Summer SumUps: Emma

With all Romney had going on over the summer, I felt a little bad for Emma who wasn't quite old enough to do anything like what Romney was doing. So I signed her up for a few little camps here and there, and by the time I was done finding little camps her summer was jam-packed as well. She was on her toes!

Emma did have a wonderful summer playing with a couple of friends - they are two years old than she is and are so sweet about inviting her along with them - Camilla and Anna. I was grateful for the time they spent keeping each other busy on days they were free!

I have to post at least a couple of the pictures Emma is always making me take of things she finds amazing and wants to remember forever, such as double cereal squares and dinosaur-shaped popcorn. I can't tell you how many pictures of this kind I have on my computer and phone. She doesn't like to let anything go! EVER.

At first, we just had some free time, so here are some more pictures of a trip to the aquarium we took, dragging the Tall Boy along with us:

 I ended up putting Emma in a half-day sewing camp twice during the summer. I don't have a picture of her at class or with her teacher Jane, but I'll say that it's an honor just having a kid be able to spend time with a wonderful lady like Jane. Emma feels very positive about her time there and loves going. So that took up a couple of weeks, one in June and one in July.

Right after the week of the 4th of July, Emma got to be in a little day camp at Wheeler Farm with her friend Cecilia. They spent their days making crafts, learning about animals, petting a few, playing games and even ended the week with a horse ride. Emma loved it. The biggest issue was the heat - it was such a dang hot dry summer, fires everywhere for months, making the air yucky. Just HOT. Emma, as it turns out, doesn't love the heat. Her tummy just turns. She had one little puke fest in the blacksmith's shop one day so I went to get the girls a little early. Luckily that day was the 11th of July - 7/11 day. We felt like a nice cold, wet (and FREE) slurpee was just the ticket.

Emma also was finally old enough (and we finally remembered in time) to register for Apple Camp! We spend three days towards the end of July at the apple store, making movies. We were a little sad because they really changed the way they did the camp - no longer letting the kids film movie footage at home to compile back at the store. It was all in store. And we didn't get a digital copy of her little movie, although I thought she did a great job. 

And finally I put her in a little cooking class, taught by Romney's singing teacher - this woman is pretty amazing. She teaches sewing, cooking, swimming and singing. She's great with kids and Emma had a ball cooking some great stuff. She's hilarious. She LOVES cooking but won't really eat much of the stuff she makes. Oh well! We all really enjoyed it!

So yeah, I basically just drove Emma places all summer! She and I were serious buddies and I loved that she had a chance to do so many fun things. Great summer for Emma!

Summer SumUps: Romney

For as un-busy as Chase was, Romney was the opposite - totally our busiest kid of the summer by a long shot. Man what a summer she had!! And really, this entry is almost going to be more of a photo journal than anything because I wasn't there for most of what she experienced. She was away so much and we really missed her, but I was so very very proud of her. I think some of her away time was very challenging for her, and I applaud her and admire her greatly for doing hard and rewarding things. Here she is, just a few days after school ended, delving into my cook books and finding an awesome recipe for Brazilian Lemonade that we all loved and requested several times over the summer. Recipe HERE.

After just a week's quick break from school, Romney took off on her first adventure of the summer - Stake Girls Camp. She went last year, when she was still 11, and ended up being the only kid from our ward (local church group - a stake is a group of wards) - who stayed for the whole week. This year our ward had many more girls since a couple of girls turned 12 in the past year plus a family with three camp-aged girls moved in. Big group, great leaders - a week away in the mountains of Heber. I was grateful for the photos my friend Emily sent home. I know Romney had some emotional days, probably feeling homesick and/or overwhelmed, but she tells me she had a great time and has so many great memories of the camp. I'll try to get her to write a few words about it.

After girls camp poor Romney only had a couple of days to recuperate before her next camp - Brighton LDS Girls Camp for girls ages 12-13 (although she was allowed to go last year as well) - up in the Mountains at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. This is the camp where my mom worked as a young college student and then again as a committee member when I was in high school, and where I spent three summers working. It's a place that is my mountain home and I love it there so very very much. Romney loves it too - it's a special place for her. However, I know it was again challenging for her to go. She was pretty wiped out from the previous week and wasn't looking forward to being away from home for more nights. I have a feeling the week was harder for her than she reported, but like always, she says she wouldn't trade it and carried away some extremely precious memories. It's hard to see her struggle through tough things, it's hard to see that things like this are hard for her, and so I'm extra proud of her for surviving and thriving.

Here we are in the early morning on our way to the gathering spot for the busses to take the gals up to camp:

And the excited girls getting ready to get on the bus:

All week long I thought about her, prayed for her, hoped she was well and wished I could check on her. Friday morning finally came and we were so excited to get our girl back. I know she had some teary nights, but I also know she's so proud of herself for being one of the amazing girls who did both the Above and Beyond hike (seven peaks in one day) as well as the sunrise hike the next morning. She's amazing!!! I hope she feels as proud of herself as I feel. I was so glad to get her back.

We had a little break, just one week I think, before Romney got to start her summer's true love - Youth Theater at the U. Luckily this camp is a day camp - we got our exhausted yet still verbose girl back every afternoon. This camp is amazing. She just loves it so much, and is totally exhilarated every day.

She chose to be part of the melodrama group again this year and had so much fun putting on their play How The West Was Done. She did a great job. This year Romney was part of the teen camp - kids going into 8th grade - 12th grade. She was the youngest kid there and I worried about that a little. But her melodrama group had a tight bond and she just thrived as she was included in their circle. I feel like it was a super positive group. I remember that same feeling, being a part of the circle in plays and camps and things like that. Wonderful. When theater school was over, my sweet gal wept and wept and wept. For a few days. She really grieved the ending of that camp.

How to put into words what it's like to be a witness to your child's development and growth? There really isn't an adequate way. My little woman. My heart was bursting all summer long over her.