Ava turned 7 this week. I am not sure how that happened exactly but I know that she has really grown up a lot in the last year. I notice differences all the time. She has turned into a great reader. Her top teeth are finally starting to come in. She has hung out with friends from school and Daisy Scouts. She talks about being an art teacher and a singer when she grows up. This summer she went to a theater day camp. Poor kid missed the cut off by a week to be in the older group with all of her friends from school and she didn't even complain. She put on a performance at the end of the week. I have never seen her more confident. She clearly enjoyed herself and wanted to do well. She has signed up to take a theater class this fall. She is so excited. When she is 8 she can audition for a part in the big shows they do. I am sure she wishes she could now but I am ok with easing into the after school activities.
Anyway, the say of her birthday she had a friend spend the night and we had cake. She had a great time.
Rhys, of course, needed to make himself part of the sleepover.
Ava is having her first school friend party this weekend. Family and school friends are all going roller skating. I am going to ignore the fact that this causes me an insane amount of anxiety and just show up and let the party hostess we are paying for run the whole thing.
School starts in a little over a week. It has actually been a pretty good summer. I feel like we have had a good mix of hanging out with friends and being home. I know we have had some crazy weekends that have caused the kids to just want to sit and play at home for a day. I have been working one day during the week. It makes a long day for me but it works well for our summer fun schedule. I am looking forward to school starting only so I can have more of a routine again. I am not looking forward to having to find a place for Rhys to go for my hour long afternoon meetings. I hate to even think of rushing him growing up because they are both turning into such kids instead of babies, but it will be nice for him to be in school only for work purposes.
Speaking of Rhys. He is a maniac. He is so sweet and helpful. And then so sneaky and destructive. This summer he has carved up the coffee table, cut holes in clothing, and attempted to cut holes in screens. He is so frustrated that he doesn't know how to read because he can see the difference it makes for Ava. He will figure it out soon enough. Justin, my sister-in-law, and I are all doing a workout series. (We are a week in, Justin has lost almot 4 pounds, Diana -2, and me +1.) Rhys will do the whole thing right along with me. It is so funny to listen to him try to breathe like he is working out. I don't think any of it is really that hard for him though. He is convinced that he wants to take Karate classes. We are looking into it but all of the local places are apparently stupidly expensive. We need to redirect his energy!
