Hilton Head Island 2020

We had a wonderful week at Hilton Head this summer and it was much needed! It was so nice to feel "normal" again and to spend time together as well as with Grandmommy and Grandaddy. Your highlights of the week were: boogie boarding, bike riding, and as you told us more than once: SHOPPING. You got a new hat, float, gum and a sign for Georgia's dog house and would have bought everything else you saw if we would have let you. Ha! We will cherish the memories of this week with you forever!

Summer Swim Team 2020

Madison- I am so proud to write to you that you placed in the top 20 of you age group in the (virtual) city swim meet last week in freestyle stroke. While I'm proud of this achievement, what I'm most proud of is your perseverance this summer. It was only towards the end of last summer that you really became a confident and comfortable swimmer, so you were very nervous starting off this year. You were ready to quit when you were quickly moved up to an older group (away from your friends) once they saw your potential, but you kept going. Each day, even when it was extremely hard, you worked and practiced and listened and never gave up! You worked hard and earned the "water bottle being dumped on your head award" in dry land conditioning multiple times. You came to the pool for "fun" later in the day and worked on dives and flip turns, etc. You put your mind to it and were successful. I'm so proud of how far you came this summer and how strong your will is. You amaze me and I love you so much!

This is how we quarantine:

Well this is certainly a strange time. We've been stuck inside our house/neighborhood for 3 weeks now. Some days are great; some days are awful, but we certainly are building lots of memories together!  Below are some pictures of the first part of our social distancing time together. Here are some things I don't want to forget about you right now:
1. Doing art work with you in the driveway. You are a perfectionist and nearly drove me crazy in the process, but the final product was beautiful and I love your dedication!
2. You riding your bike like a champ!
3. You've made such good friends in the neighborhood and it's hard to stay away from them right now. Your favorite thing to do right now is to get all dolled up (cute clothes, hair done and lip gloss on) and go out to ride your bike in hopes that you'll see someone to ride with (we allow bike riding since you can stay 6 feet apart). It's cute to see you develop these social relationships and begin to care about appearance and what other people think. You still have a healthy balance of what's really important though and I pray you alway will. It's such a joy to watch you learn and grow!!

Finally a bike rider!!!

You have not shown much interest in your bike over the last couple of years. You wanted a big girl bike for Christmas one year, but then didn't really want much to do with it. You certainly didn't want training wheels off until you saw some neighbor kids who were younger than you riding without them. We took them off at your request and you tried once or twice for a little while, but the bike just sat in the garage. We were convinced that this just wouldn't be your thing, but the other day you said you wanted to try and asked me if I could move your bell from your old balance bike to your new big kid bike. I told you that if you learned to ride without training wheels I would either move that bell or buy you a brand new awesome one. You got excited and tried the most you've tried in a while, but still didn't get it and gave up pretty quickly. However, the next day (2/3/2020) you asked to go ride after dinner and we all played around for a bit and then I went in to give Andrew a bath and you stayed out with Daddy. After Andrew had his bath and was in pajamas we came downstairs (it was already dark) and you two weren't back in. We walked out to see what was going on and I witnessed you riding your bike down the street completely on your own. I was so shocked and so so proud of you. Daddy had a bunch of videos and you'd done it several times. For some reason, it just clicked and I'm so happy that you kept trying! You make me so happy and proud!