the essence

This weekend was packed full & so much fun! More photos are here.

Yesterday was the soccer tournament at camp. Ray had to be there a tad earlier for the coaches meeting so Aimee picked up Addison & I to drive over together (about a 1.5 hour drive).

I had to wake Addison up to leave - she's been waking up in the middle of the night saying she's hungry & won't go back to sleep until she eats...& eats some more. I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt. Anyway, she was quite tired but thrilled that there was a DVD player in the car. Addison had never witnessed that before & she'd also never seen Veggie Tales. She just pointed & laughed at the screen for awhile - she loved it!

I really barely watched any of the soccer. It was more of a catch-up-with-friends-I-usually-only-see-on-facebook kind of visit. I saw Anele & her 9-week-old little boy & we talked forever. I don't think I'd seen her in about 3-4 years!!! I also visited a lot with Sophia & Becca. There was lots to catch up on! It's so crazy that it's been 8-9 years since I've spent a summer working on staff with all of them.

Trish (Ray's mom) was there for the day which was such a life saver for me! Even with all of her lack of sleep, Addison had boundless energy & totally loved all of the openness at camp! Lots of places to run & a playground! I did not have boundless energy & probably looked quite silly trying to run after her. She wouldn't even sit still during lunch, she just kept dancing around & saying "hi" to people.

Ray's mom took her for most of the afternoon & Addison mastered the slide while we were there. If she sat on her dress just right she'd zoom right down to the bottom - then climb back up to try again.



I think our team came in third place at the tournament & we were finished by 5:00. We all drove back to Tampa & Ray, Addison, & I, Conrad, Rachel, & Ruth, & Nathan, Erin, & Claire finished off the day with salad & breadsticks at Olive Garden. It was SO delicious! Not only was it delicious but it didn't really cost us anything! Earlier in the week Ray was leaving toastmasters & found a little wad of cash under our car - enough to go out to dinner!

It was such a fun day but we were all so exhausted - we were asleep by 9:30! Today was great, as well, since we had our Thanksgiving potluck after church - good food & I didn't have to cook or clean!