Day on the River

We spent the day with good friends on the Blood River yesterday.  The girls, all 8 of them, get along great and have a wonderful time out there. We, the adults, do also.  The men took all the girls out on a nice long boat ride while the women hung out and chatted, kid-free.

 

 

 Waiting to go.

 

 

 Back at camp.

 

 

The adults were able to take a nice ride out to Lake Maurepas while the kids were being watched. Very nice.

 



Prop Stop!

 

Can't wait to do this again!



Lovin

• water slides
• family naps
• school uniforms
• good times with good friends
• vacation planning (next year)
• Tervis cups
• hummingbird watching
• swim school
• kids' laughter

Horse Camp

Today is Eva's last day of horse camp.  I really think she liked it a lot. Each night she told us what she did and what she learned. Their days started off mucking out the stables, and even with that she said she loved it. They had to learn parts of the horse, and they even painted on the horse the parts that were called out. 

 

The worked on balancing on the horse while standing, walking, and trotting (I think).  They also learned posting - I'm still not quite sure what that is.

They did lots of grooming - with various types of brushes and combs. 

I love this picture of Eva and her bestie, Jordyn. 

I have a feeling she'll be doing this next summer also. She has asked to do it during school, but with piano and swim and a new school, I think it's best to wait.  Emily said she wants to do it next year, but I think it's just so she can wear her boots. 

4th in Seabrook

We got into Seabrook late Wed night and we were able to spend the whole weekend there.  For the 4th we spent with family and friends.  That evening we were invited onto someone's boat in Galveston Bay to view the fireworks from an excellent vantage point. The fireworks were really cool seen from the boat, not to mention very relaxing. 

 

 

The next day we went to lunch at the restaurant where Marissa works, a Greek restaurant by Kemah that was very good. 

 

Saturday we took the girls to the boardwalk at Kemah.  They rode all of the rides except the roller coaster, which was the one ride I wanted to go on. 

This is my favorite picture of the weekend.  Emily looking almost bored and Eva screaming her lungs out.  I asked her later if she was scared, and she said she was not, that David told her screaming would keep her butterflies at bay.  I'm not so sure I believe that one.

Later Saturday we went to Jodie and John's house.  The girls, and I, tried out the makeshift tightrope; although, there is no picture of me.

We had a great weekend, and we are looking forward to our next visit. Hopefully, it won't be as long between visits as our last one was (December).

Destin

We took a nice  4-day weekend to Destin with some friends this weekend.   The weather was very nice for the most part. We had one day with a shower and a couple of times thunderstorms were looming but passed around us. 

 

We walked down to the jetty to do some snorkeling.  Apparently, people pay to snorkel there, but I'd be very upset if I paid for that. It was nice, but nothing I'd pay for. 

 

Emily in her snorkel gear minus the flippers.

 

David showing her how to blow water our of her snorkel.

Both girls on our balcony. The view was excellent.

 

Eva waiting for a good wave to catch.

 

Me and the girls.  The water was very choppy, so it took a lot to get this.

Everyone (except me) got smacked in the face by the wave.

Our last day started off a little chilly. I like this one of them standing there watching their feet get sucked into the sand.

David and I relaxing while we watch the girls play.

Lots of sand castles, rivers, holes, etc. were made this weekend.

I didn't take a picture of it, but lots of cool sea shells were also found in the surf. 

A very nice time was had, and I look forward to doing this again next year.

Father's Day Weekend

I told David not to make any plans for Saturday as we were going into New Orleans for some family fun.  We drove in with his mountain bike that has been sitting up in the shed in dire need of help - un-rideable.  We brought it to GNO Cyclery to change out every part on his bike except the seat and frame.  It might be there a while. He's been wanting his bike fixed, so this was part of his father's day present. 

 

 

Next, we took the girls to Plum Street Snoballs, my favorite.  Sorry, no pics since I also had one.  Eva and I had nectar cream (my favorite), Emily had spearmint, and David had his usual, peach. 

 

 

After that we took the girls for a ride on the streetcar since they had never been.  It was nice for us, too, as it's been a while since either of had been on one.  They loved it - and who wouldn't?



 

 

We got off at Washington St and walked towards Magazine St. We stopped at Lafayette Cemetery #1 to give them a real taste of old New Orleans. I really love walking in those cemeteries looking at all of the name and dates. 

We came out of there and showed them Commander's Palace - we'll take them there when they're a little bit older.  We continued down to Magazine St and went to Tracey's for some poboys.  David had hot sausage, I had roast beef, Eva had shrimp, and Emily had a chicken salad sandwich. She truly is her own person.  It was definitely the best roast beef poboy I've ever had.  I knew I had never eaten there before, but it wasn't until I got home that I realized that I had been there before on one of the many St. Patrick's Day block parties in the Irish Channel, but only for more drinks.  I saw someone get hit by a car in front of that place years ago. 

Next was shopping on Magazine St, although we did not buy anything the girls were happy to try on lots.  Love the studded hat Emily is wearing. 

We caught the streetcar back to the car and headed home for the night. 

Sunday the girls went to church with Mimi and Popsie while David and I went to breakfast and then just a tad bit of yard work (I raked pine needles for our back yard).  The girls came home and the sprinklers came on. 

 

 

Wild blackberries were picked.  And eaten.

 

 



 

 

Shimmer tattoos were donned by the girls - peace sign for Eva and a dragon for Emily.   

 

 

 

 

David is grilling burgers (you don't want me to grill) and sweet potatoes are in the oven.  Yum!

 

A great Father's Day weekend if you ask me!



Gymnastics

She was soooo excited to take gymastics this summer. I told each of them they could do one 'thing' this summer. This is what she picked.  Both girls took gymnastics about 2 years ago over the summer, so they've been here before.  She is taking the class that Eva took. 

 

 

 Waiting for class to start.

 

 

 

Hanging in pike position. That didn't last long.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Sister, Little Sister

Even thought they fight, Eva and Emily love each other immensely.  So much so that they want to do whatever the other does, and vice-versa. This primarily is about Emily wanting to do/not do what Eva does/doesn't do, but Eva is guilty of it also. If Eva wants to quit ballet, so does Emily. If Emily is taking gymnastics, Eva wants to do it, too.  How can I get them to do the things they truly enjoy because they enjoy it and not because the other one is doing it?  How can I get them to do things independent of the other? Or, is this normal for same-sex siblings 2 years apart?

I think Emily is really good at ballet; she definitely improved the most over the last year, but Eva was only going to take ballet next year to get the pewter goblet (they get it after 3 years and every year after of ballet). I took care of that by getting them the goblet as their recital gift.  Now Eva knows she doesn't want to do ballet, which is fine because she is better at other things, but because Eva isn't taking ballet, Emily says she doesn't want to either.  I think, though, that Emily has admitted that she does want to do ballet next year, but I'm not 100%. 

Emily chose gymnastics as her summer activity, which is great.  It's really good for her, it's something different with different kids, and she loves it.  While waiting during her class, Eva says she wants to do gymnastics.  And I know she really doesn't because I asked her before.

Eva picked horseback riding camp for the summer.  Emily didn't want to do it, and I'm glad. Eva's best friend is taking it with her, and Emily would have been left out. Plus, I think they need to do things on their own sometimes. 

In mid-July Emily will start a swim school to learn all 4 strokes before joining the swim team in September.  Eva will join the swim team in August (she knows all 4 strokes already).  This is a year-long activity, swimming twice a week.  They will also both take piano next year. This will be Eva's 4th year and Emily's first.  Plus, this will be their first year at a new school.  Should I let them do another event separate from each other or are these two activities enough?  Eva is looking like she will want to take horse riding lessons (plus, there is a new place that opened on our street - 4 houses down) and Emily will want to do either ballet or gymnastics.

What to do. What to do.

Softball

Both girls are playing in the Hammond Hurricane softball league (together on the same team they always play on.  This year David is coach (I'm dugout Mom) with the help of a couple of other dads.  For a while there it seemed like the girls were actually going backwards, but this week they have really played well. 

My only complaint is that it takes them a while to warm up, getting better as the game goes on. Not sure how to combat that without coming an hour early and batting.  They won their game Tuesday and had an awesome game yesterday even though they lost.  The girls had a number of excellent catches/stops in the field and really started hitting the ball at the end - even those that don't normally hit.  I have to say, and I know I'm not the only one, that Eva had the 'catch of the season' last night. A girl hit the ball clear into left field (a pop fly) and Eva (who is normally at 1st base) caught that ball.  If that wasn't enough, she listened to her coaches and ran with it to 2nd base getting the runner out - a double play!  Never though I'd see that in this league!  She was so excited and everyone was cheering for her.  At the end of the game the umpire came up to David and told him he has never seen such good batting and field plays from this league - ever!  Both teams did a great job!

Next week brings our last 2 games.  I'd like to take pictures but it's just so hard to do that and keep score and keep the batters in line when I'm in the dugout. 

Next year is when the girls start pitching to each other.  Emily will need to stay behind as she is not ready for the next league, but I am excited for Eva. Next year is also when they start wearing pants - a real softball uniform!

Graduation, Awards, and More

My littlest peanut graduated kindergarten this week.  My oldest peanut is now a 4th grader. WOW! 

 Last day of kindergarten.

Emily and her best friend, Jordan.

Emily and Eva both received a special award for music this year. Eva, for the 2nd year in a row, has gotten all A's for the entire year.  I couldn't be prouder of them both. 

Emily was evaluated last week by her new school for advanced placement in 1st grade and everything is good to go!  They are both very excited about the new school, mostly because they like the idea of getting hot lunches.

Here's to next year!