State House and cousin time

Our final step in celebrating the state championship was to get recognized at the State House. Patrick was able to get us in to the House of Representatives on the last day they finished up their business. The girls had fun standing in the balcony and then taking pictures on the steps. They were all a little surprised that the attendance took 30 minutes and the representatives took forever to get to their seats. Worse than high school!

The last part of our week has been spent with cousins! Riley and Channing came to our house on Thursday afternoon. My mom was supposed to join us, but she got sick after spending nearly two weeks getting everybody else well. Riley, Channing and my dad have all been holed up and recuperating from a cold that turned to acute bronchitis. I hope she can recover quickly now that everybody else is well. 

The girls enjoyed their chill evening with homemade pizza and ice cream cones. We enjoyed some teff flour pancakes this morning and then went shopping during the morning. It was more browsing than anything, but they had fun giggling and walking around together in Target, Ulta and Bath and Body Works. 

We got home in time to change before heading to high tea at Laura's Tea Room. This is something I've wanted to do for a while and I know my mom would have loved it. We got to choose our own hats and tea cups before enjoying a delicious three course lunch and three different teas. It was such a fun setting and we enjoyed our conversations as well as the food. 

We'll head up to the lake tomorrow for our summer family gathering. Patrick went to TN to visit with his parents for a couple of days and will join us there. July 4th is just around the corner and that always signifies that we're half way done with summer in my mind. Boo!

Poetry Panel, Conditioning and more

While it may seem like we are busy, busy, busy I promise we our days are more relaxed with lots of reading, Lego playing and TV watching. It just so happens to be intermixed with other activities, chores, homework, etc. 

This weekend, Paige was invited to be a panelist on the Kids in Print Poet Panel. It's part of a day long poetry festival at the Richland Main Library. She presented with three other young ladies who all did a phenomenal job of sharing their experiences with writing. They were so well spoken, honest and authentic. While the crowd was small due to it being the inaugural year, I was proud of Paige for taking the opportunity to practice public speaking and for speaking about something so personal. 

I should also mention that the girls have been working hard on conditioning this summer, especially Anna. She is dedicated to getting mileage and working on her core and hip strength. I often see her in the living room with her yoga mat and air pods. She's also encouraging to Paige, but might need to work on the delivery a bit. Ha! Anna has her moments of sweetness like when she and her friends welcomed one of their besties back from a mission trip to England with sidewalk chalk.

Meanwhile, Teddy has been spending his summer snoozing, walking in the mornings or evenings and enjoying his new 8-squeaker lamb lamb. This dog is living the life as long as his people are in town. 

Up this week: dentist and orthodontics appointments, more track state championship recognition (really?!), meetings with playground people and as well as a visit with my nieces and mom.  Woohoo! I leave you with more Nationals photos of Anna.