Summer Highlights

The girls are now both in school, and so the summer is officially over!  It was a lovely summer.  In some ways short, the way that summer always is;  in other ways endless, in that the days were full of "Mommy School Camp."  "Mommy School Camp" is what Eliana titled the long expanse of days where there was no school and no camp, other than what Mommy devised.  Each day was exhausting, but also precious.  And each evening left me just enough fumes of energy to get my adoption work done.  I loved so much time with the girls, especially in anticipation of Eliana starting kindergarten.  But, now that the girls are both at school, and the house is quiet, I am grateful. (Inhale, Exhale. Ahhh.)  Since this blog has been quiet since June, I'll provide some of the highlights of our summer!


We visited Abington Art Center's sculpture park for a girls' hike.  For some reason it was completely empty while we were there, and we did not see another person on the trail.  Leah was freaked out by the isolated woods, bugs, and spider webs.  She kept asking for her Daddy.  Eliana loved everything about the hiking trail and sculptures, and insisted on being the leader.  Things took a turn for the worse when we happened upon a wild boar in the woods.  Eliana made a friend, but it sealed the deal that Leah would not relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Peter started his vacation time in July, and we were off to Ocean City, New Jersey for our first summer vacation a a family of four!  We rented a little house from Pete's coworker, and had a wonderful week.  The kids loved that we could spend time at the beach every day!  We also spent a lot of time on the boardwalk eating fries, cotton candy, ice cream, and pizza.  We went on rides and played arcade games.  Everyone was thrilled when Aunt Jessie and Sara came for an overnight visit, and again when Tia, Lauren and Isabel joined us for a day!  It was a very successful and memorable family vacation.

The day after vacation we came home to a visit from the beloved Aunt Jenise.  It was a short visit, but we packed a lot in.  She brought the girls dolls with matching dresses, which they loved! We took a trip to Happy Tymes, where Eliana made her first attempt at rock climbing.  She did not master it at this visit, but was determined to go back the following week, when she made it to the top!  Leah won some fake teeth and became a scary vampire girl.  The next day we took a girls trip to the Please Touch Museum, while Pete was at work.  It was our first trip to the PTM, and we were impressed by how much there was to explore.  We stayed until the closing time parade when they marched us out, and still did not see everything!!! As always, the girls have much love for their Aunt Jenise, and Eliana has made it clear that she's ready for a road trip to Rochester!

As we approached September, Eliana wanted a back-to-school haircut.  Leah pointed out that she had never had a haircut, so we scheduled them both with Mr. Pasha (who cuts Mommy's hair). They were thrilled to go to such a fancy salon (especially Eliana).  Mr. Pasha assured us that he had Professional Curl Training at the DevaCurl Academy!  The girls looked fabulous!!

 

Over the course of the summer it was fascinating to watch the girls changing and growing right before my eyes.  Eliana became more mature, more self assured, and better able to articulate her feelings.  Leah grew like a weed, became more independent, and started a real transition from "baby" to "kid."  The summer is over, the girls are in school (more on that later), and a new chapter begins!