Mother-Daughter Time

This week my son is at camp - a really great camp as well. It is called Wet-n-wild. He has his two best friends with him as well. They swim (in a pool and in a lake); they go down a water slide; they have water gun fights; today they are at the Blue Harbor Resort at the indoor water park. My son comes home exhausted saying "do I have to go outside? I'd like to relax now". He goes to bed right away, sleeps soundly through the night and is difficult to wake for the next day.

My daughter is not at camp this week. I offered to call some of her friend's parents and arrange play dates for her. She said "No, Mom, I want to spend my time with you!"

Monday we mostly hung around the house and then went fishing.

Tuesday we rode our bikes to Sheboygan Falls, did some shopping and then met my father for lunch at a great little eatery in downtown Falls, the Bread and Bean. We sat there for just over an hour - three generations just talking about what is going on. That was real nice.

Wednesday we saw a movie. The local theater shows movies for a really small cost and that includes popcorn! We saw Nim's Island. After that we ran some minor errands, then out to lunch at another little place in Sheboygan called Field to Fork. They had excellent food from local markets (and they make their own cheeses!). Then we went over to the Entourage Salon and Spa for pedicures. We had the full treatment done and my daughter loved her first experience at having a professional pedicure. The day ended with some mighty big scares - about the time we were heading home (and to then pick up my son from the bus stop) a huge storm came and there was a tornado spotted a few miles north of our home. We headed straight home for the basement, hoping the camp was doing the right thing and had the kids in a shelter spot until the weather was clear (and they did).

Today we spent the morning cleaning up the yard from all the debris. When we walked the dog earlier, we saw numerous uprooted trees and huge branches along the roads for the village crews to pick up/mulch. Our house was lucky and we did not have any damage, but some of our neighbors have trees/branches on parts of their homes. (Yesterdays weather was the top of the news in Milwaukee AND was highlighted in the weather section of Good Morning America.) We shared a late breakfast together and played some Rock Band. I love to watch my girl jam on the guitar! After lunch we will be going over to my parent's house for an afternoon in the pool.

All in all, I'd say that my girl and I have had a terrific week of mother-daughter bonding. She has told me that she is quite happy with the time we've spent together. 9 years old is a wonderful age. She loves spending time with me, wants to do activities with me and looks to my opinion about choices she makes. She'll grow up too fast and soon my little girl will be off doing her own thing. These are the best times of my life.

Thank you my sweet girl - I love you so much!