It is a little QUIET here without all the girls!

Counting down the hours until I pick up L. tomorrow. Have to get up at 5 am to drive 3 hours up hill but so looking forward to getting my arms around her!! I have missed her terribly, even though I did see her on her birthday, July 18th. She has written 25 letters to me, and hopefully I have written that many to her too, probably more if you count the emails. It was nice to have a mini vacation with no children for 5 days but that is long enough! I absolutely LOVE to collect them from camp. They almost bubble over with excitement and stories of the time away. L. and I will be in the car together for 7 hours tomorrow and she will probably talk for at least 5 of them. I welcome each and every uttering and just enjoy listening to the sound of her voice, the rise and fall of her of her melodious voice. It was the same when I picked up M. She chattered for about an hour then fell asleep from exhaustion. K. calls every couple of days so she keeps me up on her life. I drove 3 hours roundtrip on Monday just to spend 30 minutes with K. in between her classes. We got a hug and lots of scoop on her life at camp and just enjoyed being close to her. We got her a tank full of gas and a snack and then had to send her on her way. It is hard to be away from them for so long. I don't know how I will manage when K. goes to college next year! I will miss her desperately!!! She still has 3 more weeks at camp so I will continue to write and email and try to stay connected to my babies. When school starts and the stress of 2 in high school, college applications, SATs and ACTs, etc... hits us, I will need to remember how much I missed them and how much I want them around. Just a matter of perspective.

Back to reality!

After a nice, quiet week in which I did not cook ONCE! I am back to reality. Picked up M. on Saturday and she had a terrific time at camp and lost another tooth! The tooth fairy visited camp and left her $2 (an increase over the fairy who comes to our house, thanks big sis). She chattered the whole way home about her fun week. She managed to only write me once but did send L. 2 letters at her camp. Oh well, K. has not yet written and she has been there 3 weeks so far. On Sunday we got up early to drive to see L. at camp since it was her 14th birthday. It was a 3.5 hour drive up hill. We got there at noon and she was thrilled to see us and we were thrilled to see her. We took her and a cabin mate to lunch in Hendersonville. Went to a local restaurant that had outdoor seating as it was a beautiful day. Just as lunch was finishing up, the bottom dropped out and it rained buckets for about 45 minute. We just stood under awnings and watched. H. finally ran for the car and we piled in and started looking for birthday dessert. L. wanted ice cream, preferably Marble Slab. Luckily there was one close by. After everyone got their mash up we headed to the Wrinkled Egg for a little browsing. By 3:00 L. was itching to get back to camp and she had a little teenage melt down (ranting and yelling ) so we too, were ready to get her back to camp- ASAP! By the time we actually left camp to drive 3.5 hours home, she was remorseful and her sweet self again. I knew it was too good to be true to hope that all that teen angst would have worked itself out while at camp. Well at least we still have 10 days to enjoy the tranquility at our house! Oh yeah, HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY L. WE LOVE YOU!!

P.S. L. did send each of her parents a nice letter apologizing for her behavior and again thanking us for sending her to camp.

M. goes to camp-they are all gone!

Sunday morning we took our youngest to camp for the first time! She was so excited- a little nervous too, but overall brimming with enthusiasm. We arrived right on time and went to her cabin where, as luck would have it, her big sister was her counselor (along with 3 others). M. was thrilled and we were so proud of K. as she greeted all the parents and looked so grown up. It was a touching moment for me as a parent to see my oldest as a grown young lady. After I made the lower bunk and got M.'s bunk all settled we went to the gym to turn in the health form. Well M. could hardly stand being away from her cabin and meeting new friends. She was dying to get back so after about 15 minutes we went back and she ran on in front of us to get to her cabin. We found her inside playing UNO with a new friend. She is definitely ready to go to camp and I so hope she has a fabulous week!! Of course, I am so thankful that my oldest will be looking out for her and is right there should M. need her. And, she calls me every night to tell me how the day went!

So now the "staycation" begins! We went to a Tour De France party with French wines and cheeses after the camp drop off. It was a lot of fun as we sampled wine and cheeses from the different regions of France that corresponded to the stages of the race. Then last night, after I spent my first free day cleaning out M.'s room, we went to The Melting Pot for a fondue dinner! Tonight is movie night! So we are enjoying the time off from parenting and the time together!

CITY MEET- We are the champions!

Well the swim team season is officially over and we are the city champs!!! Yahoo!! It was a close one this year but we won and raised an astounding 62K for cancer that was dedicated to our coach's wife who died of cancer last December. Our theme for the parade was "turn it pink" and that we did! Fun season and M. finished #10 in the free medley with her team, #11 in 8 and under butterfly, #54 in backstroke, and #62 in freestyle. (those results were for the whole city with about 135 girls in her age group) She had fun and improved and we had fun watching her so it was a good and short season! It is off to camp next!

Two down and one to go. . . .

My baby turned 17 yesterday and left for camp for 5 weeks as a junior counselor. It is nice and quiet here with only one. I miss spending her birthday with her but she did squeeze us in for lunch the day before she left. I have heard from her twice already and have a list of what she forgot so we can bring it up to her on Sunday when we bring our youngest to camp. She may be gone but we will see her plenty because camp is close and she will want me to do her laundry. So beginning on Sunday afternoon I will be footloose and fancy free- for 5 days. My husband is calling it a "staycation" as we vacation at our home. I am looking forward to NOT COOKING at all. I am planning on trying out new restaurants in town, exercising, going to the pool just to read my book and doing yoga at least 3 times. It is shaping up to be a good week! Will keep you posted.

P.S. I am still writing to my camper everyday and trying to email everyday, so with 3 gone it takes up a lot of time on the correspondence alone!

July 4, 2010

Enjoyed a great day in the mountains with low humidity, family, sunshine, slip-n-slides, beebee guns, dogs, cookout and FIREWORKS, of course. Just missing daughter number 2 who is away at camp. It has been one week and yes, I was glad she was going but now I miss her and want her back! The holiday was good but there was a small hole in my heart without all my girls!! I know she is having fun but hopefully she misses me a little bit too! Daughter number 1 leaves in 2 days. Daughter number 3 leaves in 6 days. Husband number 1 is counting down the days until we have 5 days with no girls. Well see if it lives up to his expectations.

Another swim meet

Our second swim meet of the season was a hot one! We missed 2 while on our trip so the swim team season has been a short one for us. The day was HOT!! The meet did not start until 5:30 but it was smoking hot until around 8:30. M. surprised us all by going off the block for her freestyle race. Her coach asked her how confidant she was about going off and she said "very"! Well it worked for her, she took off 4 seconds and was the first in her heat to finish. She also improved in backstroke by .6 and got a 9 th place finish ribbon. Not so good on butterfly though. Relay went fine but that one is dependent on your other 3 swimmers. Overall a great meet but a really hot one. Next one on Monday! Go Blue Dolphins! City Meet next week too!