The last ten days have been frenetic! With soccer on a back burner for the moment, Kennedy asked if she could try tennis. She took lessons two years ago with 3 other kids in our subdivision, taught by a friend who had worked as a tennis pro in a previous life, but that was two years ago, and we haven't frequented the courts here in Holly Glen since. So, I found a tennis clinic at the local tennis club for her age group and she's been attending lessons twice a week for a couple of weeks. This, of course, is in addition to the theater class she's taking on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so her afternoons are pretty full. It's hard trying to juggle summertime activities while still going to school -- everyone else is boating, swimming, playing tennis, and vacationing while Kennedy and her pals are taking end-of-grade tests and transitioning from 4th to 5th grade!Then, we had the long-anticipated "Horse Camp" -- Kennedy survived it, but not without a few tears and much angst at bedtime. She still won't say she "had a good time" but she also isn't ruling out a return next summer. Her only opinion on that so far is "I don't want to stay FIVE days next time, Mom!" :)
When we drove to Camp Mary Atkinson to pick her up on Friday, she was very calm and showed us her horse, Ruby, and talked non-stop about her favorite counselors, so I think she'll remember the experience with fonder memories as she puts some distance between now and then. When I get her photos developed, I will post some -- I'm sure they'll be hilarious!
We brought her home just in time for the annual block party for the Fourth of July. All the neighbors got together for the 4th year in a row, and we were able to complete our tradition of cul-de-sac fireworks despite a couple of torrential downpours in the middle of things -- we even enjoyed a whole stack of fireworks of "questionable origin" (can you say South Carolina?) thanks to Nina Haynes! I totally forgot to take photos during that evening, so you'll have to take my word for it that it happened at all. :) Saturday night was the night of the Holly Springs town fireworks, and after we cooked dinner on the grill, we scuttled down to the new Wal-mart parking lot and set our folding soccer chairs up with all the rest of the rednecks! All that was missing was the cooler of beer and sparklers for the kids! The rain started during the show, and we all prayed that they'd get to the finale before the heavens completely opened!! They did, and I took a couple of pics that I have uploaded on the right side of this page for your admiring eyes!
Sunday we snuck in a movie - I took Kennedy to see Kitt Kittredge, American Girl, in celebration of starting 5th grade on Monday. It was a pretty good flick -- a bit predictable, but prompted a lot of questions from Kennedy about the Depression and hobos, and such. That and a little mother-daughter shopping at Justice for a new backpack, lunchbox, and back-to-school outfit, and we were ready for school!
The 2nd annual Back-to-School shaving cream fight, sponsored by the Savoldi's, was postponed by rain until Monday afternoon, but all the neighborhood kids under age 12 were invited to the cul-de-sac for a shaving cream war. Much fun was had by all and Kennedy went through two full cans of shaving cream in 20 minutes!! Fifteen kids and 30 cans of shaving cream later, the cul-de-sac looked like it had snowed and the kids looked like Italian gellato! It was a great way to kick off the new school year!
This weekend is Mark's birthday, so I'm sure I'll have some cool new pics to share by Sunday! :)
