Update-- June 21, 2010

Happy Summer!!!

Our summer has started off with a ROAR!!! Chelsea and Emmy have already been to 4-H camp-- Chelsea as a counselor and Emmy as a camper, and we have already finished VBS at Albany Baptist Church. Emmy has already been to a volleyball camp, and Chelsea will be headed to her first of two tennis camps in just over a week. Tomorrow, we leave for a quick trip to Virginia. Chelsea and her friend Elena are staying from Tuesday through Friday, but Emmy and Ellie-Kate are going to ride down with me tomorrow and visit with Grandma P and Uncle Wade and then drive back to Athens on Wednesday. I got an oil change today, and I told the service guy to really check over the car b/c I'm going to be putting LOTS of miles on it over the next month!!

Ellie-Kate continues to grow and amaze us!! She LOVES to do just about everything (other than eat some veggies). She can dash through the Burger King playground with stunning agility, and she remembers so much so quickly. I was reminding her about Chuckie Cheese (which we visited back in the winter), and she promptly filled in the gaps that she "drove Chuckie," referring to a ride that takes her picture with Chuckie. We are just stunned by the details that she remembers, and we're hoping that she puts that little mind to great use when she eventually starts school. In the meantime, she can already sing the ABC song, count to 10, do simple math, and pick up new words daily.

She's also quite the little athlete, and she can throw the ball with such accuracy that the much older neighbor boys stop, watch, and comment. She loves to don her glove, hand one to Daddy, and head for the door. "Play catch, Daddy?" she asks nearly every day.

Just a few days ago, we celebrated Emmy's nine and a half year birthday, and I have to admit that I'm so glad that she's still such a kid at heart. Children grow up far too quickly these days, and I love that Emmy still plays Barbies and pretend games and enjoys our new game section in the basement. I want her to stay a little girl as long as she can :)

Chelsea's a generic teen-ager, addicted to Facebook and texting, and we're facing the usual summer saga of struggling to finish summer reading for her AP classes. The rest of her summer will include lots of tennis (as she preps for the fall season), some travel, 4-H skit team, the fair, and time with her friends.

Britti is LOVING Disney and Florida. She's making lots of terrific friends and connections, and she truly adores working at the "happiest place on Earth." Can't wait to go and visit her in October!!

Well, that's the update for now!! Hope that you're off to a great start on the summer :) More soon--

Christie