after two nights of the bean being away at camp with her classmates, we get to drive down today to have lunch with her and bring her home. thanks to two of my mom BFFs who chaperoned, i was treated to pictures and videos of all of their adventures throughout the last couple of days. i even got to talk to her yesterday morning on one of their phones, which was nice. looks like they had a blast and made some awesome memories that they'll be talking about for years to come.
i'll share more of the pictures i got to see after i have a chance to hear her tell me all of the stories behind them, but in the meantime i'm pretty sure her favorite experience will have been vaulting. look:
and my most favorite picture that i've gotten of this trip so far:
that is some sheer joy on that girl's face. she loves horseback riding. oh, i cannot wait to hear the tales of this trip.
the 4th grade class at the bean's school goes to a 2-night sleepaway camp at rawhide ranch every year, and they've all been looking forward to it since they heard about it at back to school night. and since the year has absolutely flown by, it's finally here and she couldn't be more excited.
when the form came home asking for chaperones, she asked me if i was going to throw my hat in the ring. now, we all know that my crusty ass is too old and crotchety to do any sort of camping anymore. not to mention, i really wanted her to experience this on her own without me hovering over her or for her to cling to. it'll be good for her to gain a little independence and i knew she'd be fine with her friends all around her, plus her teachers and several other parent chaperones with her at all times.
we took the packing checklist with us on a target run to make sure we had everything covered, and while i've had her do her own packing for trips for awhile now i decided i'd help her with this one (especially since i wasn't coming along on the trip). she pulled everything out and the old lady and i helped her get it all packed in her suitcase.
she was all ready to go this morning even before the old lady and i got home from our early morning workout.
after saying goodbye to her daddy and her sister, we put her stuff in the car and headed to school.
we dropped off her luggage here as instructed:
and then went into her classroom to join her fellow super excited classmates.
her two BFFs' moms were chaperoning, and she was assigned to one of them for the trip. these two ladies are totally my ride-or-die chicks.
and then they got on the bus and drove off. i know my friends will send me lots of pictures and updates, and in the meantime the hub and the old lady and i are going out to a fun dinner tonight.
it's kind of like grandma camp, just a couple of months early!
while the bean isn't necessarily super passionate about cheerleading, she does have fun, loves hanging out with her friends and adores her coach. sadly for us, said coach ended up leaving this year, taking a job coaching older girls at a local high school. of course, two of her daughters are on that squad, so i totally get it. but still...we miss her a lot.
so when she posted on facebook awhile ago that she was going to do a junior cheer clinic that would gather to learn a routine and then perform at their last football game at home, i talked the bean into signing up. and then i promptly forgot about it and missed the deadline to register. heh. but because coach is such a good friend, she managed to pull some strings and get us in. phew.
the classes lasted two hours and met just twice before the big game. and then as luck would have it, the bean ended up going home early that day due to a headache and a really sore throat. that kid doesn't get sick very often, so when she actually went to the office during recess and asked to call me, i knew it wasn't a good sign. i rushed right over to the school, picked her up, brought her home and set her up on the couch with some motrin, plus soup and juice.
she rested for a few hours, relaxed and was feeling back to herself in no time. she really wanted to go to the game and show off the routine she'd worked so hard to learn, and i couldn't blame her a bit. and so we got her ready and headed out with the caveat that we could turn right back around and go back home if she started feeling icky again.
once we found our friends, she perked up considerably and i knew we were good to go.
quick pre-game shot with coach:
and then the girls joined the rest of the squad as they warmed up and got in a bit of last-minute practice while we sat back, chatted and watched the football team get their warmup in too. i can't even tell you the last time i was at a high school football game...probably a good 25+ years ago.
as the game began, the junior spirit squad got to head over and join the varsity girls as they did their thing in front of us.
i got these from coach, who was stoked to have some of "her girls" come and cheer with her daughter.
and when halftime finally came, we were insanely excited to see our girls get out there and shake it.
seriously, i could watch that video about sixty bazillion times in a row. for only meeting twice, i thought the squad did a damn fine job of learning that routine. and when she finally rejoined us in the stands, we told her so. she was pretty darn proud of herself too.
she had a blast hanging out with her friends, running around and hitting up the snack bar until the game ended. coach says she's going to do another junior cheer clinic during basketball season, too. i think the bean may have had just enough fun to be willing to do it again. we'll see.
we did a pretty good job of keeping the bean occupied and happy all week long. on monday, we met up with one of her classmates at the movie theater to see "home." tuesday, playdate with another school friend. and then on wednesday, the teen and i took her here:
we've been to pretend city a handful of times (looking at those links is comical, especially after you look at the pictures in this post - she was so little!). it's a great place for kids to learn about all sorts of things, from art to grocery shopping to playing "dentist" and "doctor." the bean adores this place, although as we looked around, it hit me that she's pretty much aged out of it. we were surrounded by toddlers and preschoolers, and this is likely our last visit here. as you can see, the teen won't be too upset about that:
as for the bean, she had a ball. you know you're in the OC when even the pretend grocery store is stocked with nothing but organic products:
she happily grilled us a "steak."
rock star!
see what i mean? she looks like the jolly green giant in this thing.
and in the water play area, too.
why do kids think crutches are so much fun?
she earned her "paycheck" by turning in her stamped timecard here.
oh, but don't let that surly look on the teen's face fool you, though. she had her share of fun too.
