Peaches

Shara and I made pickled peaches today. She made fast work of things by sharing in the peach peeling. We both stood at the counter and worked our way through about 35 peaches from CM Smith. We didn't pick them this time but I don't think that made a difference. They were pretty good and if we have a chance to pick or run into more peaches this summer, I wouldn't hesitate to make more. We didn't make it out of the house in time to get to church, which I really wanted to go to and should have, but I also had to go in to work for a few - Alan changed a server battery, and didn't want all the back and forth driving, so we just went to work and then the farm. On the way home, we stopped for lunch at Asack's Turkey Farm. Shara and I split a pocket. Alan ate a whole one. Then Alan and Shara both had a lemon slush and I had a sundae.

It was a pretty relaxing weekend. Yesterday we all slept in because we were up past midnight on Friday, watching the Olympics' Opening Ceremonies. We also made a trip to the mall and got a couple pair of cute Bongo shoes.
 She wore them to our neighbors, one of each. I do hope she won't do that on a regular basis.

ArtsFest!

Still waiting to post the videos from the first session of Arts for Youth. Shara had a wonderful time and concentrated on fine arts because she wants to get better. Nothing wrong with that! Here is some of her work - sorry I didn't get everything formatted properly.

date with Auntie

Shara's off for her first Auntie Chrissy & Shara date! They're going out to lunch and then see Ice Age.

First Grown-up Concert!

Last night Shara had her first real concert experience. I took her to see Further at McCoy Stadium. We met our friend Kathy and her kids there. A kid got in free with an adult ticket and there were several there, but it certainly wasn't a kiddie show! We get to the main parking lot and Shara says, "these people think it's Wacky Wednesday, Thursday too!", or something like that. At AFY it was Wacky Wednesday, Thursday and she had on a boy's shirt and had her hair in a unicorn horn.


The best part of the concert for her was the orange soda I let her have for dessert, but we had a good time dancing too. We started in the bleachers, then took a walk because she was bored, then back to our seats, then another walk down to the field where we got to the far side of the rave-like center. By then it was getting dark and the glow sticks started to come out and we danced and grooved until it felt like time to head back to the main-land so we could get out before the crowds started pushing to the one exit from the field. Kathy was basically on the same schedule and she did a great job leading the way off the field, through the dancing crowd! We left right after and I felt we were super-smart because there was no traffic - we walked to the car, got in and about a 1/2 hour later were home. We would have been sitting in traffic for an hour had we not missed a few songs, though I would have liked to have heard Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream. Great time and so glad to have shared that experience.

Arts for Youth

We've been pretty busy this summer so far. Shara's party came and went and then on to summer camp. She's been having a wonderful time at Arts for Youth. She's taking video production, fine arts, puppetry, and dance. She wasn't sure how she'd like these subjects because she had her heart set on doing just what she did last year - music, dance, drama, and art. We registered too late for her to get just what she wanted but I don't think she'd want to change what she's doing. In video, they're making a movie - a mashup of Jaws, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Star Wars. Her role is the empress in Star Wars. Puppetry is like art - they make puppets and then act with them. Dance sounds like creative movement, and she really likes it, and art is art. She's been doing art for one of her workshops too, because she wants to get good at art and wants to put in the extra time. When I drop her off, she is so excited she can't wait to get over with her morning group and when I pick her up she's can be a chatterbox, telling me all about her day. I can tell she likes having the teens and college age helpers around too because she goes on and on about their funny jokes and fun things they say and do.

We've also been able to spend quite a bit of time in the pool. Shara's determined to learn how to swim this summer and she's certainly on her way! Without the swimmies she can get around a bit and is finally starting to get her butt out of the water and kick.