Earlier this summer, at the West Portal Street Fair, teachers from a circus school set up shop and offered locals the opportunity to do some tightrope walking. And look who got adventurous!
(Interesting back story: Zoe, the more cautious of our two, refused to do it first. It was only after her sister walked across that Zoe decided to give it a try.)
-M
Some more pics that hadn’t yet made it on the blog…
-M
Today is Avery’s last day of camp and, hence, her last day at the JCC. While she’s ready to move on, I’m having a tougher time – it’s hard to say good-bye to a place that’s been like a second home to my girls for the past five years and has yielded life-long friends for us. As everyone reminds me, we’ll be just across the fence (in a very literal sense: the kindergarten classroom is less than 20 feet away from the preschool playground below) so we’ll still see the teachers and our old friends. But it’s not the same – we’ll no longer have preschool-aged children – and so today marks the end of an important chapter in our family life.
As the girls like to say to me when I get sentimental, “It’s okay, Mama.” And it really is. Onward…
-M
Avery still thinks “This little piggy” is hysterical, and she bust out laughing as I recited the lines and played with her toes before bed the other night. Shortly thereafter Zoe called me into her room: She was sitting there reading, looking like a mini-teen with her long legs spread out, and she lifted up and pointed her foot towards me when I walked in. “Will you do that to me?” she asked simply. I love that she may look (and sometimes seem) older – but she’s still very much a little girl.
-M
The girls’ camps/schools are connected, and my normal routine is to pick up Zoe and walk across the playground to get Avery. When I headed over yesterday I had to smile: Avery and a little friend were standing at the fence, just waiting to greet us.
-M
Many of life’s moments can’t be captured by photos – and such is the case of something that happened at the doctor’s last Friday. Avery was there for her five-year check-up, and Zoe was there to get her school health forms filled in. (I’ve never taken them for appointments at the same time, but I figured it would be a time-saver.) They each had to do the same thing – have their blood pressure taken, get weighed and measured, have a vision and hearing test, etc. – and during each step of the process they were right next to each other, often holding hands, lightly hugging, or instructing one another. (Zoe showed Avery how to cover one of her eyes during the vision test, for example.) They even got playful, with Avery trying to untie her sister’s gown as the doctor was talking to her. (Okay, that part was less cute and more naughty.) At one point, the medical assistant said to them, “You girls are really close, aren’t you?”
I’ve commented before on how well the girls (generally) get along, and how good they (usually) are to one another – but I was struck that morning with just how close they really are. They clearly depend on each other, during moments and big and small. I didn’t think to take a photo (though they did look pretty cute in their gowns), but I don’t need a picture to remember how sweet they were with each other or to be reminded of how they lucky they are to have a sister.
-M
Over the weekend, Avery had a pre-kindergarten playdate with two of her future classmates. As expected, she was pretty quiet and shy during introductions – but after a bit of time, she warmed up and began to play. And she must have enjoyed herself, because she told me on the way home, “I love those girls.”
Oh, and something kinda fun: Her playdate was at the same spot as Zoe’s two years ago. (And of course I had to take a photo, like I did with Zoe, to mark the occasion.)
-M
The girls also did a little water sliding on Saturday – and I love how Q’s proud thumbs up made it in this post-slide pic.
-M
Last weekend we explored Great America’s water park; this weekend we hit Gilroy Gardens’. Given how hot it was there (mid-90s!), lounging in a splash pad was the perfect activity for the girls.
-M
Avery’s day didn’t start out the best. She had two shots, along with a blood draw, at her five-year check-up – something I had forgotten to warn her about and something she did not like at all. But things got better when she went to camp and later hung out, and got very silly, with a good friend.
-M
