Saturday, July 21, 2012

Swim Show 2012

Both synchronized swim teams put on a fantastic performance at Ms. Betsie and Ms. Megan's 2012 swim show!  This was our girls' first year as part of the synchronized team and we couldn't be prouder of all of their hard work.  Here are pictures from the big night.  Also, you can view their entire performance at Swim Show 2012  Watch at the end of the video - Emily is the one who gets tossed up into the air for the finale.   Keep in mind that she only joined this team about three weeks ago.  Up until that time, she had been swimming with the younger synchro swimmers.  I think she did an incredible job of keeping up with all of the older girls.  Ms. Betsie and Ms. Megan do an amazing job teaching the swimmers each year and I'm so proud of all that our girls have learned with them!  Hope you enjoy the show as much as we did!

Ready to head out to Ms. Betsie and Ms. Megan's house!

Pre-show pedicure for all of the synchro swimmers

Abby's waiting her turn for a pedi

Posing with Ms. Megan


Here they go!  Emily's pretty easy to spot - the shortest one!



So proud of their medals and trophies!






Getting a hug from Ms. Betsie before heading home for cake!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Synchronized Swimmers

Emily and Abby have worked hard all summer with their synchronized swim team and it's almost time for the swim show. We're so excited to see their routine because we haven't been allowed to sit in on their lessons this season. The swim show will be a big surprise for all of us! Emily started out with a younger group but (proud mama alert) got bumped up to the older group, so we're excited to get to see both Abby and Emily perform together.  Tonight they had a special session with a videographer who will produce a DVD for all of the parents - can't wait to see it and the cool underwater pictures they took! In the meantime, I'm posting a few group pictures that the instructor shared with us. How cute are these girls?!



Guess which one belongs to us?  That's right - the daredevil flipping through the air!



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Another tooth bites the dust!

Emily's been wiggling her second loose tooth for a couple of weeks now and it suddenly came out while she brushed the other night.  Lucky girl - the tooth fairy brought her a two dollar bill this time.  Hope all of her teeth come out as easily as the first two!

Storytime at the Library

I was invited to host a summer storytime at the PTC public library and ended up dragging Donald, the Mad Scientist, and Emily, the Mad Apprentice, along with me for the ride.  We had a great time presenting stories and science activities to a group of around 30 students.  I was thrilled to see that at least a third of the guests were students from my school, some who had even already gone up to middle school.  One boy that I didn't recognize told Donald that he came on purpose to see him because Donald apparently visited his school last year to do the Mad Scientist show.  Famous!  Donald and Emily also ran into some paparazzi the next day at the gas station.  A Dad came over and asked if they would come and speak to his kids because they had seen the storytime the day before and were so excited to run into them in public.  Hooray for summer reading - and science!





Trip to Serenbe

We've done loads of fun stuff this summer, so we decided to only take a short vacation this year.  We spent the night at Serenbe and had a great time swimming, feeding the animals, and exploring the grounds.  We had a great Mexican dinner at the Blue Eyed Daisy (recent winner of Cupcake Wars!) and Emily learned to do a backflip into the family pool.  She also got a big treat the next morning after breakfast - Mr. Dan let her bottle feed the new calf!  So much fun and then only a very short ride back home.
Emily's so tidy - look how she arranged all of her things when she unpacked in her room!

Beautiful girl!

I love the funny face goats best of all.  Such crazy eyes!

That's a fake tattoo, by the way.

Got something for us?




Summer fun on a super hot day

We had a bit of a heat wave there for a couple of days and I just couldn't stand the thought of doing anything outside with the girls.  We holed up inside watching reruns of Say Yes to the Dress and reading, reading, reading.  On one particularly steamy day, I came up with the idea of tie dying, which Emily has wanted to try.  I found  new way to do it with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol which doesn't create any mess.  The shirts turned out great, although the smell of alcohol nearly turned all of our stomachs!



We also decided to try frying an egg on the sidewalk after we discovered that walking on the driveway without shoes was pretty painful.  We waited a bit late in the day for maximum effect so we didn't get the egg to fry the way we wanted.  However, we left it ouside overnight and someone decided that it was a tasty treat!  So we helped nature a bit, at any rate.  Stay cool!


World of Coke

Donald and I took the girls to the World of Coke this summer.  They had never visited there before and we had a great time checking out all the new attractions they've added.  I remember going to visit the old location when I was younger and they've really made lots of improvements.  They really enjoyed the 4D theater (except for the part where the dragonfly stung us all in the back!) and had a great time tasting different Coke products from around the world - except for the Beverly, which is just disgusting for those of you who've never tried it (see Emily's face below for more details).  We nearly didn't get to do this, as water service to the museum and other parts of Atlanta was out when we first arrived.  Thankfully, it was restored before we left because the main thing the girls wanted to do was taste all the Coke!

The girls loved him but I think he's just creepy.


Visiting the new vault where the Coke recipe is (reportedly) stored

Old fashioned soda fountain



Beverley!  She had to drink cups of regular Coke just to get the taste out of her mouth!

Happy Father's Day!

I have been blessed with a wonderful father and now have an incredible father for my daughter, so this day is truly one to celebrate.  Our families met up at the White House to celebrate after church and had a fantastic lunch that Donald cooked himself.  Before you start thinking what a terrible wife I am, he chose to do it!  We had a special treat at church because Emily contributed the special music!  She and Mimi cooked up this plan and she did a tremendous job.  I hope you enjoyed spending the day celebrating the men in your life!
Very serious - about to perform!

Serving as acolyte with Abby - this, also, is serious business.

Look at that crazy hair!  Driving with the windows down is one of summertime's greatest hits.

Happy Father's Day!


Lessons in marinating

Teaching Aunt Liz how to use her circuitry kit - she likes to get the lightbulb to light up using different items from around the house.

John and Ringo were hoping for a steak but ended up with kibble.

Check out my fancy hairdo!  We played a little beauty shop after lunch.