Catching up on the weekend and some girls notes as we wrap up a sleep-over.
We swapped daughters with our neighbors last night. C. went next door to sleep with her 7-year-old buddy while M.’s 9-year-old pal came to our home for the night. Our evening was uneventful. We ate dinner, then the girls watched the newest American Girl Doll movie1. It took them awhile to get settled upstairs, and we had to make some fan and air conditioning adjustmenst so they could cool off, but by the time I went to bed at 11 they seemed to be out.
That didn’t last long, though. Whether it was the heat or excitement of sleeping over or nervousness, the girls woke sometime after 3:00 and were talking, opening and closing doors, and otherwise making noise until about 4:00 when they went downstairs, turned on the TV, and chatted away like it was normal morning time. I stumbled downstairs, told them we don’t watch TV at 4:00 AM, clicked the TV off, and told them they didn’t have to go back upstairs but they did have to go back to sleep. Apparently S. had to give them another reminder shortly after.
It is now 8:44 and both girls are passed out on couches in the living room. I’m sure there will be no grumpiness today at all. We have not heard how things went next door but both C. and her friend tend to struggle to fall to sleep at night then enjoy sleeping in the next morning. We’ll see.
Our big event of the weekend was going to see “Despicable Me 2”. The girls earned the trip to the theater, just our second as an entire family, through our personal summer reading program. M. and C. brought home a reading chart from school on which you get to color in a block for each 15 minutes of reading. To fill the chart requires 1500 minutes of reading. M. finished hers before June ended; she plows through 4-5 library books each week.
For C. and L., they had to read with me each day, with C. alternating between being read to and reading out loud. They both got halfway through their charts, which was the goal they had to meet before July 1 to see the movie.
So we went to a matinee Saturday afternoon that was about half-full. Lots of giggling, happy kids. Our girls give the movie a solid three thumbs up, and each said it was better than the first movie. They’ve been discussing which of Gru’s minions was their favorite ever since the movie ended. The best part was watching L. watch a movie. First, she’s barely big enough to keep a movie theater seat pushed down. So her seat kept folding up on her. Occasionally she’d intentionally let it fold all the way up and she’d sit there with her feet sticking out in front of her body, as happy as can be. She’s also a bit of a talker during movies. At this age it’s charming but we may have to work on that if it continues.
When the movie was over, the girls were starving. And there just happened to be a McDonald’s right across the street. “Despicable Me” Happy Meals for everyone! It was a successful afternoon and evening, as far as the girls were concerned.
The girls also wrapped up tennis lessons last week. As I believe I mentioned when they started, their classes were mostly working on basic skills and didn’t involve any actual play. Which was fine, as M. and C. can barely hit the ball. They seemed to enjoy it but we’ll have to continue to get them on the courts to make sure they learn to get the racquet on the ball on a regular basis so they can do more than just practice drills.
L. was in her own class, with simpler drills, and did great. It’s funny seeing the three of them on the court. M. has never been super graceful, but she’s getting long and skinny and a little more awkward. She was a blur of elbows and knees as she chased and attempted to hit the ball. C. is fast and light on her feet, but easily distracted and always a little clueless as to what’s going on. Her visor often drooping down over her eyes doesn’t help. And L. just marches around the court like she owns it.
8:55 and the girls are awake. L. is arguing with them about who slept better.
After barely going for two weeks because of cooler, rainy weather and our Fourth of July activities, we’re back at the pool just about every day. The girls continue to do fantastic in the water. C. learned how to dive last week. The neighbors had picked up some tips from their lessons and shared them with our girls. M. can’t get it at all, but after about three tries, C. was doing perfect dives off both the side of the pool and the board.
My favorite pool moment of the year, so far: there is a group of high school girls that are at pool most days. I’ll go ahead and acknowledge this makes me dirty old man-ish, but these girls are flawless. They’re also like 16, so I don’t do more than glance their way when they walk in or if the girls are in their general area2. Two of them roll into the parking lot in a BMW 5-series, which I really hope is their parents’ and doesn’t belong to one of the girls.
Anyway, last Thursday two of the girls took a spot near the seats the girls and I had claimed. During an adult swim session, I was getting the girls their snacks while the high school girls quietly laid out. A slightly doughy boy who I’ll guess is 10 strolled by and, looking at the high schoolers, said, “Hi pretty girls,” and kept marching on. They popped their heads up, looked to see who talked to them, and busted out laughing. I give the kid tremendous props. He showed no fear. He didn’t care that they were 6-7 years older than him, in perfect shape, and tanned. He walked his pasty, flabby body right over to them and said what he wanted to say. It may not pay off now, or for a long time, but the kid is thinking the right way.
9:13 and C. and her buddy have arrived fed, dressed, and full of energy. The four girls are all talking at once, arguing about who stayed up later, who had the best time, etc.
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