Last Sunday we attended a luncheon to celebrate the marriage of one of my cousins to her fiancé. It was a beautiful day, it was wonderful to see lots of family members that we don’t often see or haven’t seen in many years, and there were bubbles galore so Sarah was in heaven. Amy made use of the drawing pads and crayons, while Carl and I observed all of the much younger kids and wondered how we came to have the big kids!
Before heading home, we went to the site of the Battle of Bull Run. It was a hot day and Sarah was initially not wanting to get out of the car, so Carl offered to give her a piggy back ride. That offer resulted in short rides for each kid. I always find it hard to reconcile knowing that an area saw a terrible battle with the beautiful, calm, sunny day we observed. After a few minutes we were on our way since we had many hours to drive and the girls had school the next day. We made another stop at our favorite Virginia Farm Market that we had stopped at the day before. This time the girls were even more into playing on the wooden train and in the sand than they were the previous day. It was hard to make them get back in the car since it is increasingly rare for them to play together. We also got more cider donuts, of course! And blueberries, strawberries, corn, and tomatoes.
Monday was momentous. Sarah swam a lap in the big pool were she takes lessons. I don’t know if it is Olympic in size, but it is a normal big pool. She swam a lap with her teacher beside her holding a pool noodle in case she got tired. Sarah’s swimming isn’t quite standard form because it is hard for her to get her body horizontal and her legs tend to look like she is running through the water. But still! She moved safely from one end of the pool to the other and back again with no help. That is huge.
Our new chair-and-a-half was delivered on Tuesday and our cat approves, in that the sleeps on it, but she doesn’t claw it (knock on wood) and that was the point. We also wanted a smaller piece of furniture where our previous couch had been so that Carl can have an area in which to play his guitar. Luckily, the junk removal people that I called to take away our old couch never called back. To make room for the new item, Carl and I put the old couch on the porch. Now we have a porch couch and we love it!!
Amy and her friends attended their school’s Sneaker Ball on Friday, getting dressed in fancy clothes and sneakers. Amy looked gorgeous in a blue dress with the sparkly black mesh overlay dress she got at the fairy festival. She said they didn’t actually dance much, but there was lots of food and it was fun to hang out with her friends. Towards the end of the evening they moved to the hall where it was quieter because the main space was quite loud. She slept well that night.
In preparation for the Ball, Amy wanted to take a shower. She explained to me later that she now knows how to do so without Sarah getting upset. She recently drew a musical note on the mirror in the condensation because she always draws something on that fresh surface. Sarah sometimes barges in and tries to erase what Amy has drawn, but seeing the musical note gave her pause and she left it all there. Now Sarah knows Amy may draw something she likes, so she doesn’t barge in to erase and even was patient while Amy was in the shower. I heard Sarah singing “All Shook Up” to pass the time. Amy and I discussed the possibility of using this new dynamic to her advantage and providing a pencil and paper in the bathroom so anytime Amy goes in she could draw a picture for Sarah. If Sarah knows a picture might be coming, maybe she will wait easily. Of course, so far there hasn't been a moment of screamy impatience.
Sarah is in the home stretch for her school year, with only one full-length school day left. Tuesday is a half-day because the boys’ baseball team made it to the championships and they want the whole school to be able to attend. Wednesday is a full day, and then Thursday and Friday are half days. I don’t remember ever having a half-length school day in my life. If you are reading this and went to school with me or are my parent and remember otherwise, please update my memory!
Yesterday we had a beach day and Amy and Carl braved water that I deemed icy. Sarah put her feet in but mainly stayed in the sand. It was a bit windy and at one point our cabana collapsed around a seated Carl, so all you could see was his upright form draped in blue. It was hilarious. Meanwhile, Amy lovingly hones her skill at roasting Carl for being an old boring potato. To prepare for our upcoming college reunion, Carl and I have been looking through old pictures. He said it was weird that our older selves can look back at pictures of our younger selves but our younger selves never get to see pictures of our older selves. Amy said something like, “if you could see your older self, that self would be in the compost.”
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