Early this morning, we were off to the doctor for Ava’s five-year-old check up and the much dreaded shots. She shed not one tear, and was doubly awarded with four brightly colored bandaides and four trophy prizes.

Her doctor confirmed our suspicions that she is growing like a weed, more than ready for school and is very allergic to cats. The doctor wrote her notes on the screen of a tablet PC, which Ava declared as “magic.” A delight which was only surpassed by the promise of a medicine that could help her play with cats.

We had planned to run a few errands after the appointment, which now included acquiring magic cat potion, and make our weekly trip to the library. But it was too cold. Or as they like to say in Minnesota, we were not dressed for the weather. That’s right. It’s the end of May and somehow we thought we could wear sundresses, flip-flops, and light sweaters. How silly of us.

So we headed home for a few additional layers.

After adding leggings, a fleece, a scarf, and exchanging her flip-flops for some boots, she stopped on the stairway to make this useful observation.

“I look like a cowgirl today, don’t I Mama? Don’t you think these boots make me look like a cowgirl? Yep, I’m a cowgirl today.”

Yes, that was my first thought. I hear cows are particularly fond of sparkly hearts and shiny gold buttons.

You know I don’t think that this girl has ever seen a real live cowgirl and hardly a cow at that.  At her age I had been to more rodeos than tea parties, and every other person I knew owned a pair of battered wranglers and Justin boots. I remember when my Minneapolis cousins would come visit us in Montana, I would be mesmerized by their city words and city clothes.

Now look at me, I’m raising my very own city slicker. Those boots have hardly seen a speck of dust let alone an entire range.

After dazzling more than one librarian with her not-so-western ensemble, we returned home to snuggle and read through our bag of books. Thanks to our favorite pig, Olivia, Ava finally has the words to pair with this outfit:

“And of course, you can always accessorize!”