a way with words

one of the best ways to become aware of a special talent one of your children has is when that special talent comes up in a conversation among adult friends at dinner.  one recent saturday chris and i joined three other couples at a restaurant, and while we did discuss non-child-related topics, the talk turned, inevitably, to our kids.  the most surprising thing we wound up chatting about?  susanna's unique letter writing ability.

susanna sent out her birthday party thank you notes within the last few weeks, and it seems that how she expressed her gratitude made a lasting memory on the recipients (and their mothers.)  meg and her daughter polly learned that their book store gift card was quite the windfall to susanna.  meg said that susanna's exact wording was, "$15.00 is, like, a TON OF MONEY!"  (so not only can i not get her to stop saying "like", she apparently likes to use it in her writing as well.  the all-caps and underlining were also all her.)  amy couldn't remember lily's card verbatim, but reported that it was along the lines of  "i would normally explain in this note how much i've used the shrinky dinks you gave me, but of course you saw them yourself when we went to the beach so i don't have to." 

i realized, after hearing these stories, that i probably should at least glance at these gems before sealing them in their envelopes and sticking them in the mailbox.  with her tendency towards brutal honesty when armed with a pencil and stationery, who knows what she might write?  and what a timely lesson this turned out to be.

our dear friends the basses recently lost their fourteen-year old dog holly, and i bought a condolences card to send them.  chris, liam, and i all wrote heartfelt messages of sorrow and sympathy, having just been through a similar loss with our own pooch back in the fall.  susanna was the last to sign it, but  seemed stumped as to what to say.  she looked up at me and asked what had happened.  "it was really similar to super," i explained.  "holly just got really old and sick, so they had to put her down."  she nodded with understanding and turned back to the task at hand.

but before i slid the card in its envelope to lick it shut, i knew, this time, to read it.  and i immediately wished i hadn't.  

in case it's hard to read:  "Dear Basses, I heard that your dog passed away.  It must have been very hard to let the doter [doctor] kill her.  I bet know you miss her very much.  Love, Susanna"

i was horrified.  should i have her erase it?  oh wait -- she wrote in ink.  should i have her add on something a bit more sentimental?  should i buy another card?  should i apologize on the envelope, to soften the blow before they opened it?  ultimately, i just decided to give it to lainey in person when we saw each other at book club, with a warning for when she brought it home to read it.  i figured that the basses are susanna's godparents; they have to love her whether she has any sense of tact or not.    

i got an email from lainey later that evening.  "Thank you for your sweet card!  I laughed out loud when I read Susanna's sentiments : ) Don't know that I've ever laughed while reading a sympathy card!  It was just the medicine I needed."  in fact, when i told her that i might mention it in a blog post, it was she who took the picture of the card for me to use.  weeks after the fact, and they've hung onto this literary treasure; it still brings a smile to their faces. 

so maybe susanna knows what she's doing after all.

when losing is actually winning

liam and i headed down to myrtle beach for a soccer tournament at the end of april (while chris and susanna headed to the north carolina coast for a Y princess weekend) with grand hopes of winning the whole thing.  his team were seasoned veterans at this point, chock-full of talent with their eyes on the prize.  to further intimidate their opponents, this is how the entire gunners roster looked heading into the first game:

(the lighting isn't great, but it he has a bright blue streak in his hair)

so there they were, pumped up, adrenaline flowing ... and they lost.  it was close, but they lost.  and they were devastated.  a few of the dads walked them through the possible scenarios -- it was a round-robin format, so they actually still had a chance of winning the tournament IF they won the rest of the games and IF team that just beat them lost and IF their goal differential was larger, yadda yadda yadda.  i sort of tuned it out while we moms tried to come up with a game plan to lift their spirits.

and what better way to do that than a round of putt-putt?

one of the best mini golf courses we've visited ... 

and with an enthusiast like liam, we've seen quite a few

and then we headed to lunch, undoubtedly scaring off any poor patrons who happened to be out on the deck with our large group.

we returned to our gorgeous (and expensive) hotel for some down time, per the coach's instructions.  he wanted them well-rested before taking on their second game, where they'd hopefully win and put themselves in possible contention for the overall prize.  we all looked out of the windows sort of longingly at the beach and glittering pool below, frustrated that they were right there and we couldn't enjoy them.  ("absolutely no swimming," the coach jordan reminded them.  "it wears out your legs too much and we need all the energy we can get for this next round."  whatever, dude.)  and if we won that second game, then i knew we'd be pulling out of the parking lot at a totally unreasonable hour of the morning on sunday morning for the championship round.  "how was the beach?" people would ask after we returned home.  "i have no idea," i'd reply.  "but it looked nice from our 15th story window."

but my dream came true: their second game wound up in a hard-fought tie.  and while the more competitive folks in our group were disappointed, i was secretly pumped.  we'd actually be able to take advantage of all our resort had to offer.  no crack-of-dawn sunday departure; no required avoidance of the pool or beach.  the boys might have to play the consolation round with slightly more fatigued legs than had we skipped swimming, but really, who cared at that point?

the saying goes that winning isn't everything, which is true, of course.  but i'd like to add a new saying to the list: sometimes losing is winning too.  for while we never won a game that weekend (winding up with that one close loss and two ties), we certainly were victorious in many other ways.

the blissful face of a non-winner

who needs a bahamian cruise after all?

*note: i'm playing major catch-up now that it's summer and i have a moment to breathe.  below is the recap of our spring break trip from 2 1/2 months ago.  i started it soon after we returned, and then it sat in the drafts folder ever since.

"so, when do we leave for the bahamas?" susanna asked me one day a few weeks back.

i looked at her, feeling like i had been somehow transported back in time to a year ago when we actually were going to the bahamas.  "i'm not sure what you mean, sweetheart," i replied.

"well, spring break is coming up soon.  aren't we going back to the bahamas?  isn't that our spring break trip now?"

i had to laugh.  and then i had to let her down.  "i'm sorry, but we just can't do the bahamas every year," i explained.  "but you are in for a treat!  because we're going somewhere just as great -- williamsburg, virginia!"

but you want to know what's crazy?  fast forward to the end of our trip.  as we were gathering all of our bags to get into the car to drive home, both liam and susanna -- i kid you not -- declared williamsburg to be just about as fun as the bahamas were.  "if the bahamas were a perfect 100," susanna mused, "i think williamsburg was like a 99."

note to self: we can save a whole bunch of money armed with this revelation ...

 busch gardens.  39 degrees and pouring for most of the day.  the upside?  no lines

we stayed with dear friends from our asheville days, the hunts, who relocated to williamsburg shortly after we moved to raleigh.  jill (age 6) hit it off with susanna ...

... and liam and reagan (3 weeks his senior) were fast friends too

we opted for inside dining for lunch, complete with a show and really good beer

next day: colonial williamsburg, under thankfully sunny skies.   i kept waiting for the whining to commence because i know that's what i would have been doing at their ages (sorry, mom & daddy).  there was a ton of walking (in fact, chris's pedometer clocked in at over four miles) and educational, historical components to the day.  but they never once complained, even finding joy in trying on hats

 

their crime? being so stinkin' cute

our final destination: great wolf lodge.  such a huge hit that i foresee another trip in our future

practicing his jump shot ...

and his boogie-boarding skills  (we won't focus on the fact that he's supposed to be surfing)

susanna indulged us with one ride down one of the big water slides (a daredevil she is not) ... and then it was all about floating along the lazy river in a tube the rest of the time

the only time the kids bickered the entire trip was when we determined who got the top bunk in our cabing-themed great wolf lodge room for the one night we stayed there.  susanna won this time ... but we promised liam that he would prevail on our next visit.  (let this blog serve as a reminder, please)

how liam does putt-putt (notice the correct stance and grip)

how susanna does putt-putt (what? bending down to blow your ball into the hole isn't correct stance and grip?) 

and i've saved the best for last: MagiQuest.  imagine two children working together with a (borrowed) special wand to solve riddles and hunt down clues for HOURS and HOURS all over the hotel.  if only they had one of these in the bahamas ...