Emilee and I got to hang out together while Matthew and Alli were at theater camp. Just list old times. While she loves hanging out with me she likes being like her older siblings and wanted to do a camp too. I asked her what she wanted to do for her camp and she said, “Go to Ms. Sheila’s” Ms Sheila is one of the people that watches her while I work sometimes. Which sounds about right, I have tried a few different activities like soccer and basketball for Emilee and she is not a fan. She just wants a few buddies to run around and play with and do whatever their imaginations come up with. I was happy to oblige her wish so for Monday and Wednesday she went to ‘Ms Sheila Camp’ while I had two days to catch up on my to do list-and a little R & R. The other days we tried to do something different than the usual too. We invited her bestie Reese over to play one of the days. We went to Crown Center and did the 50 States Exhibit and Kaleidoscope by Hallmark with some friends. Kaleidoscope is basically an amazing room decorated for kids with tons of different stations for them to be creative at. They just let them in and they have 50 minutes to craft to their hearts content however they want. They had a great time playing together and I got to catch up with my friends too. It is nice when your kids friends are parented by your friends too. We finished off that day with a meal at the train restaurant, Fritz’s. It is a favorite for kids. It is a burger and fries place that you get to order over the telephone at your table from, and then it is delivered to your table by trains that are driving around on the tracks above you while you are eating. The food is okay at best but that doesn’t matter because they bring your food to you by train.
The last day we played at home together and did a favorite activity of both of ours ‘snuggle and a Disney movie’. We had a good week. It was nice to get a little bit of one on one time before she starts school all day in the Fall. The pictures of her in the red cape tug at my heart strings a little. She bounced out on the porch making her ‘pewpewpew’ sounds with the squirt bottle. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was a super hero so she was getting the bad guys. She has a great imagination and I love seeing her use it. It will be a sad day when she outgrows it and there are no more super hero’s, dragons, puppies, mermaids, or whatever else she comes up with running around the house.
When it was time for the showcase she was excited to cheer them on. She wanted to dress up a little so she could be like Allison. This is an irritation to Allison, but I tell her she needs to get used to it and make sure she is setting a good example for her sister because she is going to copy her a lot. Allison gave me a big eye roll and a ‘whatever’ as her and her attitude walked off. Emilee loved the show. I asked her if she would want to do it sometime and she said she would think about it. She likes to live vicariously through others it seems.
Actually she is the most shy of any of my kids. A trait they have unfortunately inherited from Ryan and I when we were younger. Matthew is a close second but he is getting a little more confident. Allison doesn’t have a shy bone in her, anywhere…ever. Both Matthew and Emilee have been caught sending Alli to knock on a door for a lost ball, or ask an adult a question for them, and when they are together Allison does all the talking for everyone if I let her while Matthew and Emilee stand behind her and try to avoid eye contact. Allison’s boldness comes in handy for all of us. Just the other night we went to dinner with Ross and Lauren and Texas Roadhouse. We waited the 40 minutes, plus 10. Ross checked on the wait and they said it would be another 10-15. So 20 minutes later we let Allison go ask how long our table would take, I told her she had to be polite. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not but they buzzed us shortly after she went in to talk to them. Allison can be determined and I like letting other people besides me to have a turn sometimes. One year when we were handing out cookies for Christmas to friends, the kids were taking turns ringing the bell and handing the cookies to whoever answered the door and saying Merry Christmas. Emilee refused to get out of the car for all of them except Ms. Cristi. Matthew would ring the bell and hold the cookies out and then crank his head around as far as he could to avoid eye contact and mumble Merry Christmas and make a run for the car as soon as they took the cookies. Allison checked her hair and stance before allowing the doorbell to be rung for her. Then clear her throat and say in her loudest voice, “Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho!” when they answered the door.
