Day 173 (Saturday, 7/17): Family Outings

Here's the Lovejoy-Fordham Alliance giving its official salute: The Finger Point. Cheesy, I know! And my husband and I are also matching with the green. It's all too much!

At any rate, we had a great Saturday, starting off the day with a visit to a wonderful daycare, Pam's House 4 Day Care. It's a daycare run out of someone's home, and I was a bit hesitant to leave LB at one of these, but this place is so so fabulous and professional. You can visit its website at http://www.pamshouse4daycare.com/home.nxg. The daycare is in a separate part of the house and also has its own, separate play yard, which doesn't seem to be the case with many of the at home daycares.

The indoor section of the daycare is divided into two rooms, a huge room with lots of toys and plenty of play areas. It also has wooden floors, which I like because, as Pam pointed out, they are a lot easier to keep clean and germ-free than carpet. The daycare then has a smaller room, separated off by little wooden gates, for the kids who are three years or older and can attend preschool. Pam is a certified preschool teacher and so she gives lesson to the older ones, while her daughter, who is a UCR student and is officially employed by the daycare, watches the younger ones. Pam explained that sometimes the babies will come and stand at the classroom's gates to watch the older kids have their lessons. I can totally see LB doing this, and, in my head, it's very cute! Then, while there is no separate room for nap time, Pam does set up cots in the bedrooms of her own immaculate home so that the little ones have a quiet place to sleep apart from the activities of the daycare.

Pam is a very warm and friendly person, and it was very clear to Tom and me that she treats the kids with a lot of love and dignity. I particularly like her philosophy, which is published on her daycare's website: lots of outside time, educational and imaginative activities, very little to no TV, and practicing empathy and respect for one another.

The prices are also cheap at $45 dollars a day (and that includes meals and milk).

The only issue with the daycare is that it is about 20 minutes from our house. This won't be a problem on the days I teach at Mt. San Jacinto College because there is a freeway entrance/exit near the daycare, and I can just hop on after dropping her off. But on the days I teach at UC Riverside, I'll have to drive the 20 minutes there, drop her off, and then drive the 20 minutes back to UCR. When it's time to pick her up, I'll have to make the forty-minute trip again, but Tom and I hope that if we leave her all day, the two round trips won't seem like such a hassle. Plus, the peace of mind that comes with knowing she's well-taken care of will no doubt make the trips worth it.

So hopefully she'll be starting in the second week of August.

Then, yesterday evening, Tom and I got out for a date night, going to see the new movie Inception. It comes highly recommended from both of us, if anyone out there is unsure about it. In our pre-LB days, Tom and I loved going to the movies, especially in the summer when we would see even the lamest movies just to sit in the A/C. But those days are gone, and this was actually only the second movie we've seen all year. The other was Date Night back in April.

And finally, here's a picture request from G. While G was babysitting yesterday evening, she saw this little skunk poking about our yard. Unfortunately, she said it seemed ill, though she did see it poking around again this morning. Hopefully, it has found a cool place to burrow in in all this heat.

Oh! And G also got LB to bed yesterday while Tom and I were out! Hip hip hooray! You know what this means, LB can have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and Mama and Papa can get way for the weekend! Hip hip hooray!