Saturday morning...

ZUMBA!

pink ship shops

We are on our "summer schedule" as I like to call it. Amelia has been sleeping late, taking late naps and ultimately going to bed late. Too late for a one year old, in my opinion. I have been working on getting Amelia to put herself to sleep...yes the saga continues. (Another blog in and of itself). But let's just say that it's taking her longer to fall asleep than usual. So...this morning Amelia woke up not at 8:00 am like every other day as of late...but at 5:45 am. She's napping now (and so is Ford) and as I sit here alone listening to the thunder (it's been raining here for what seems like 2 weeks straight) I have been thinking about what a memorable Saturday morning this one has been...

Ford had Amelia out for a walk in the rain, outfitted with rain coat and umbrella at 6:30 am, followed by a yummy breakfast of daddy's scrambled eggs and waffles. When I woke up Amelia was quick to tell me about the snail they had discovered crawling up her blue plastic cup, that had been left out on the porch overnight. She then she showed me the fort she and her daddy built between the desk and the couch equipped with pillows, blankets, dollies, stuffed animals and books. Next, while changing her diaper in her room, she discovered her "simming suits" in her drawer and immediately began to put on the purple floral bikini with sarong...with a little help she was ready to go...where? ZUMBA class at the YMCA. On Saturday mornings there is a parent/child ZUMBA class, which is really a dance/aerobic/free movement kind of exercise class and I have been wanting to take Amelia to...and today was the day. Ford came too, knowing it was going to be something to see, no doubt. Upon arriving, Amelia was a bit intimidated and clung to my neck...I jumped in and started dancing while holding her and encouraging her to watch the other kids and their fancy moves. I took her to the back of the class and set her down on her feet where she finally loosened up a bit and agreed to hold my hands and dance with me. Soon, she was in the center of the room, shaking her booty with the best of them to African beats, Latin grooves and even a little Ton Loc...yes, Funky Cold Medina...and she was loving every minute of. The best was when the instructor yelled for everyone to go get an exercise ball and when all the big girls went running to the back of the room, Amelia did not hesitate, or even look to see where I was, and she was off like a shot, following the masses. I'm pretty sure she had no idea where everyone was going, but she sure wasn't going to miss out. Hilarious. As ZUMBA class was winding down, Amelia was just getting started. She pleaded to the instructor in her little voice and used her toddler sign language "MORE, MORE!" But class was over, we thanked the nice lady and off we went...
And to top off our eventful Saturday morning, we stopped by the little shop that sells pink flip flops (we were waiting for her size to come in) and picked hers up. Thinking Amelia would crash from exhaustion on the ride...she actually did not stop talking and babbling all the way home..."zumba, dance?! booty? booty? booty? um zumba...um girls...dance...ship shops, pink ones!...yah!" What a day, and all before nap.

p.s. check out the music on my new playlist feature...well, it's already playing, right? Turn it up! Dance! It's fun!