Rachel's 9th Birthday

Rachel had a birthday party last weekend. She invited 6 friends to spend the night at the Courtyard Marriott next to the mall. They had an evening of shopping, eating, swimming in the indoor pool and just being silly girls. Rachel's birthday is not until Oct 3rd but we had it early this year because we will be out of town.

A Saddened Heart

Today I received news that a friend from our tennis team's daughter died. Macy had Angelman's syndrome. I am writing tonight with a saddened heart for my friend. Hold your babies close to you and love them. Because of Macy's condition, she was almost in constant need of care. Rita has devoted her life to taking care of Macy. She bathed her, she took her to the bathroom, changed her clothes, etc. Her condition did not require much sleep and Rita was awake when Macy was awake. She was much like a newborn. Recently, our tennis team went to the beach and of all the people that needed the break the most it was Rita. She did not make it to the beach. Today she receives an unwanted break. I ask that if you are reading this blog to please remember Rita, Steve and Tyler in your prayers.

Delta Fair

Every year when I was little we would go to the Mid-south Fair. We rode rides, played games, ate until our tummy ached and went to the rodeo. Now I am a parent and it's my turn to share the excitement with my children. The name and location of the fair have changed since I was little but it still holds all the excitement. Megan, her friend Hayes and I went on Saturday and then we returned again on Sunday with only Megan and Rachel. Surprisedly, Megan would not ride many of the bigger rides. Odd since she rode all the rides at Disney World. Smart girl..she must have also spotted the worker holding a wrench next to the Swing Ride. LOL.. At one point they stopped the ride and allowed it to work without any passengers. So my curiosity got the best of me and I ask "What's going on?". He told me when the heat rises they must adjust the hydraulics of the ride. OK????? I'll accept that answer-I think. Rachel was more interested in the games than the rides. Has anyone ever really won at the Ball Toss game? The worker decided he was going to SHOW US HOW'S IT'S DONE. OK.. please do! He misses once, he misses twice and yes even three times!!! So he tries again.. and still misses!!! By then, I had already handed over my $5 dollars for 3 balls. We walked away empty handed but Rachel did manage to go home with a 6ft baseball bat. How you ask? The oldest game around, GUESS your age, Guess your weight, Guess your birthday (by two months in small print). So the worker guesses Megan's weight first and is wrong only because the scale is wrong. Then it's Rachel's turn. I kid you not he says to Rachel "you look like you know where the cookie jar is". Then he also guesses her weight wrong and he say's "alright you little booger picker-go pick out your prize". Unfortunately, I had left my assertive personality at home that day and allowed this man to belittle my daughter. Hopefully this hurtful comment will not leave a scar. I'm ashamed to say that I also laughed at first. I'm not going to write a long excuse as to why I too laughed. I'm not really sure myself. Anyway.. this blog is not going in the direction I had intended. More importantly, we had a blast at the fair. There were times at the fair, I wanted to tell the kids "No you don't need cotton candy!" but I had a flashback of the days at the midsouth fair and I too remember begging for cotton candy, carmel apples, proto pups, funnel cakes, twinkies on a stick (wait a minute-those weren't around when I was little).... HA HA!!! It's great to relive your childhood threw your kids. Maybe one of the reasons-kids are spoiled!!!

Girl's Trip

It finally happened it!! I took a girls trip. I've been wanting to for years. This past weekend, my tennis captain invited the team to her place in Perdido Key, Florida. We drove down on Thursday and came back Sunday. I was very apprehensive about going. #1 because I leave for Italy Sept 28th and I also just got back from the beach not even two weeks ago. #2 it was the last weekend of the month and in the car business that's always a busy weekend. #3 I'm not extremely close to these girls. They are my tennis buddies so most of the time we are talking tennis talk. Excuses Excuses and more excuses. I'm so glad I went!! Only 6 girls went down. On Thursday evening we ordered pizza and played Mad Gab. What a great game!!! We laughed and laughed over this silly game. Friday, we hit the tennis courts and then the beach. We looked for sea shells, played paddle ball, read books, snorkeled and just had fun being girls. At night, we ate dinner out. The first night we ate at Cobalt located on the bay in Alabama. Perdido Key is not even 5 minutes from the AL state line. On Saturday, we hit the tennis courts again only to play a few games since we were all thinking about the beach. We took the Mad Gab game with us to the beach and stayed until sunset. If you are not familiar with this silly game, one person reads a phrase from the card such as "Whole League How". The other members have to figure out what you are saying. Have you guessed it yet? HOLY COW!!! By the end of the trip we were making up our own Mad Gabs. It was the perfect girls trip!!! Not only did we have fun but we got to know one another off the court. We've been playing with each other for the last 3 to 4 years but this gave us the opportunity to learn a little more than just if she has a good serve or a good backhand. LOL... When I arrived home on Sunday my family was very happy to see me. I think it was good for our family to have MOM gone for a few days. Dan managed to arrange car pool and sleepovers. He picked Megan up on time from a friends house. He took Rachel the right cheerleading uniform after she had packed her sisters instead. He took not two but 4 little girls to eat Saturday night. And he made sure the house was clean when I arrived home. I think I see a trip in the future!!!