Keeping July Jumpin

We had our 5th of July shin-dig with our neighbors and the girl had a blast with her hood crew.  So did I!

This week, while a few of those neighbors are leaving for vacations, the girl headed to VBS at her old pre-school's church.  This is a half-day program, but she loves it, so we were in.  To our pleasure several of her old friends were there, so she got to see some old friends again.  Next week she heads back to Camp Splash.

Today we took our first visit to the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden.  Seriously, why haven't I been there before?  What a treasure!  It was hot (as it has been for most of this summer so far) so we were there less than 2 hours, but I will totally be back.

Girl knows how to party

This past weekend was all late nights for the girl.  On Saturday we hung out with the neighbors and it turned into her first sleep over.  Honestly, I didn't think I would be okay with her doing sleepovers.  It's a different world we live in.  I would be hard pressed to get to know the family of school friends well.  My comfort with my neighbors surprises even me.

This of course means she was up late.  We woke early the next morning for church and she refused to nap later that day (unlike me) which is why she crashed on the drive home on Sunday night.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch up with two old college friends, as one was driving this way to pick his son up from the airport.  It's such a weird dynamic to be with your friends from when you were 20 in the presence of your 6 year old.

Summering

Here we are, a month into Avery's first official summer break.  She spent the first two weeks staying up late and sleeping in even later followed by tv time and playing outside with her neighborhood friends.  Yes, I made her do a bit of "school work" each day, it wasn't 100% work-free.

From there we headed out on our first cruise for 2024, a 9 nighter out of Baltimore  The weather wasn't pristine, but we still had a great time.  She loved the kids club and made a friend there.  She also killed it on the rock wall, conquering two of the six paths available.  I don't know how she had the energy but she was running every step of the way in Cococay looping around on the free water slides.

Now that we're back home she is spending this week at Camp Splash, a swim camp at our local public pool.  Here too she made a friend, and my advice to repeat the person's name seemed to help her remember another new friend's name!

Next week we have some activities planned for the 4th and subsequent weeks will take her back to Camp Splash and two Vacation Bible Schools.  She does have a "gap" the few weeks before school starts back up.  At this point I plan to revert to the chill strategy we had as the summer started.

Fellow Grads

Last night Avery got to hang out with our neighbors a few doors down.  The eldest is also a K grad.  Today she got to go hang with her bestie.  Summer is off to a good start.  Doubt I can keep up that pace of action packed fun for her, but I am sure she will have a great summer.

First Grade Here We Come!

Just like that, Kindergarten is over.  Today we celebrated with Avery's graduation ceremony.  It was nicely done and the kids did a great job.  Her answer to what she wants to be when she grows up... "Work on my computer from home" got a pretty good chuckle from me.  We went for a post-ceremony breakfast and later went to meet her bestie at the trampoline house.  It was a good day.

This means that she will now be here at the house while I work.  Time to come up with a schedule to keep her learning and engaging her brain rather than sitting like a log in front of the tv.

I can stick my tongue through!

I was right - one week later and another tooth came out (bottom left front).  She loves sticking the top of her tongue through.  I can see the buds of the first tooth coming back up through.  Nothing else is notably loose at this point.

We had a great weekend.  Friday we hunt out with the neighborhood crew in mass and had a blast.  Saturday Avery had her friend from Pre-K, Tucker, come over to play.  We also scheduled play dates for subsequent weeks to hang out with other friends.

This week and next we have swim lessons once again.  Time to get ready for the summer!

I lost a tooof

It happened! She walked into my room first thing this morning (before my alarm even much less hers) with a huge smile on her face and carrying a tooth (bottom right front).  I bet the other bottom front tooth goes within a week.