July 2 - Aggie Swim Camp & Magical Mermaids

Week 4 of summer was a huge week. Luke went to his first overnight camp at Texas A&M while Jillian went to her first overnight camp at Agnes Arnold.

Jillian was up first. Julia and I helped her pack for a full week at Agnes Arnold, the same Girl Scout camp that Julia has attended multiple times. When Julia went to camp, parents transported luggage to the cabins and helped the girls get settled. This year, parents were only allowed to get out of the car to transfer the luggage from the car to a trailer bed. Another change? Most of the cabins now have AC.

Wowsa! Jillian and I drove up Sunday and she was super excited to go to camp with her friend Adelyn. I dropped her off Sunday and then picked her up on Saturday morning. She ran out of the building and yelled "I had an awesome time!" and proceeded to talk the entire 90min drive back about how fabulous camp was. Her camp theme was "Magical Mermaids." There were 11 Brownies with 2 camp counselors, Green Bean and Ms. Morgan, in Magical Mermaids. The girls slept in 2 different cabins ("It was cold mom, I need a jacket for next year). They had a jam packed week with swimming, canoeing, water trampoline, foam party, cook out, archery, crafts, singing and more. She had a blast and cannot wait to go back next year and requested to go for 2 weeks. Success! 

On Monday last week, Luke and I drove to College Station for a short swim camp. He was in a 2 bedrooms suite complete with 2 full bathrooms and a kitchen. His roommate was from Corpus Christi while another kid drove all the way to College Station from NM (Luke wasn't sure where the 4th kid was from). Luke's roommate snored and he wasn't a fan of the cafeteria food but I told him it's a good precursor to college, ha! The camp was focused on technique so they did a lot of 25s. Next year we'll send Luke to UT Austin which is more focused on yardage but overall it was a good experience for him to be away from home. 

June 24 - STEM Camp

Last week Jillian attended a half day STEM camp at our elementary school with one of her teachers and the school librarian. They had a jam packed week! They did a variety of challenges including designing and building a waterslide, making mini firefly robots using the top of a toothbrush, making ice cream and more!

Daring Duck Drop Waterslide Challenge

3Doodler Pens and Rubber Ducky Accessory Making

Camp Chair Challenge

Ice Cream in a Bag

 

June 19 - My Dimpled Munchins

Love these Orcas!

Julia - year 10

Luke - year 7

Jillian - year 3

It's great, to be, a PineBrookwood ORCA!

June 18 - SpongeBob SquarePants & Band Camp

Summer week 2! What a wild week of driving all over town (for me LOL). Julia kept up with her normal summer schedule: coaching in the morning, private lessons a few days a week at local pools and club swim every afternoon. Luke was at the Stars and Stripes band camp all week, where he was 5th chair in the top band. And then he had club swim practice every evening as well (different pool from Julia of course!). Jillian had swim practice every morning and then theatre camp at a local community college all week. She attended with her friend Guinevere and the girls loved it! The camp was comprised of local students from ages 5-18 and everyone tried out on day one for parts. Jillian and Guinevere both got up on stage and performed songs in front of 30+ kids plus camp counselors, so proud of them. Jillian sang a Girl Scout song and told me she sang "with a lot of energy!" She was cast as a 'Simple Sponge' named Sage (as well as all of the 7-8 year olds) and they sang a song and were on stage a few times. What a fun time!

In addition to this crazy schedule, the kids had dentist appointments, Bella had a vet appointment and Crumble was bit by another cat (we think) and also had to go to the vet. 

After that crazy week, we capped it off with a swim meet on Saturday that was very, very hot. But the kids maintained great attitudes and did great! What a week.  

June 9 - Camp Happy

Summer 2024, week 1 is in the books! Jillian attended Girl Scout "Camp Happy" at a local park for the 2nd year. She was assigned group 2BA with group leader Chickadoodle and goddesses Biscuit and Trumpet. There were Brownies total in her group which included Jillian and 3 other girls from her troop. She had a blast! Everyday the girls rotate through different activities: songs, crafts, canoeing and archery. She loved her goddesses, especially Biscuit, and even went into the wet canoe this year. What a great week of memories!

Camp Happy

June 1 - Beach Day

And just like that, another school year is over. Julia's last day was Friday, June 24th, while Jillian and Luke were done yesterday. Yesterday was a CRAZY day during middle school drop off. A strong storm came through as I was dropping off Luke and Anna. It was raining so hard with gusting winds that the roads starting flooding. Visibility was so bad that I had to pull over and wait for the storm to calm down. Half our neighborhood lost power for half the day (we were fine luckily). There was also hail, the 2nd hail storm in less than a week. Hail balls measured over 1" in diameter. Crazy May weather!

On Wednesday this week, I took Julia, Ava and Myah to the beach for a few hours. It was overcast most of the day but the girls still had fun. The water was warm and it was pretty empty. 

Galveston Beach

May 31 - Newsies, Party of 15

This year, the Girl Scouts offered an incredible group discount rate for Disney's Newsies at the Hobby Center, Theater Under the Stars. We had a great turnout. I bought Jillian, Julia and Ava (it was Ava's first Broadway show) and all the girls from Jillian's troop came except one. Everyone in Adelyn and Guinevere's families came too. We were a huge group, totally 15! The show was awesome and I was really surprised by the fantastic choreography! What a night to remember. I hope they offer this discount every year because we will definitely be there. 

A Night to Remember!

May 15 - All About Orcas

Orcas week 1 is in the books! We had a lot of rain the week before practice so the water was pretty chilly but minimal complaints from the kids. I'm excited for another season of summer swim! This is Julia's 10th year (1st year as a paid coach), Luke's 7th year and Jillian's 3rd year. It's great to be a PineBrookwood Orca!

London, Scarlett & Jillian (all 1st grade friends in the same class)

Leah, Jillian & Adelyn

Orcas in Action!

 

May 11 - NJHS Westbrook

Luke was inducted into NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) last week. In order to be considered, students have to have a min average of 92 in every class over the last 2 years and show good character (i.e. no ISS or conduct marks). Luke applied and was accepted, great job Luke! Julia's NJHS ceremony took place during COVID so it was a truncated ceremony. This one was much more elaborate. Every NJHS officer gave a short speech about the tenants of NJHS and lit candles on stage. After the names were announced and awards were handed out, the orchestra played while parents took pictures. It was a nice event. Great job Luke!

Proud of our little man!

Luke & his good friend Shawn

May 9 - I Had a Lovely Time

Last week was crazy busy for Luke. He had the field trip downtown on Wednesday, another field trip on Friday to Pleasure Pier (outdoor boardwalk with rides), school dance Friday evening, and then he was back at school at 5am on Saturday for ANOTHER field trip to Six Flags in San Antonio with band (getting back at midnight on Saturday night). What a week!

To our utter shock, about a week and a half ago, Luke announced at dinner that he asked a girl to the dance. Her name is Riley and she said yes. After asking him repeatedly to try on what he was planning to wear to the dance, the night before the dance he came downstairs in what I can only describe as skin-tight capri jeggings. His jeans were so tight and short it took him 5min+ to squeeze into them. After a quick trip to Kohl's he was all set for the dance. 

Julia's friend Kendall is taking a floral design class at school and recently passed her florist certification. She made a small bouquet for Luke to give to Riley. Luke met Riley at the dance and they had fun. He told her at the end of the night that he had a lovely time. It's official, my little man is growing up! 

My Ralph Lauren model lol