Well, I've been meaning to post about our summer adventures, but haven't had the time to actually go and give it the full attention it needs. In it's place I had a running list of things to mention under the post title "It's July already?" Obviously, that title doesn't fit anymore, but it does drive home the original point.
Here are a couple of updates on what has been keeping us busy:
- Happy Belated 4th to everyone! We had a great time this year. We went up to Acworth Beach again, like we have done every year since Maddie was a baby. The girls got a chance to swim and play in the sand, and then we just camped out and watched the fireworks over the lake while listening to the live band. It's always so nice each year. This year was a little more crowded than in the past, but thanks to their shuttle buses and parking on the square, it was no problem. Even Josie got into the fireworks this year -- in the past, she has hated the loud noises, but this year she did pretty well and actually enjoyed watching them.
- It's official. Maddie will be attending Pre-K this fall. Bill and I have purposely kept the girls home from preschool until now, with the thought in mind that we would wait until they started kindergarten. A few months ago, though, we started talking about the possibility of having her attend Pre-K. Little did we know that, where we live, the preschool admission process starts in January. Thanks to the Georgia Lottery, our state offers free Pre-K to students. There are only a few areas that offer it, though, and only a limited number of spots. The registration and waiting list for these spots starts in January. Of course, when I called around in May to find out about different preschools, I couldn't find a single opening. They were all filled! And not only the free Pre-K, but also the private preschools as well. Most had waiting lists at least 10 people long. I was in shock. I had no idea the process was this extensive.
For a few days there, it looked as if we would be keeping Maddie home until kindergarten whether we liked it or not. Finally, I called the private preschool that a couple of my friends' kids have attended. They had ONE OPENING! I immediately got an application and we went in for an interview and tour the next day. The school is great. It has a really great approach to learning and academics, while still allowing the kids to be kids and play. They spoke to Maddie for a bit and then I got a chance to talk to the director about a couple of things. By the end of the tour we were "accepted" and Maddie is now enrolled there for Pre-K this fall. The whole process left me in shock. I had no idea how crazy things were in preschool. I assumed this kind of stress and competition for spots would come later, in high school or college. The good news is that we were able to enroll Maddie in what looks to be a very good school. She's already so excited, and I'm sure she's going to love it. Josie won't be attending school this year, but she will get a chance to spend some one on one time with Mommy, which will be a nice change for her, I think. (I hope.) While most of Georgia public schools start tomorrow, Maddie's first day of school is September 2nd. I'm sure she'll have lots of exciting stories to tell, and I'm sure I'll be experiencing my first bout of heartbreak at my oldest child slowly letting go of the apron strings.
The girls took their first set of swim lessons this summer. We hadn't intended on waiting so long to get them swimming. Sadly, even though Bill and I grew up used to the water, the girls hadn't had much experience at all. I had to avoid swim lessons up until now because they always required a parent in the water and I couldn't leave Josie as a baby, nor could I hold both. This is the first year they could get in the water by themselves with their instructors.
I'd like to say that it went really well, but in fact it was a disaster. First, they were incorrectly placed in the wrong level of lessons (with 6-8 year olds), then once they were in a class with their own age group, they refused to put their heads under water. At all. Screaming ensued if either one got water in her eyes or up her nose. Finally, after two weeks of promising ice cream if they would just go under water, both girls complied and did it. Maddie on the last two days of class. Josie only on the last day of class. You should have seen Bill and I cheering (he came to the last day of class.) You'd have thought they'd won a gold medal or something. It did wake us up to the fact that we need to expose them to water much more than we have. (And additional swim lessons next summer.)
Bill and I had the chance to see a couple of great shows recently. Eddie Izzard and Jon Stewart were hilarious. I laughed so hard at each show that I literally cried. Two very different, but very funny comedians with unique insight on what's going on the world today. Then, a few weeks ago we saw Glen Phillips live. For those of you that aren't familiar, he was the lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket back in the day. It was a great night at Park Tavern with cool drinks and live music. We're looking forward to our next one in a couple of weeks: Jack Johnson at Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater. I can't wait!
Most recently, Bill got the chance to attend Comic Con in San Diego this year. It's been a dream of his to go to this. As thanks for all the hard work he's been doing lately, Turner sent him there, all expenses paid, to "work" the event. He's already posted most of the pics on Flickr, but if you have any questions about them, be sure to ask him. He has some pretty wild stories to tell (not to mention some spoilers for upcoming shows like Lost, Pushing Daisies, etc.) Between this and the SAG Awards in February, he's practically quadrupled the number of celebrities he's met in his lifetime so far. He returned with lots to tell, and a few souvenirs for the girls:
This led to nearly a week of pretending to be superheroes.
While he was gone for the week, the girls and I headed to my mom's to hang out and relax. The girls loved it. They spent most of their days running around and playing outside, or feeding the animals, or playing with the pet pig, or picking fruits and veggies from the garden, or fishing, or anything else you can imagine a couple of city kids doing out in the country. Needless to say, there were never any bedtime struggles at the end of each day. Both were asleep before their heads even hit the pillows.
Last, but not least, I have to mention the new little gadgets Bill and I got in which we are now completely in love. We both got iPhone 3Gs. (Yes, we waited in line on the morning of July 11th with all the other hundreds of people doing the same thing.) I'd heard all the hubbub about the iPhone when it first came out last year and thought it looked nice, but didn't think much more of it. That was, until I actually got to play around with one. So when Bill mentioned getting the new version when it came out last month, I was all in for it. You have to realize that Bill and I were practically the last people on the earth to get cell phones until about 3 years ago. Since then, I've had the most basic model you can get through our plan. But now! Well, now I've got every gadget and doodad at my fingertips!
It sounds like an exaggeration, but it has made things a little easier. I know have access to a GPS, camera, internet, email, iPod and iTunes, text messaging, weather updates, complete contact information, our shared Google calendar, and more. Not to mention all the cool little applications you can add. Ask me about the little button I push that tells me exactly what movies are playing at what time at the theater closest to where I am at any given moment. Or the one I push that searches for nearby restaurants within a specified cuisine or price range, and then gives me directions to get there. Cool, huh? It's also one of the reasons you've seen more recent pics updated to Flickr. I can now take them and upload them to Flickr immediately.
Okay, now we've shared with everyone how our summer has been... it's now your turn!
