Happy Hour

When it's buy one-get one, who can resist an after school treat?

My "this summer go-to" drink = blueberry iced tea lemonade.
Her "I wanna try something besides my summer go-to 'pink drink'" = dragon drink.

Round 5

Not actually sure how many Wabash sessions she has done.  This time her instructor is Ben.  He is really enjoying coaching her and figuring out what things would make her techniques better.  His plan is to concentrate on her kicking and breathing this round.  He feels those are the two things that slow her down a bit.

He has commented on how teachable she is and how she comprehends and can do everything he tells her.  However, she has a hard time putting it all together.  So he's going to focus on one skill at a time and build on it over the two weeks.

He is super excited about her backstroke.  He said she has the rotation and pinkie-first technique down and has "quick hands."  Keeping her hips up and her kick strong is the area that needs work here.

First Rehearsal

And so the fun begins.  She is in the front row, third from the left in black shirt/orange pants.

She got the part she wanted and is excited to be in this experience.

Taste of Montgomery County 2019

We attended the Taste on Saturday night.  Camden starts asking about this event in May.  It is one of our favorite small town events.  We didn't think the vendor list looked that good/strong this year, but we enjoyed every item we tasted!

Braxton went with us and thoroughly enjoyed his first Taste.  He started off strong and we initially thought, "why did we invite a preteen BOY?"  But he slowed down about the same time as Camden.

We always get something and split it between us.  We started with some entree/side options:

Lamb Curry with Rice (Juniper Spoon)
Taco de Asada (Bravo Fernandez Tacos)
Grilled Italian Melt Sandwich (Shannon Family Farms)
          We ended up getting 2 of these...it was the kids favorite!
BBQ Pork (Hawg Wild BBQ)
Pepperoni Honey Pie, Caramelized Onion & Bacon Pizza, and Chicken, Artichoke & Pesto Pizza                  (Wildfire248)
Crab Rangoon (China Inn)
Hummus & Pita (Francis & Mount)
Vidalia Onion Rings (Sunoco Crawfordsville)

That sounds like a lot of food, but they were smaller portions of each and split 4 ways.

For dessert we tried:

Apple & Cinnamon Cake slice, Blueberry Fruit Blossom, & Sticky Bun Delight (Warehouse Bakery)
Donut stick (Jack's Bakery) - which the kids took home for breakfast the next day
Shark Bite Hawaiian Ice (Hoosier Ice Queen) - another kid favorite!

We always go around 4 o'clock.  The music is never our favorite part of the event, but this cover band was fabulous!  Maddie and the Roadies played from 4:30-6:30 and we stayed for all but the last little bit.  The trio played a lot of music from the 80's, mixed in with some fun current and classic country - even the kids recognized several of the songs.

Can't wait for Taste 2020!

Library Play

I really love the "tween" time when she still likes her childhood stuff.  A trip to library is not complete without playing with all the cool stuff in the kids area, including dinosaurs and castles.

So Sandisfying

Her birthday wish came true.  Thanks Aunt Carole and Uncle Ric.

The Addams Family

Camden had an audition yesterday for the musical at her school.  The Jr. High production of "The Addams Family" is this fall. 

It was a true audition.  She said there were 28 kids who tried out.  There were main parts, small parts with a few lines, then the "ancestors" and "ghosts" which were ensemble parts.  She was #2, so was early on in the process.

 She had her vocal audition first.  She went into a room and sang one of the songs from the show with three of the adults involved working with her.  She hadn't really learned the song, but said she did her best and that they were happy with her effort. 

Next she went back to the main group where everyone was learning a dance routine to "Thriller."  She loved it and showed me some of the routine that evening.

Finally, she was put with 3 other kids and they did a script reading.  I am not sure, but my guess is that this would be one of her strengths.  She is a very animated reader.

She will get a call-back for Wednesday evening if they want her to read for a certain part.  If no call-back, it means her part was already assigned.  She would really like to be one of the ghosts or one of the bit parts.  They will post the roles on Thursday at school and rehearsals start on Sunday.  Whew!

I got all of this play-by-play over dinner at China Inn.  That's her tempura chicken.  Love this girl so much and the confident young lady she is!

Covington Outing

We wanted to eat out on Friday, but nothing sounded good.  Camden requested Chinese, but we don't like the ones in Cville, our favorite in Greencastle is going down hill, and not sure if we wanted to go to a good sit-down one in Lafayette.  I looked on the google map app and saw their was a Chinese Buffet in Covington.  That is 35 minutes from us (about the same as going anywhere) so we thought we'd give it a try.

We pulled up and I ran in to check it out.  I'm the picky one when it comes to these buffets and I won't eat at a sketchy one.  I walked in, looked at the "buffet" - one little cart with about 10 items - and walked back out immediately.  There were three other restaurants in town and each of their parking lots were full.  We landed on Agave Azul.  It was a great little Mexican restaurant with different items than our usual.  We all enjoyed the change.

A terrific balloon artist was also there that night and made Camden the cutest elephant wrist corsage.  Might have to add this place to our rotation.

 

Jumanji!

The three amigos (Braxton, Bryce, and Chad) came over for the evening.  Bryce recently had his 10th birthday and got the game Jumanji!  While supper cooked they started the game then finished as they ate.

It was a really fun game.  It helped that I sat with them and could remind them of some of the rules for different spaces, but they had pretty much got the hang of it. 

Camden had asked to make pickle juice popsicles the night before and it came in handy as dessert with the boys.  Everyone LOVED them, but it sure made them pucker.

Before School Started

Camden got some good outdoor fun with her dad.  One day they got on the four-wheeler and headed to the creek for a walk.

Another day, the rode the four-wheeler to the woods to check trail cameras.

She has always loved these short adventures into nature with her dad.

Youth Group Kick-Off

Camden has started going to youth group at church.  She has been hit or miss this summer because of golf, but has gone to a few Sunday afternoon meetings and did go to Holiday World in July.  This Sunday was the fall kick-off with a lake party at one of our friends on Lake Waveland.  I dropped her off at the church at 2:30 and picked her up at 6.  

Before she could get out of the van, Sophia (who has been attending too) ran over and said, "Camden got a fish stuck in her foot."  What?

Camden got in the car and said not 5 minutes in the lake and a catfish had stabbed one of it's fins into her foot.  Thankfully one of the adults helped her to the beach, pulled the fish off, and helped clean her foot.  She went back to the families house and got it washed off well in their tub then stayed there the rest of the day.  She played some yard games and just sat with those who were at the house.  She still had a good time.

I had never heard of such a thing, but when she texted Kevin to let him know, he asked if she rubbed the fishes belly on the cut.  Apparently, catfish are known for doing this and an old fisherman's trick to relieve the pain is to do that.  Now we know.

Camden says she's not swimming in a lake for a long time!

Taylor Family Reunion

GaGa's extended family gets together for a week in August every year.  The "big" gathering is on Saturday.  GaGa and Grandpa rode with us over to Rend Lake for the day.  Sophia also joined us to give Camden a playmate.

We had only gone one other time and I never went done to the beach.  But that year there was a bacteria that made everyone sick...I didn't take swimsuits and told the girls they could only go in up to their knees.  It was a hot day, but they did what was asked for the first hour of our visit.

They took a break and grabbed some lunch...and then I told them they could go swimming in their clothes because it was so hot and all the rest of the kids were in the lake.  It was the right call and they had a blast...and next year I will have them pack swimsuits.

I made mac and cheese at home for the big dinner and needed to warm it up on the grill.  Delicious!

I also made a "cajun cake" which turned out to be a cross between tres leches and german chocolate.  It will be a go-to for me...so rich, but so good.

We spent most of the day sitting under the awnings catching up with family and cousins.  Some of the musicians in the family would break out the guitars every once in a while throughout the afternoon, but most of the jamming takes place later in the evening/night.

Kevin and his cousin Vickie turn 50 this year.  Their is a third cousin also turning 50 (Chad), but he lives in Japan.

There were lots of dogs in the mix and even 2 pet raccoons.

I never got the count of how many people were in attendance, but I would guess it was around 110 with more people showing up throughout the day.

GaGa and her siblings: Sharon, Thelma, Linda, and Rick.

Bandit Update

The ulcer on Bandit's eye was through the cornea, so we had a small surgical procedure done to help it heal.  The Vet hopes it will also save his eyesight, but not guaranteed.  They sewed his third eyelid over the eye and secured it above his eyebrow.  This will serve as a patch to promote healing.  Kevin thinks the cone he wears is hilarious.  Well...it is.  Poor thing has to wear it for another two weeks. 

I grabbed a quick picture this morning...unfortunately it was while the cats were fighting and Bandit jumped on the toilet seat to escape (and probably try to get a drink).

Pool Party

We love our small group at Church.  Recently we had a BBQ at one of the couples home.  It was a gorgeous evening.

Camden and Sophia were more than happy to go with me (Kevin had to work) because they got to enjoy their pool.

Birthday Tradition

I think we have gone to Little Mexico every year for her birthday since she was 4.  Unfortunately our weekend and the nights around her actual day were full with other activities and we never made it.  This past weekend, we decided to go there and realized we were within a week of her birthday, so why not?