I'm sorry I have no real "titles" for my sporatic posts lately...maybe something along the lines of "Summer randomness" or "What we're doing to be heat the excessive heat.." would suffice. I am approaching the last week of my summer vacation and it hit me yesterday, hard. I was super sad...especially because the weather this week is going to be so dang hot that doing anything outside will be almost unbearable. And I don't enjoy indoor activities with bad weather - it means that every single family with kids is also inside, there. Crowds, germs, chaos....not really Emma and I's idea of fun. Oh well..we will make the best of it!
I am continually amazed at how much Emma and I have grown this summer - as separate people, and also together. It has been more than awesome to spend this time together - all day, every day:) It was hard, but I also realized it was harder than it had to be. I learned to temper my anger and add a whole lot more patience to my day...and things seemed to go a lot better. I am not naturally a low-key person, so being patient, letting things go, being a "go with it" girl was hard for me. But we did it, and I am grateful. I know this is my last summer with just Emma, and I can't even go there right now (sniff), so I really wanted us to have some good memories together.
A few weeks ago, Emma and I went to Lillington for the Junior Waterski clinic and State Championships. No, I didn't compete (although I am still skiing!) but the highlights were Emma skiing for the first time, and my dad skiing!
Emma did not even hesitate when asked if she wanted to ride "the magic carpet" (the fancy name they call the skis at Coble Ski School). I didn't even have time to prepare her, talk her into it, or really even prepare myself! I have a video but I am having a hard time uploading it...so these photos will have to do!
Here is me the whole time...half grinning, half smiling, half crying. I was terrified, nervous, excited, and humbled all at once. Yes, her skiing is an enormous sense of personal pride for me given my history with the sport. But seeing her do something new, something scary to her, watching her accomplish this with ease...gave me so much joy.
Emma played with Brooke, and her new friend Lilah. All of a sudden, Emma is 4 and 16 all at the same time:)
She got a t-shirt for participating. I am so proud of this shy, big girl:)
Needless to say, she was worn out for the ride home!
My dad skied Saturday at the tournament, and I was so proud of him. Maybe next year, we will be skiing together again!
Emma and I spent one afternoon at the movies to beat the heat. She loves going with me, and does really well. I have managed to fall asleep twice now (insert eye roll).
We went to the lake one night with our friends, Kelsie and MYung. It was a great time out on the water! We had the lake to ourselves thanks to an early evening thunderstorm that scared most people away!
Emma went to summer camp one week from 9-12. We picked out a brand new backpack together:) She was shy the first day and then I watched her slowly warm up and make friends as each day went by. By the last day, she was playing with her friends, Ella and Jane and asking for playdates:) It warmed my heart!
Brent went fishing off-shore last weekend, so Emma and I headed to the lake together Friday night. We stayed with our friend, Sharon, in her camper and had a girls' sleepover:) When we got there Friday afternoon, it was pretty hot, so we quickly got in the water. Emma played with Maddie and pulled her on the ski board. It was really cute:)
Right at dinner time, it rained cats and dogs. It rained so hard and long, I was worried we would be swept away!
But we were safe inside, and comfy:)
I didn't take any pictures Saturday, but we taught about 8 local kids how to ski for the first time. The weather cooled down some, and we had a good time with the kids.
Again, Emma was pooped for the ride home:)
I've still been going to the gym 3 days a week. And I still LOVE it. After my spin class, I noticed my belly sweat ring....I sent this to Brent so he could have a chuckle at work.
Some friends from church invited us to the pool one day, so we immediately jumped on the chance! All of our friends have boys, so Emma usually plays with me or herself, but we have a good time nonetheless!
She was super pumped about her own noodle I bought her. (I have been trying to teach her, slowly, how to swim at the gym with a noodle.)
She's also still super sassy and full of attitude!
Brent was off one day so he set up the redneck pool for us to cool off in. I will say that the slide down into the pool was actually too much. The steepness was intense and Emma would get thrown out everytime! I even tried it...and almost died:) But she had a blast playing and sliding halfway down!
We had Brooklyn over one afternoon, and the 2 girls played well together!
Phew....if you made it to the end, then congratulations! There's no prize...sorry! Hope everyone has a great week....we will be trying out best to enjoy every last hot as crap minute!!!
