Norah's "It's great to be 8" trip!

My parents took Norah on an "it's great to be 8" trip. Isn't that the sweetest? They went to Branson for a week. My grandparents took us on a trip when we were 8 also, and my parents are continuing that with their grandkids too. Norah is the oldest, so she got to be the first one. They had a really special time together and did lots of fun things. I'm thankful they got to have that bonding time together!

Summer dance and golf camps 2023.

The girls did a summer dance camp! It was only two days, so it was a fun little taste without being too much time. The one for Lucy and Ellory's age group said it was focusing on ballet and jazz in the description, but was more focused on ballet. Lucy and Ellory did great, but maybe not a forever favorite? The second day Lucy said she didn't want to go and would rather just go to softball instead, ha! Ellory seemed moderate- she liked it I think but wasn't raving about it. Norah's class was jazz and musical theatre, and she got to learn a routine to a song. She really liked it! Norah definitely loves dance the most. It was fun to have a special activity for a couple days, and proud of Lucy and Ellory for trying something new! (And there was only one other girl in each of their classes, so it was quite small, but made it nice for more individualized instruction.)

All three got to go to golf camp this summer! Lucy and Ellory were excited- Norah has gone for a couple years, but now they are old enough too. It's a nice end to the official summer activities- it's always the last week of July, so it's nice that swimming lessons/dance camp/softball are over. It's four mornings for 45 minutes, so not long, but a fun little taste of golf. Kley really loves golf, so he would love it if the girls did too! I think they all enjoyed it!

DC trip with Lucy and Ellory.

One of my good friends, Stephanie, lives in Washington DC and Lucy, Ellory, and I got to visit her! It was a great time and fun to show Lucy and Ellory this special city. I've been several times visiting her over the years, and Norah went when she was two (when I was pregnant with Lucy and Ellory) and four (when Lucy and Ellory were one and just Norah and I went on a girls trip), but Lucy and Ellory had never been! It worked out great because we went when Norah was on an "it's great to be eight" trip with my parents. How special is that? My grandparents did that when we were younger, and my parents are continuing. So Norah had something special to do too, and the timing worked nicely!

Lucy and Ellory did so well and were big troopers! They slept exceptionally well for a new place, which helped because they were so tired after big days. It's a big travel day to drive 2.5 hours to the airport, then maneuver through the airport, and then have the almost three hour plane ride, but they handled it like champs and I'm so thankful since I was traveling with them solo. It was also super hot there and we did lots of walking, and they handled that great too! I did bring a wagon, and I'm super glad I did and it came in really handy on some of the long walks.

We went to the zoo and enjoyed the animals! Stephanie had some work meetings come up Monday morning before we left, so the zoo was a great place to go to be in one place for a couple hours so I didn't have to figure out the city streets without her help. It's a fun zoo!

Choosing an animal on the carousel and Dippin' Dots were a big highlight!

Checking out Stephanie's office.

Love this picture checking out some monuments!

Lincoln Memorial. We couldn't see the whole thing because of construction, but still neat to be there.

World War II Memorial. They loved dipping their feet in!

Washington Monument.

National Museum of American History- this was so fun! Favorite parts were the First Lady dresses and the entertainment section. It was funny to see how different Lucy and Ellory were in here too. I wasn't sure how they would react, but Ellory was very interested- engaged and asking questions, while Lucy was pretty indifferent.

Getting some (very expensive but worth it to keep peace on a hot day) snow cones. :)

The view from the rooftop of Stephanie's apartment! So cool and so different from our backyard view!

Washington Monument from her roof.

Lucy and Ellory absolutely loved her rooftop pool and thought it was the coolest to have a pool on the roof. It was actually perfect because it was 3 feet deep the entire way, designed to be a wading pool for adults to sit and drink in basically, but it was the perfect depth for Lucy and Ellory! This picture was earlier Saturday morning before the adults were up there, so they had it all to themselves!

Out for ice cream.

And last but not least, so special to show them the White House! (In case anyone was wondering- Ellory's glasses happened to break right before this trip and her new pair hadn't arrived yet, so that's why she's not wearing glasses this trip. She has a new pair now- thankfully under warranty so they were free!) So thankful we could go and see Stephanie and the city! We had a fun time!

Swimming lessons 2023.

All three did so great at swimming lessons this year! The last day is a fun day where they get to do the diving boards and water slide- they all three did both by themselves! (Their teacher was close by to help at the end for Lucy and Ellory, but they did it solo!) I'm proud of their good attitudes and determination to learn the strokes. Way to go, Norah, Lucy, and Ellory- you are great swimmers!