Because I am not an Elephant

First day of camp at the lake and first time on a school bus! Luckily we ran into someone who went to her school - they didn't know each other but became fast friends. School buses are different these days; mandatory seatbelts and assigned seats - but she got assigned to sit with the girl from her school so it worked out perfectly. She came back singing all sorts of songs and learned about new games, so I see it as a success!

I woke Hannah up at 7 today to prep her body for the new wake up time for camp. She woke up without a complaint, we read some books, and then went to the supermarket and gave Graham the morning to himself. While he was rehearsing with his bandmate when we got back, we had an impromptu playdate with a few of the neighborhood girls. After lunch Graham took her to the Verona pool where she overcame her fear of the diving board, and then after dinner she helped me make some easy-to-eat-on-the-go breakfast muffins. I hope she'll eat them. The chocolate chips should help.

After the long drive home from Cape Cod, Hannah decided to pick another one of my books to read. I couldn't hear her perfectly but I'm pretty sure she read the title correctly - Love in the Time of Cholera. She spent a few minutes "reading" on the couch and in case you forgot the plot, it's a very funny book and there seem to be a few dragon characters.

I went for a run this morning before everyone woke up because yesterday I tried going for a bike ride but it was pretty boring with no real places to go. I ran to the the beach and then walked on the beach, which was great to do early when it was empty.

Tonight after a great day at the beach we had dinner at home and then had dinner at our rental house before going out for a second night in a row of mini golf. I'm all in on mini golf but it has opened a new world for Hannah. She loves playing but in her own way. She takes about 7 tries per hole to get the ball in and it mostly goes in because she drags the ball in with her club. It's a family affair when she has her turn, but once she is done and Graham and I play, she is totally absorbed with watching any and every other family and could care less what we are doing. She loves it.

We are on vacation in Cape Cod. Walking along the beach this morning waiting for the cool weather to dissipate, we found a gold earring among the hundreds and hundreds of shells. We picked it up to leave at the main beach shack/bathroom area. About an hour later we finally made it back and were able to unlock our bikes to go home and get our beach stuff when two girls and their mom walked by - and one of them had only one earring on that matched the one we found. I asked if she dropped her earring and it turns out it was her and we had found her missing earring.

The odds of this coming full circle have got to be close to zero.

We left this morning for a few days in Cape Cod. It's a long drive. I don't remember being in the for so long when we went as kids but we made it. Hannah was dying to see our rental house with bunk beds - she went to sleep by herself no questions asked.

Of course it was raining the whole day and also when we got here. The restaurants in town were all packed I assume as people have been waiting all day to go out, so after seeing wait times of 45 min to 1 hr, we decided to cook dinner at home, so I'm glad I packed up half my kitchen this morning.

We were all up early today to head over the Morristown medical center for Hannah's MRI. She was anxious about it yesterday but was super energized by the time we got to the hospital - super friendly and chatty with the doctors and nurses and even waited for the doctor in a locker in the waiting room. The doctor gave us some warning about how things would go - getting her to sleep would be easy but her body might do some crazy things (shaking, eyes rolling back, etc) as the anasthesia kicks in - but waking up would be difficult.

They were right about her going under but it was easier than they said. She took 5 breaths and was out. Easy peasy.

After about an hour or so we got called back in and they were spot on about recovery. She was crying, screaming, moaning, and 80% inconsolable until she finally was totally awake. We finally got her to drink something so that we were able to check out.

The car ride home was pretty cranky but once she had lunch she was mostly back to herself. By the time we had dinner she was back to her normal dramatic self.

I thought about scheduling a playdate for this morning but luckily I didn't because after a super late bedtime, Hannah actually slept in until almost 10 AM! It was nice to have some time to get things done and then after lunch we went to my brother's house for my nephew's first birthday. Nothing is set in stone but I have a strong feeling that he'll be the last of Hannah's cousins so it was fun to celebrate this milestone.

We endured a brutally hot 4th of July parade today with Hannah's friend Alice. I am surprised some of the parade participants didn't end up in the hospital with heat stroke. It's not the sort of event you can postpone but considering that Sunday will be much cooler, it was unfortunate that so many people had to suffer. It was so hot that in fact the spectators were probably only half or less of prior years.

After the parade we came home to cool down and hydrate and then went to Graham's old neighbor's house for her annual 4th of July party. Her house is a small cottage with tiny rooms despite the fact that her husband is over 6'. Her dining room, which is about the size of a dining room table (no exaggeration) is painted dark purple with glitter in the paint. Additionally, she has about 100 prisms in her windows, a shelf dedicated to sea glass, a shelf dedicated to swarski glass animal figurines, and an entire bookshelf of glass paperweights. After 10 minutes of exploring, Hannah announced "I want to live here".

She also seems to have forgotten about fireworks since last year so her mind was blown for yet another year. I think next year they won't be a novelty anymore, though.

Well the heat is here and it's only the beginning. I'm still getting around with her to and from camp and the pool via bike because as much as I'm sweating at my destination, I think being in a hot car is way worse than the breeze on a bike and the benefits of a spray bottle while riding.

Today we beat the heat for the hottest part of the day by going to the movies with her friends and siblings Sunnie and Gabe. There were only two other people in the theater besides us, which was for the best because it was Gabe's first movie theater outing and there were a lot of questions. I had to force Hannah to go and she finally admitted she liked the movie - she was so hyperfocused that she ate 3 pieces of popcorn.

After camp and before the pool, we did some piano practice which quickly escalated because she can't read the music and is immediately frustrated. We finally worked it out but she was not in a great mood and anything thereafter set her off. She started crying about something and told me that "I'm just having a hard day". After she calmed down about 10 minutes later she asked "what was I upset about?"

Today my family met in Albany for my grandmother's unveiling. Graham took Hannah to the mall during the ceremony as questions were already escalating in difficulty to answer. For the rest of us it was a nice chance to remember my grandmother and see how her life affected each of us in similar but unique ways. It was also nice to have a moment of reflection to think about what it is that people remember about you especially when it's not your peers; I am sure there are many things about everyone that their children and grandchildren don't/won't know about them and that gives an even more interesting sense of the memories someone leaves behind.

We had a lot of time in the car and Hannah did much better - I no longer have to sit in the back seat for long car rides. We did listen to a lot of We Will Rock You and she did an interesting self portrait, including the headband she was wearing with a tag on it. And a nose ring, which she apparently is interested in having one day.

We got a letter in the mail today for someone asking if we are interested in selling our house. Even if we were, we'd probably opt to use a realtor with a name that doesn't project failure from the get-go.