Princess Camp

It just wouldn't feel like Summer without princess camp. This is Leah's third visit, and Juliet's first. This will be the only year that they can go together, as next year Leah will be too old (BOO!). The girls have been having a lot of fun. Juliet's Stay and Play assistant is a teacher there, too, this year. Juliet is so happy to see "Miss T" again. 

 The girl have done a lot of crafts and have been super excited to go each day. It's so cute to see them in their dresses. 

 I don't have a picture of Wednesday because I had to take a class, and Chris didn't take one with the camera. Tomorrow is the big tea party and "graduation". I know they'll love it!

It's weird to have 2.5 hours all to myself for a week straight, too. I alternate between thinking I want to get a lot done, and just wanting to lay around. It's a terrible problem to have! :)

The Lake

 For the actual 4th of July, we decided to go a lake. We went to a different one that we typically do, and I can't decide if I like it better or not. To be honest, I just think all lakes are really gross (not the Great Lakes). I guess I like this one better because it is bigger, and that seems like it should be less dirty. 

 My leg was killing me, and thinking that the water was not the best thing for my cut up legs, I didn't go in. The girls went in with Chris and loved it. Juliet tells me that she likes calm water, and not "wild water". Apparently the ocean and sprinkler parks are too "wild" and she doesn't like them. Lakes and pools get the thumbs up, though. At least she isn't afraid to tell us what she likes. 

 The girls made lots of "friends" and had fun playing.

 We ate a picnic lunch and got ice cream cones at the little snack shop. All in all, it was a pretty good day. 

We came home and watched Newsies and watched random people light off firecrackers in our neighborhood. Some of them were pretty impressive. Juliet wanted to go to bed, and even though I tried to convince her to stay up, was adamant that she wanted to sleep. After we got upstairs, in jammies, and into her room, she started crying and asking me why I was so mean to her. Now she wouldn't be able to see fireworks for a whole other year. Stinker!

4th of July

 We made cupcakes, ice-cream cone cakes, and strawberry pie in celebration of the 4th. We put on our best patriotic gear. I felt like we were in a Nautica ad.

 Last year I got a really good picture of the girls that still hangs in our house. I tried to recreate it. I got a couple of okay ones, but nothing like last years. 

 We went to Nicole's to celebrate and watch the fireworks. 

 While it got dark, Leah and Juliet caught fireflies and Chris and I played Baggo. When it was dark, we lit some sparklers (Leah now likes them!). And went to watch the fireworks.

 After the fireworks we sent off lanterns. We usually do it on vacation, but didn't this year. All the families made wishes, and we sent them off. 

 This was ours. 

It was such a fun night, until Juliet was just done (I don't blame her because it was waaayyy late and waaayyy past her bedtime). I went to go into an apparently rarely used side door at Nicoles, and my foot went right through a rotten board. I'm pretty sure my toe is broken or sprained (is that even possible for a toe?!), and my leg is pretty scratched up. Oh well. It was still a fun night!

Who Learned to Swim?

This girl.

For one day.

Leah was so proud of herself for swimming all by herself last week. She was working hard to go to Funland (which I would have taken her to anyway).

She swam over and over in class. I was so surprised/shocked/excited for her that I was crying in the waiting room.

Then, we went to our neighborhood pool so we could show Daddy. Somehow, Leah went from excited to a whiny, hysterical mess. We didn't push it, and just swam with her in the pool for the rest of our time there (i.e. carry her around in the pool).

 I thought the next lesson would be better. It was sooooo much worse. She spent the 30 minutes alternating between crying, whining, and calling for me. It was so bad that I was texting Chris on advice as to whether I should just go in there and pull her out of the pool mid-lesson (I didn't). 

We talked extensively about how that was not appropriate behavior, and she needed to manage her emotions better in lessons. We try to reassure her, but the fact is that she needs to learn to swim. It is a total safety issue. 

Now, she is back to dreading swimming and crying at the thought of it. I signed her up for a week straight of lessons next week (6 lessons that week!). We are alternating between reassuring her, showing her videos of kids having fun swimming, bribing her, and threatening her. I'm sure she will tell her psychiatrist all about it in a few years. 

Hopefully the weather will be better this weekend, and Auntie Renee can give her a pep-talk/mini  swim lesson without me. I don't think my presence is helping her. 

We know she can do it. I'm hoping to report back with better news soon. 

Cheer Camp for Leah B.

 Leah joined our community's Cheer Camp as a summer activity. I thought it would be good for her to see how dance and gymnastics work together. It's a short program and super close to our house, so it was win-win. Leah LOVES it. In getting her reading for her first session, I realized the kid has no "gym" wear. She didn't even have real gym shoes (She probably outgrew her last pair 3 months ago--I never replaced). I sent her in converse the first session. A few clicks on 6pm later, we were the proud owners of actual gym shoes and gym shorties. Leah picked out the top from Target. She loves the clothes. But, still asks for dresses every day. 

 Juliet couldn't let Leah get her picture taken without her getting her picture taken, too. At first Juliet was mad that she wasn't going to cheer. I had asked her several times, and she refused. Then she realized that she can play on a giant playground while Leah is in practice. She doesn't cry about missing cheer anymore. 

 The girls were cheering for Daddy's softball team. Leah loves cheer so much, I looked into other opportunities (even though I complain often that she is involved in too much). But, the programs around here either look pretty intense or are focused on cheering for boys. She doesn't need to cheer for boys at her age. 

 Leah really likes trying to jump and kick at the same time. I love these action shots. 

 Here they are practicing. It's pretty cute to watch.

Strawberry Patch

 Before we went to the Strawberry Patch, we finished up Daddy's belated Father's Day gift. We all love to look for sea shells, and love to carefully select them and take shells home, but our house is quickly overflowing with bottles and jars of shells. So, after getting back from the OBX, we picked our favorite shells from the trip, cleaned them, and arranged them on a canvas that each girl water-colored. We arranged them like a heart. The girls made them for Daddy to hang in his office so he could remember his girls, and remember that we like vacations! Ha! Leah picked all purple shells, and I really like how it turned out. The entire time she was picking them and positioning them, I kept thinking she had to many and they were too similar. What do I know?! It looks amazing. I was so proud of Juliet, too, because she wrote her name on the bottom! We are *really* working on her fine motor. She needs help with the 'e' and remembering the order of the letters, but she has made so much progress! 

 This might be one of my new favorite pictures!

 The strawberry patch day was also the day of the Supreme Court ruling on marriage. I tried to explain it to Leah. She is happy that she can now marry her friend Halle if she wants to. :)

 Picking strawberries. This year was much more of a hunt than last year, but we still found a ton of strawberries!

 We made strawberry pie, strawberry muffins, and strawberry jam. We also just ate a lot of strawberries. A favorite summer tradition!