Volleyball Camp

We didn't waste any time getting right to work on our Summer To-Do List. Emmy's last day of school and Zander's 5th Grade Graduation was on Friday, June 7th, and it was also Boomer's first Friday off work. On that day, we packed in not one, but TWO of our to-do list items. First we had lunch at Piedmont Aviation Snack Bar. I had wanted to go to this restaurant in Winston for a while, but with somewhat odd hours, we had not been able to go sooner. It is a popular lunch spot and quite literally a hidden gem - we had trouble finding it at first! It is located in an industrial building, and we finally spotted it by the line of people waiting out the door. Although it is located close to the local airport and the name would suggest sightings of airplanes, we did not see any airplanes. In fact the restaurant doesn't have any windows at all! But the food was delicious. Later that evening, we went to the American Legion Pro Rodeo in King. I can not recall having gone to a rodeo in the past, and it was the kids' first time. We arrived about an hour before it started. After grabbing seats, we went in shifts to check out the vendors and get some food. It began at 7:30PM, which would usually be considered late for our crew. But with the longer summer days, everyone was in pleasant spirits until we left around 9:30PM. There was bronco riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and bull riding. We were all impressed by the skills of the cowboys and cowgirls. The rest of the weekend included a movie night on Saturday, followed by church on Sunday. 

During this first official week of summer, Emmy had volleyball camp at one of the local high schools. It was our first attempt at any sort of 'summer camp,' and I signed her up after hearing about it from one of my other mom friends. I didn't quite know how Emmy would feel about it. However, I did not anticipate that she would be sad because she had already 'missed out' on the days Eli and I had together already. Luckily we assured her that she would not be missing any fun while she was at camp from 9AM - 12PM. The mornings would usually start around 7AM with breakfast and some practice from their workbooks. Then Eli and I would drop Emmy off at the camp. After some rest time in the afternoon, twice we went to the pool in the afternoon around 4PM, and one day we skipped rest time all together and went to the pool earlier. We are continuing to work on swimming with both kids, especially Emmy who is striving for the yellow band. After the camp on the first day and again after the last day, we got some special treats. On Monday, we went to a nearby bakery called Cupcake Cuties. Eli got the strawberry banana sherbet; Emmy got cupcake ice cream, and Mommy got a bourbon caramel latte with a slice of blueberry cheesecake. We definitely want to take Daddy back to this place. Yum! On Thursday, we got pretzels downtown and walked over to the fish pond. Emmy said that she learned some new skills this week and may be open to more volleyball in the future. She seems to still have a preference for basketball, baseball, and gymnastics. We'll see!

On other bit of news, my official diploma came in the mail this week! It was exciting to see the package arrive on our doorstep. Pardon the make-up free, messy bun look - this is generally how I look at the end of a summer day wrangling two kids! We fit a lot into Week 1, and I am already looking forward to Week 2.