The highlight of your Disney trip was unquestionably the special Bibbidi Bobbidi Princess makeover.  It was one of Grammy’s highlights too!

Grammy, Mommy and Auntie Nicole accompanied you to Cinderella’s Castle for the transformation which took about an hour and a half.  You wanted to be Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty… and that’s who you became!

After getting made-up, we went upstairs to Cinderella’s Table restaurant where we dined with a steady stream of beautiful princesses.  You and Molly were in little kid heaven! You took the whole thing very seriously…  I’m sure in your own mind you actually were Princess Aurora!   Imagination became reality… it was so much fun seeing you enjoy it so much.

Here are some photos from this special event:

While your parents shopped for our upcoming Disney World vacation, you & Camden stayed at our house.

The minute you came in, you started asking… “Can we play in the basement Papa?” You didn’t give up… kept asking… persistence will get you to your desired destinations and goals Miss Ainsley.

On our way to the rec room, we went outside and took some shots.

It was a sunny day in the high 30’s.  Grammy said “They don’t have any coats on and aren’t wearing any shoes!”  We made it quick.

We came into my office, then Camden tried on my reading glasses… he thought they were hilarious.  You soon followed.

In the rec room, surrounded by games and toys of all kinds, you gravitated toward the plastic animals.  Grammy joined us and together matched up the Mommy animals with the baby animals.

Camden and I played table hockey, foosball and raced cars down the ramp. You tried the cars for a little while.

Eventually, he took out the cardboard “town” and set that up. He always talks about how he and I made that together when you guys lived here.  You got into the act too. We each took cars and moved them along the roads, drove through drive-in restaurants and watched the hockey game on the UNH ice rink we drew.  When your car went through McDonald’s you said “Can I have 50 million cheeseburgers please?”

Around 5pm, your cousins arrived…  you & Molly tag-teamed as usual. The two of you are peas in a pod and love to go on adventures in our giant house… often getting into trouble. You played “restaurant” taking our orders and disappeared in the bathroom… locking the door and playing with two kid soap pumps until they were empty. Always something going on!

The number one game you ask me to play when I come over is Jail.

Jail is one of my interactive, we don’t need no stinkin’ board game, mind-creations.

It goes like this:

I block off an area which is “the jail.”  Usually it’s a space at the foot of a chair or base of a sofa – we take ottomans and pillows and make a square box.  Sometimes we throw in a blanket.  There may be a “door,” or not.

There are three fun parts.

1. The song:  “If you talk and do not walk, you will go to jail.”  (I hit paydirt with that one… catchy, huh?)

2. The game:  you and Camden walk around a room… taking a broad, wide course, walking behind the sofas and past the jail.  You start off slowly, never opening your mouth.  Then sounds are emitted – sometimes hesitant, sometimes bold.  Then a casual paced walk turns into a fast walk which turns into a fast run.  Next thing I know, you guys are running around screaming like wild bandshees.

Sheer madness!

My job at this juncture is catching you and putting you in the Jail.  Sometimes you cooperate during the catching process; sometimes you struggle and don’t want to go in.  Eventually you’re in there!

3.  The quiz:  to get out of Jail you have to successfully answer a question.  You never know what I’ll ask you.  For Camden it may be “what was Larry bird’s number?”  For you it might be “what number comes after seven?” Your eyes are always wide-eyed during this part because you don’t know what’s coming.

After successfully answering the quiz question, you are able to leave Jail and return to the walking/no talking thing.  The process repeats itself over and over and over.

Because you (and Camden) never get tired of it, I have to – at some point – suggest picking up our jail building items and moving onto something a bit more q-u-i-e-t.

That hardly ever goes well.

If you talk and do not walk, you will go to Jail!

The seeds of performance passion were planted back in 2009 when you & your family lived with us.

You were two years old.

Every night after you had eaten, taken a bath, brushed your teeth and (somewhat) settled down, you’d appear in the Great Room with Camden.  Being very interested in dance and gymnastics, you would prance around in front of the fireplace.

The Great Room’s beige and green carpet has an outer edge pattern, a straight line about six inches wide.

One night I told you to line up your body and walk along the six inch edge of the carpet and practice your moves… imagining a virtual balance beam. You would lift your leg, dip your head and practice spin-around moves while staying on the “balance beam.”

We applauded and cheered… you soaked up the attention, perfecting your moves over and over, nearly every night for months.

The next summer when you were three, a flat rock washed up ashore.  It became your balance beam rock.  You’d prance and pirouette. (here’s a photo of you with the rock)

Last year, a giant log became part of our summer scene. It was massive – over 12 feet long.  To no one’s surprise, it became an adventure for you and your cousins and next door neighbor friends.  Soon everyone was balance beaming.

Here’s a photo of you playing the pied piper and leading the way.

A couple weeks ago I asked if you were still going to dance studio in Portsmouth and you said “No, I’m going to go to gymnastics.”  I think you’ll love it Ainsley… after all you’ve already had a lot of practice.

Seconds after I walk into your house (literally between the front door and kitchen) you and Camden start asking if we can play a game.

Even though you’ve got a closet full of board games, we ignore these packaged, moribund entertainment treatments and opt… always… for our own inventions.

I guess it’s my fault… I enjoy making things up and definitely enjoy the spontaneity of free-play.   Don’t get me wrong – I’ve always liked board games, especially Stratego, Monopoly, Risk and Clue.  And I certainly don’t mind a riveting game of Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders either.

But there’s something about the self-created game that appeals to all of us.

One of your all-time favorites is Pirates.

We start with a blanket on the floor – that’s always the ship.  Then we find a telescope, which is either a paper towel cardboard holder or a fancy plastic device.  If neither are available, we curl our fingers together and look through.

Weapons and ammunition are always necessary for our upcoming battles.  We often make pirate hats, eye patches (both out of paper) and the piece-de-resistance, the treasure map with “X marks the spot.”  I may help you with the eye patch and hats, but the treasure map is always yours. Sometimes we have two.

We start off on the ship and paddle, paddle, paddle.  Land is sighted through the telescope …”Land ahoy” says Ainsley.  Then we climb out and carefully go ashore.  Bad pirates may be lurking in the distance – we may hear them or see them –  and so we have our firearms and swords ready.  This is where your brother comes in. He’s handed each of us a Nerf gun loaded with Nerf-tipped arrows.

We follow the map carefully – nine steps East, six steps West… you get the idea.  Then we eventually arrive at the X location and begin digging for the treasure chest (always imagined in our minds).  Sometimes it’s hard to open and we have to blow it up with dynamite.  Sometimes we just dig until we hit it.  And sometimes… bad Pirates surprise us and a battle starts.

Your favorite part of the game is the rowing, land sighting and treasure seeking. You like pulling imaginary gold coins out of the trunk.

You also like Pirate talk.  Throughout the game, I say classic expressions like “Pieces of eight!”  and “Shiver me timbers!” You look at me with an expression that’s a mix between “That’s incredible” and “Are you insane?”  I opt for the former reaction in my mind.

‘For Camden, it’s always the battle.  He often gets so carried away he switches teams, joins the bad pirates and starts fighting us!  When that happens, you and I have to high-tail it back to the ship as we duck from fast moving Nerf missiles headed our way.

Back at sea, we drift, fish and eat plastic food from your refrigerator play area (which is often the same location as buried treasure, so it works out really well). You always bring up little observations and suggestions like “your foot is in the water” or “that’s silly.”  I stand corrected most of the time.

Sometimes Camden will appear out of nowhere (where on earth was he?), walk across the carpet (which is WATER in the Pirate game for goodness sakes) and climb back on the ship, nonchalantly acting like he never joined the bad pirates.  We always forgive him without saying a word.

But the free-spirited, low-key, relaxing ocean drifting you and I were enjoying soon transforms into a new battle when Camden spots bad pirates on the open sea. We’re battling again, but he’s on our side.

It’s dangerous work Ainsley, but we love it.

Who needs a board game when we have our imagination.  AAARRR!!

It was fun being with you on Christmas day.

You came to our house late morning and stayed until 5 o’clock.  After opening lots of presents, we had a scavenger hunt…. the object of the game was to go into eight different rooms and find one white envelope in each.

Inside each envelope were letters… each one spelling a word. Put the words together in the proper sequence…. and a mystery message would emerge.

After lots of running around and craziness, you all returned to the Great Room and figured out the puzzle.  Here’s what it spelled:

The Fearless Five (that’s what I call you, Camden, Ben, Emma and Molly when you’re together) were excited! So were we!

We haven’t been to Disney World (all of us together) since 2007 so we will be counting down the days. The Wilderness Lodge will be our home away from home in the Magic Kingdom.  It has a beach, several pools and a giant atrium –  I can’t wait.

Here’s a photo of you on Christmas day holding a very appropriate new shirt: