Two Tea Blossoms: Summer

I have really been enjoying my summer. It is so nice not to have to follow a schedule. Some will think I’m a bad mom but I hope most will admit that they too can be lax at times when it comes to bedtimes etc……. We have been allowing the girls to stay up any time between uhmmm, 10:00 – 10:30 BUT they do sleep until 9:00 and Gracie will even sleep as late as 10:00. I know this is not ideal but Gracie enjoys being outside and playing with her buddy Logan (our neighbor) so much and I find it hard to make her come in and go to bed at a decent time. Isn’t that what summers are all about though? I remember my summers. My sisters and cousins and I would ride bikes all day and play in the woods on our family property. We would swim in our underwear in my grandparents pond, yes, I said pond. That’s where I learned to swim, no pools for us!!! When Mama would finally drag us in I can remember lying in my bed exhausted but feeling Oh so good. I didn’t have a care in the world and all I would think about was what kind of little fort would we build next to the creek that ran behind our house. I think extra curricular activities are fine for children but I also think it’s equally as important if not even more important for children to just play. I had an active imagination and Gracie has an incredible imagination. She and Logan will play for hours outside with just a notebook and pencil in hand playing spy, or Survivor Girl and Boy and I can’t tell you the number of treasure maps I’ve made for them.

I’m looking forward to the day when Laurie Alice can join them. Although, she does enjoy going out and being pushed on her tricycle or blowing bubbles. She still hasn’t gotten used to the nats. They pretty much drive her crazy and she swats at her face so much that she becomes miserable and we have to go in. Lately her favorite thing to do is jump. She has figured out in the past couple weeks how to jump and she is soooooo pleased with herself. Her little feet just barely (I do mean barely) come off of the floor but you would think by the smile on her face that she was jumping several inches off the floor. I’ve video taped her jumping but I’m going to try and video tape her with my camera and then attempt to load a video to this blog. So keep checking back and keep your finger crossed I can do it.

The girls have a Dr’s. apt. tomorrow. Gracie’s 6 year check up and Laurie Alice will receive another round of shots (yuck). Our insurance finally got straightened out and they have added Laurie Alice to the plan so we had to take her last week for blood work. I had to hold her down while three nurses worked on her. She did cry a good bit. The poor nurses didn’t know that she is terrified of stuffed animals so they couldn’t understand why when presented with a cute cuddly teddy bear she became hysterical. It was only after she got a Popsicle did she finally settle down. She’s so cute, she will point to the place on her arm where they drew blood and frown and jabber to us about what I assume must be her thoughts and feelings about the whole episode.

I still feel continually blessed by my girls and will continue to enjoy the rest of our summer break together. I’m posting some random pictures of the girls. Oh, Gracie can now jump off the diving board and pretty much swims on her own in the deep end of the pool. I still like for an adult to be in the pool with her incase she gets tired.