SS beat us at Scrabble, but it was a great day.

SS starts school next week and we want to make sure we spend as much time with her as possible.  She definitely needed a haircut, some school supplies, and wanted two t-shirts she had seen. We started the morning by letting SS sleep until 9:00 a.m.. P wanted to have lunch at an Indian restaurant, then take SS to a movie, Transformers. P also had a medical appointment, we had a busy day ahead of us.

 All throughout her summer vacation SS has worked on reading, language arts, and math. It has not been easy, and she is a normal child who makes it clear how much she resents doing the work. SS loves to read, that has not been a problem. The language arts work is done with an online program provided through the school. SS completed sixteen of the eighteen units by the end of the school year. She needs to complete the last unit before next week. It was not required but we decided it was best for SS.

Not every aspect of learning is tedious work, we also have games that require SS to use language and math. She loves to play triominos, and that game is all about adding and subtracting (must subtract five points when you have to get an extra tile). We have also played multiplication bingo, a game her teacher played with the kids last year. SS loved it so much we bought one for her birthday.

This morning SS worked on her language and math skills by playing Scrabble. She was the score keeper, and we made her count our tiles as well. With the double/triple letter/word scores she got a lot of practice. Sure, we would have had a much faster pace if we kept score; but the point is to introduce knowledge even when SS thinks she is only playing a game.

Our girl did so well and paid us back by beating us. Yup, we got whooped by a ten year old, and we are not monosyllabic morons. The final score was 197 for SS, 179 for me, and 154 for P. Well played SS, well played. 

When we lived in Redding we used to frequent an Indian restaurant. SS used to stuff her little face with Indian food, and it was fun to watch. That is where her love of basmati rice originated.  I wish I had taken pictures of her at 16 months and up eating there. They had a delicious mango dessert that we all enjoyed.

SS has not eaten Indian food since we moved here, and yes that is a shame, it just had not worked out that way. We were a tad worried she might not like it, since it's been so long.

 No need to fret, because SS chowed down, she just picked up where she left off. And of course she loved the naan bread, because SS has yet to meet a bread she does not like.

 SS has never been a dark meat eater, it's chicken breasts for her. She saw P's tandoori drumstick and asked to try it. SS ended up eating his chicken and requested more. Here she is in her tandoori zone, laid back, eyes closed, enjoying her chicken.

The sweetest part was when SS proposed a toast. We did not even know she knew about toasts. When asked what we were toasting, SS said "being in this restaurant, and spending time together." Excellent toast little girl, cheers. We will definitely return to make more memories.

We then watched Captain Underpants, and it was actually not awful for us adults.  SS had to do some language arts done in the car. How? Because we linked her laptop to our phones, something SS LOVES when we use it with her tablet for her entertainment. Today, not so much.

SS had her haircut, four inches cut, but she was sad to see her lighter hair go. I knew that was going to be an issue because really likes the contrast. The hair stylist explained it was damaged hair from the pool chlorine. That actually made SS feel much better.

Our little bundle of attitude is in bed now, because she needs to return to a school bedtime routine.  It was a very good day, even if we got our butts kicked by a fourth grader.