looking forward to it and I didn't have a backup plan. The best thing I could come up with was to go to the Student Life Center and play some of the arcade games. I was unsure if they would let me take Lilly in there but I figured it was worth it. Turns out they guy working the desk didn't care anyways and let us all in. We played air hockey, and other typical carnival games. Since there are only three different types of games in the upstairs, she got bored with it pretty quickly. We walked a few laps around the track and then Lilly's mom ended texting me anyways asking if Lilly was coming home for dinner soon. I got lucky this time that I ended up taking Lilly home earlier than usual because I didn't know what else there was to do. From today, I learned that I need to always have a working plan B in case plan A fails. I felt really bad that this time with Lilly was boring for her but I promised her more fun next time.
Hours today: 1.5
For a total of: 18.5 hours