A recap on all the fun things that filled our summer and made it go by way too fast...
We kicked off our summer break with a quick trip to our new favorite beach, Blue Mountain. We left the day after dance recitals concluded and were super excited to get our summer started. We stayed in the exact same condo we stayed in the precious year in Redfish Village.
We fell in love with Blue Mountain Beach and this lovely condo last year and I was lucky enough to snag it again, last minute, for this year. If you're looking for a place in Blue Mountain, I totally recommend staying in Redfish Village and specifically the Surfin Seaside condo.
We really love this beach community with the Redfish Village shops, Redfish Tacos, Cowgirl Kitchen, Blue Mountain Creamery, and private beach access. It is definitely our go-to beach destination!
56 Camp @ Timbercreek
The next weekend after we returned from the beach, Elah and I headed to camp with our church's 56 (5th & 6th grades) group. I went as a small group leader, Elah as a camper and we had eight 5th grade girls in our cabin and group. This was Elah's first "camp" experience and she loved it. PL put on a fun and worshipful camp experience for these students. Tons of outdoor activities and games and wonderful discipleship and worship time.
The day we returned from 56 camp, both girls headed to VBS (Vacation Bible School) at a sweet little church near our neighborhood, which we have loved attending for several years now. Always a great experience.
Summer Day Camps
June kicked off all the summer day camps. The first week, both girls attended horse camp In our neighborhood.
The next week Evelyn attended Summerfest at our church in the evenings and both girls did Cake Decorating day camp lead by Amber Binkely. Amber is a friend of mine and has been making my girls' Birthday cakes since Elah was 4. So, this was a fun/neat experience for them.
The third week of June was busting at the seams with activities. Evelyn went to HA's soccer camp and Elah did the crochet camp there at the same time. Both of these are new activities my girls have. shown interest in lately so it was nice for them to get some more experience.
This week also started Elah's 2 week Summer Dance Intensive with her ballet studio. This consumed most of her time each day through the end of June. She's my beautiful ballerina!
Also this summer, Evelyn started gymnastics! She had been taking tumble alone for about a year and half but decided she wanted to give gymnastics a try with her best bud Emmy. She started a summer gymnastics program at a local gym to give It a try and quickly fell In love with it. And she is really good! The competitiveness and perfectionism Evelyn has really makes her a great gymnast. They offered a Summer All Star competition program at the end of the summer and of course Evleyn had to participate. It pushed her to work even harder and master skills. She quickly advanced through 2 levels to Intermediate Gymnastics within a few weeks. My amazing gymnast!
Twin Lakes
In July Elah also went to Twin Lakes for a week! This was a giant step for her to stay away from home for so long! She has struggled with bedtime anxiety and not sleeping well anywhere outside of her own bed since she was... born really, ha! She was never a kid or even a baby that would just get sleepy and fall asleep anywhere. So because of this, she has never really stayed overnight many places and especially not for 5 nights! But she did it and did great! She loved camp and had a great experience. I do think she missed home but didn't let it out-weigh all the good times she was having at camp. She says she can't wait to go back again next year!
The Summer Highlight
Definitely the most exciting highlight of our summer was the completion of our POOL! If you know me at all you know this has been a big desire of mine for a long time. I have begged and pleaded and prayed for a pool. I knew we would enjoy it so much and make tons of memories. I finally wore Russell down and made all our pool dreams come true this summer. They broke ground April 23 and we were jumping in (a little prematurely, but we couldn't wait any longer) on June 23. We had a ceremonial "First Jump" and it was everything we had hoped and dreamed of. We have enjoyed it every single day.
We still have some work to do with landscaping, building a fence, and adding patio furniture. We also plan to extend the roof line over our patio for more covered patio space. But none of that matters to me as much as finally being able to cool off and lounge in my very own pool to help ease and tolerate this Mississippi heat.
We have been very pleased with the product and service through BIG Pool Construction with John Skelton. We talked with a couple pool companies and we felt most comfortable going with John. I'm glad we did! He delivered detailed and attentive service and a solid quality pool.
I can't wait to enjoy it for years to come!
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