Baby Z!

penny had no camp last friday, so she took a quick visit to camp zalben.  when she got home, we had a surprise - alex found a vintage style candyland that he purchased for her - and it is AWESOME.

three generations of firstborn zalbens.

over lunch, penny sang us a camp song, mostly:

she took a nap, and when she woke up, it was time to get ready for her first ever drop-off birthday party!  our very brave neighbor had what seemed like the entire neighborhood over for a pretend sleepover.  they all wore their pajamas, ate pizza, listened to a story in a fort...it sounds like a wonderful time was had by all.  alex and i went grocery shopping, and then had a glass of wine with our fellow parents, who really could not believe that our kids were gone for an hour and a half.
on sunday, penny asked if she could bring her notebook along with her to lunch.  she had been calling it her checkbook, and she wrote a check for her friend who lives in california.  she sent her a forty dollar check because she misses her so much.  then, kind of out of nowhere, she wrote:

that's POP, just in case you don't read 3 year old

and then, a few minutes later:

that says JET.  you should not need my help for that one.

she does not know how to spell the words on her own, but she's getting the hang of putting letters in the right order, and she knows how to make WAY more letters than even she thought she could.  she decided to spell something herself:

and really enjoys having us read this paper to her.  exciting!

she started her new camp on monday, and though the transition was a bit hard on her, it's really going very well.  this camp seems way more like pre-school, and the counselors are a little more engaged on her level.  she's brought home artwork, and made a new friend.  though we are the sweatiest, hottest people around, i can't believe how fast this summer is going by!