Camping!

School ended on Thursday and Friday we packed up the car and headed north to New Hampshire’s White Mountains to go camping with 4 other families; Erik, Stella, Liem & Andy’s.

 

 

First thing is always to set up the tent and inflate the air mattresses. Ally just couldn’t resist jumping on all 3 stacked up. We shared a site with Stella’s family, at Stella’s request.

The 3 little siblings Khai, Violet & Nick hammed it up for the camera while the older kids tried to get the kick ball out of the storm drain pipe. They thought it might be a good idea to have Ally crawl in, since she is the smallest of the 5 of them, and get it out – but she ran away in terror and shock at that idea. They tried a large branch, but finally Stella (who is the largest of them) crawled in and got it.

S’mores are always a hit and Liem’s family all loved them, his mom & Dad and he and his sister Khai.

We love S’mores too! Ally prefers hers ala carte.

Stella and Violet love them too.

Breakfast in the morning – and snuggling by the campfire in the chilly morning.

Then it was off to our hike. We bought Ally a new backpack – with the agreement that she had to carry it the whole time, and it had to keep all her stuff and our stuff for the hike; snacks, water, etc. She agreed and she did it the whole way.

Turns out this hike was more than a hike – more like bouldering and climbing.

But we made it! to the top of Cathedral Ledge. Becky and Hanh drove up to the top. Becky had a bad cold and Hanh pulled her back out earlier in the week and wasn’t even sure she could go camping.

The whole group of us on top of the mountain.

 

The way down was really tricky. Ally held my hand the whole way, and she was really tired. But she did it. We were at the back of the pack, and didn’t get lost like Nancy, Khai and Charlotte did, so we were happy with that! After the hike some of us stopped at a fruit stand for fresh berries and jam – I couldn’t believe it was a drive thru fruit stand!

Ally – she loved hanging out on a large rock near the campground.

We were all tired after that hike/climb. Lunch was a nice respite.

After lunch the kids went to the river and played in the water.

And had their picture taken at the covered bridge.

Dinner our last night was hot dogs over the fire!

The forecast was for inches of rain our last night, so we packed up our tents and headed home. When the rain started at 10PM an hour into the drive home we were all glad we left.

It was a fun weekend, and we are so thankful to have these friends.

Tooth #6

Another midnight fall out this week for tooth #6.

Ally is very excited to have lost tooth #6. She left the tooth fairy a note asking for something really special. But went on to write that it was ok if it was not.

But when she woke up it was something special – from Guatemala – a set of 10 worry dolls. And the usual gold $1.00 coin. Cloey gets very anxious and excited to see Ally in the morning, and lately with Ally sleeping on the top bunk Cloey is confused when she runs in to Ally’s room, hops on the bed and its empty – no Ally.

Not the best morning picture – but there she is – now she is missing the two teeth on either side of her top front teeth. It’s a matching smile!

On a gymnastics note – Becky and I watched some of practice yesterday and it is AMAZING what Ally is learning how to do.  Ally is her usual humble shy self, and doesn’t really want to talk about it but her smile in the gym and her enthusiasm while working out tells us how much she loves it.

Team Week 1

Ally started Team gymnastic practice this week. The first day was brutal. She was very excited and nervous. Practice was 4-7pm. It was an early release day at school, so she had some down time before practice.

Here she is before practice.

3 hours is a long time. She did great. They had a break after about 2 hours, and she had a smoothie I made at home for her and some pretzels for snack. It was a little heartbreaking to watch her sit alone while the other girls paired off. But to their credit a couple did come say hello to her. She is new, and the youngest member right now, and as she says “I am shy mommy…talking is hard for me” It seemed ok to her. She had a smile on her face and was thrilled all during practice.

After practice she was wiped. Exhausted. I drove her home and she was melting down. I was supposed to go out with friends for dinner, and on the way home she spilled the rest of her smoothie in my car and started to cry. I think she was too tired to hold the thermos. As soon as we got home, Becky came out to meet us. She cleaned up the smoothie and I went in with Ally – who just clung to me sobbing about how tired she was. It was pitiful. I told Ally she didn’t need to keep going if she didn’t want to. The decision was hers. I would not be upset either way. That mama and I just wanted her to be happy.

Becky had a bubble bath ready and waiting and I left them negotiating bath. I felt terrible, and wondered if we were bad parents for letting Ally do this. Maybe it was too much for her.

Becky texted me later that Ally was fine, ate a great dinner and went right to sleep.

Two days later was practice #2. I was a little nervous. But not Ally. She was in a great mood. She had a fantastic practice. Loved every minute of it. Seriously – I don’t think I can describe how amazing it is to watch her having so much fun. She is learning new tumbling and skills each time.

When we got in the car she had such a proud and thrilled look on her face. The picture below is her smiling for me – but its not the same as the inner joy she had un-posed.

I feel incredibly lucky that Becky and I can support Ally in gymnastics –something that she loves so much and works so hard at.

The end of 2nd grade

Ally’s last week of school was a little bittersweet. Miss Pat who runs the before school program is retiring. Ally is very sad she wont see Miss Pat every day. Our family has been very grateful to Pat over the past 3 years that Ally has been going to the program. Above is Ally and her friend Maya with Miss Pat.

Ally on her last day of 2nd grade. Onwards to 3rd grade in the Fall.

Becky turns 37

Becky’s last day of school was actually her birthday. She went out with teacher friends after work and didn’t come home until late, after Ally was in bed late.

This is what she looked like the morning after her birthday. We agreed she is getting old.

So Ally and I celebrated with Becky on the 24th, the day after her birthday.

Ally picked out a fantastic card. It said “Happy Birthday! In dog years do you know how old you’d be?” Then inside Ally wrote out the math problem. Turns out Becky would be 259 years old if she was a dog.

 

Becky was hilariously thrilled to get sewing organizer from her parents for her birthday. Ally and I were laughing at how thrilled Becky was. It was not a gift either of us would appreciate – but it was for Becky and it was perfect. After cards and gifts it was time for cake. Ally and I bought a small cake at the store this year. Ally decided to put all 14 candles on the 8” cake.

It was the brightest cake I’d ever seen.

Mama and Ally.