M had a great time at camp. We picked her up Friday afternoon and, just like last year, she shared every detail of her week for the next 90 minutes as we drove home. Well, this year was a little different since C had been at camp two weeks before and would occasionally interrupt to ask a question or share something from her experience. But, mostly, it was M talking.


Last weekend was also the festival at the church around the corner where the girls went to preschool. We’re usually at the lake that weekend, but with us taking the weekend off, we walked over on Friday night with our neighbors. It’s been at least four years since we went, so this visit was a lot different. In the past S and I took the girls to each ride, monitored their use of tickets and purchases of snacks, etc. This time we turned M and C loose with their buddies and a fistful of ride tickets. L isn’t into big kid rides at all, so S took her to the smaller ones. And my friend next door and I bought a beer, parked ourselves in kind of the middle of the midway, and kept an eye on things.

He and I were thankful our oldest daughters weren’t quite ready to be part of the huge packs of teenagers who stood around together. And we were really glad our girls aren’t wearing shorts that show off their butt cheeks or other clothes that would make us uncomfortable. Seriously, what some of these girls were wearing… Yes, we fully realized we’re turning into old men. At least we’re complaining about what kids wear and not elbowing each other and saying, “Hey, look at that one!” Grumpy old men > Dirty old men.

The fun thing about having teenagers is you can embarrass them. While M and her friend were waiting for the ferris wheel, she kind of gave me a look like “Stop watching us.” So, naturally, I yelled out her name and started waving to her. She rolled her eyes and turned her back on me. No doubt saying, “OHMYGODMYDADISSOWEIRD” to her friend. Good times!


M had a busy day yesterday, too. Off first thing to visit her orthodontist. They took her top wire off then sent us to her dentist to get a filling. On our way out the dentist said, “Yeah, that tooth is pretty messed up. It’s fine for now but after her braces come off we’ll probably need to put a crown on it.” Yikes! Then back to ortho for her regular adjustment. They added the dreaded power chain to her bottom teeth which caused some pain last night. And her face was all swollen from the filling procedure. Can’t wait for her to get up this morning to see how much everything in there hurts. Her teeth are looking good, though. Her front space is already gone after six months. Only 19 or 20 months to go!


Although school is still nine days away our calendar is already filling up. C has been doing summer workouts for cross country for three weeks, but fall practice officially begins tomorrow. Kickball practice starts this week, although M’s team won’t get on the diamond until next week. We just got back from C’s first practice, and L has her first tomorrow. Next week we’ll get kickball game schedules and XC meet lists. And soccer info is only a couple weeks away, so soon our family calendar will be a complete mess. Guarantee we’ll have at least one night with three kickball games at three different schools with XC and soccer practices for the same times.