Here we are in September and I feel like summer has flown by. I’m not sure if it’s because Covid restrictions eased up and we were able to do more things or that the school year last year felt like a miserable marathon and time started flying when we started having fun. Hopefully, we wont go back to the restrictions we had last year because if I’d rather swim in shark infested water, than homeschool again. I’m pretty sure the kids feel the same way.

The girls were old enough this year for me to put them in summer camps and I let them pick what they wanted. Emi picked dance camp so they did that first. At the end of it they put on a little recital that was really cute but I think they enjoyed the costumes and face glitter more than the dancing. Emi really likes ballet shoes and wants to wear them as part of her regular wardrobe, because she thinks they are fancy. They are the next best thing to high heels in her mind. They both have become very fashion focused recently, particularly Emi, and she has strong ideas of what she likes. Unfortunately, many of her ideas are not quite age appropriate. she likes V necks, spaghetti straps, tube tops and crop tops. i told her she has to wait until she’s 20 to wear tube tops or show her belly button. I know that’s ridiculous but so is 6. She also would really like a bra – not happening. Taya likes those things too, but is more focused on hoop earrings, high heel shoes and fancy jackets. I have no idea where all this is coming from because I’m not walking around like some supermodel on the runway. My daily uniform is a tshirt and shorts, flip flops and a baseball hat.

Taya, Emi

Taya chose art camp, so that was next. They are both very creative and are constantly drawing with sidewalk chalk outside or markers inside. Oddly enough they don’t like coloring in coloring books. They prefer to draw and color their own stuff. The art camp even took pictures and displayed a couple of their projects on their website. They did different techniques each day, like paper-mache, layered painting, and clay molding. It was a big hit.

They also did skate camp. I just signed them up for it because we are at skateparks a lot with my son and I wanted them to learn the rules of dropping in and watching out for people. i also hoped it would give them a little confidence. I was very surprised that this became a hit. They liked it so much that they asked me to sign them up again. The camp did different activities and games and I think they preferred them to the actual scooter part of camp. I didn’t really notice an improvement in scooter skills but they are pretty ruthless in dodgeball.

Emi, Taya

They did swim lessons for 2 weeks this summer and are little fish. we went to the public pool quite a bit and they were able to pass the swim test and can now go off the diving board and be in the deep end without a life vest or parent. I’m thinking of signing them up for the little local swim team next summer. I’m not sure how much Emi will like it though because she’s so competitive. Tas races bmx and the girls love to ride the track, but Emi told me she doesn’t want to do a race because if she doesn’t win she’ll “get really mad and never ride my bike again, and I love to ride my bike”. I’m trying to teach her about trying and that practice and hard-work will help you achieve goals, but she’s not feeling that. 😂 She also told me that she is “not a fan of being sweaty” but that shouldn’t be a problem in the pool. Taya is more willing to try things and said she wants to try a race. She also said she wants me to sign her up for lacrosse in the spring.

Taya

Emi

We have season passes to the local amusement park and water park. We went several times this summer. The girls are tall enough to do all the rides at the water park and all but 3 of the roller coasters at Busch Gardens. The water park is their favorite and they love the big slides. The faster the better. They really like roller coasters too. Because they’re giants, they can do the adult coasters and I let them do the tamer ones. Taya is more of a thrill seeker and will do them back to back. Emi doesn’t like tunnels and has her limits. We took them there on the last day of summer vacation and let them get their faces painted. Of course they picked cats, and all day long they kept looking in my sunglasses to stare at themselves. They wanted to ride this big ship that swings back and forth really high. I really tried to talk them out of it. Partly because they had done it last year with Tim and were scared, but also because I hate this ride. It makes me sick. They insisted so we did it. 15 seconds after it started, Emi realized that she had made a mistake and was still scared. She started crying and then realized that her tears were ruining her cat makeup, which made her cry harder. I was trying to look straight ahead and concentrating on not vomiting all over, but she kept turning my head to look in my glasses at her face. It was the longest two minutes of my life. We finished the day by having ice cream for dinner.

School started this week. The girls were pretty excited but i think that had more to do with riding the bus and wearing new clothes. I’m pretty sure the excitement will fade when they’ve worn all the new clothes. They seem to enjoy it but won’t talk about it much. After the first day of school I was asking Emi questions and she said she was too tired to talk about it and didn’t know what I wanted her to say. Taya told me that I didn’t pack her the right lunch. That’s about all the feedback I’ve gotten. They are in separate classes, so when they get home they just want to play with each other and can’t be bothered with questions. I love the bond they have with each other, but I think this year is going to really help them grow as individuals.

I hope you are all doing well. I’ll update again in January.