Sports Camp

We have had a fun, busy couple of weeks. Emma was in sports camp this week (mostly soccer) and she absolutely loved it. It was so much fun to see her running around, pink cheecked and actually developing some skill (very little, but something). 4 hours a day outside and moving- she was in heavan. They did a soccer game for the parents yesterday and it was pretty funny. They started the 4 year olds out with 3 v 3 with no goalie. That worked ok for about 10 minutes then they all started getting distracted. Eventually they ended up playing a game where every player had a ball and it was just chaos to see who could get it in the net. Pretty cute. She was very proud to get her award at the end of the week.

Mike and I (well, mostly Mike) have been busy landscaping the back yard. We took out some trees and are putting in a stone patio and laying some grass too. It's been a much bigger project than we anticipated due to all the tree roots that needed to be removed underneath, but it's getting there. In between all this work, we had a great date the other day on the Mississipi Queen paddle boat through Minneapolis and through the locks on the Mississipi River. It was cool to see such a different view of our beautiful city. We also crusied right by the River Rats waterski show so we had a chance to watch that too. Mike and I will try this next time up at the cabin.

HOME

We are home from a great trip out east to the CT beach and Maine to visit Mike's family. Despite the nonstop rain they had for most of June, we had some great beach days spent with family. It was great to watch the girls play with their cousins, Abby met some of them for the first time, and Emma has been a little sad with missing her cousins (especially Maya) since we came home. Grandma Nona threw her annual beach party complete with the bouncer, tattoos, pinatas, Italian style bocce ball, and enough food to feed an army. There were 22 kids lined up to take a swing at the pinata- Abby had the first swing this year, being the youngest. Emma and Abby bounced in the jumper from sun up to sun down until they could barely stand anymore. We traveled up to Maine and went to our old favorite beach, Fort Foster, where the girls did not let the drizzle rain keep them from swimming in the low tide (nevermind that they were in their clothes!) We ate lots of lobster, fried clams, clam fritters, all the yummy seafood we could stand. Emma and her uncle Thomas spent hours constructing sand castle villages, collecting crabs and sea creatures with her cousins and making "habitats", and Abby kissed a crab. The girls did great and had a blast. Abby came home with strep throat unfortunatley, so the plane ride back was a little tough, poor thing. I guess it is the price we have to pay for all that fun!