One of the things Avery and Emerson dislike the most about being about a twin is sharing a birthday.  Totally valid…completely understandable!  Therefore, I told them they could have their own parties this year and each pick a day to celebrate with the family.  Ironically, they decided on a joint party…Watermine Waterpark was what they both wanted! 

Although they had a combined party, that was actually fairly small due to a lot of their friends being out of town, we had an extended birthday celebration over four days!

Thursday morning started out with gifts…and all their gifts. They wanted to open everything at once! Gifts were not extravagant and yet they were so appreciated, especially the ones from each other and Harper.  Harper had soccer camp from 9-3 so I took Avery and Emerson out for breakfast at Simply Social Coffee shop just the three of us. 

A quick stop on the way to my parents’ house allowed us to pick up some edible parting gifts for the birthday party (Swedish Fish and gum).  They spent the afternoon celebrating with my parents at Bowlero bowling and playing arcade games, followed by lunch at Wildfire, and finally some swimming, which Harper also joined in for the swim. 

My parents brought the girls back home at 5:00 and we sang happy birthday and indulged in birthday cupcakes and tarts. 

We opted to go out to eat to celebrate on Friday due to Emerson having softball practice Thursday as well as the girls being “fooded” out from going out to breakfast, lunch, and having so many desserts.  

Friday evening, we celebrated with my parents at Matchbox, singing to them once again!

Saturday was their birthday party.  The weather was great and the girls had a fantastic time.  The only complaint that I heard was that the party wasn’t long enough! Not a bad complaint to hear!  Justin and I sat at the Funbrella during the party and it was honestly the easiest most stress free party I have ever entertained.

We were all zonked Saturday evening from spending all day in the sun.  We did some vegging on the couch and I even fell asleep for an hour.

The celebration continued into Sunday as one of Avery and Emerson’s gifts were tickets to see ABBA at Wolftrap.  The show was sold out.  We tailgated by eating CAVA in the van and then danced in our seats to a great show where the energy was contagious. 

Perhaps sharing a birthday is all the reason to extend the celebration into four great days!

Happy 11^th Birthday Avery and Emerson!

For four summers now, we have been attempting to vacation with my sister and her family.  Each year the idea has gotten pushed to the next summer due to COVID and a pregnancy. Last year as we were thinking 2022 may be the year, I realized it was my parent’s 50^th Anniversary and there was no way we could vacation together without my parents also joining us.  I asked my parents if they would be interested in doing a beach vacation with all of us to celebrate their 50^th to which they jumped on the idea. 

It took a bit of searching before finding a great house on the sound in Duck, NC. Lauren, Gabriel, Noah, and Elias flew in from London on a Thursday and by Saturday morning we were all packed in our two cars and headed to the beach.

Family. Sandy. Delicious. Exhilarating. Bakery. Extraordinary. Water. Amazing. Grateful.  

These were the single words that each of us chose the last night around the dinner table to sum up our vacation.

Duck was the perfect spot for our family.  We were within walking distance of the boardwalk, the beach, the Four Seasons clubhouse, local independent food markets, outdoor produce stands, restaurants, and hundreds of stores.

The weather was quite rainy some days, probably the rainiest beach vacation I have ever had, but it was far from a washout, and we still made it to the beach a total of four times, which is how many times I anticipated we would go being that we were staying on the sound.

We made some delicious dinners at home…from pasta night to steak night to a burger and dog night. 

We enjoyed a couple beautiful sunsets on the non-rainy and non-cloudy days.

We had a family talent show where we laughed so hard we gave ourselves a core workout.

We drove to Nags Head and peacefully enjoyed a calm morning at Jeanettes’ Pier.

We played paddle board, collected shells, played in the sand, and swam in the ocean. 

The girls battled out their pool skills, both on the billiards table and in the swimming pool. 

We indulged in a few bottles of wine and brewskis, including an afternoon beer flight at Growlers. 

We purchased and ate an insane amount of bagels, cookies, scones, donuts, and cake from a local bakery Tullio’s where our family may have been the best customers of the week. 

As if that wasn’t enough sugar, we indulged in ice cream from Big Bucks twice and ate saltwater taffy. 

The house itself was great, very clean and well maintained, a fully stocked kitchen, a great floor plan, and spacious rooms.  All beds were comfortable except for (yes, you guessed it) mine and Justin’s.  The mattress was fine but ironically the very pretty bed frame squeaked every time sometime turned a fourth of an inch. By day four, I couldn’t take it anymore and bunked with Avery in a quite comfortable twin bed. 

There were lots of cousin cuddles, grandma hugs, and most of all love, joy, and fun celebrating a huge milestone and what my parents “I do” commitment 50 years ago created. 

Jan 26/27 – Avery first injured her foot at gymnastics.  Complaining of it hurting but no bruising or swelling.  She wears an ace bandage on it off and on, takes a week or so off from gymnastics, but with no bruising or swelling over the course of the next week, I basically tell her to suck it up. 

Feb 10 – Avery hurts it further when doing a handspring at gymnastics. Still no bruising or swelling.

Feb 11 – I decide to take her to Urgent Care before school for an X-ray to prove that her ankle is just bruised and because I was starting to question my judgement as a parent.  X-Ray is inconclusive….they determine it may just be a sprain; however, they also see something that could be either a hairline fracture or an oddity in her growth plates.  They refer us to an orthopedist and put her on crutches in a splint until she can get further evaluated.

Feb 14 – We see Dr. Shepard.  X-rays reveal just a bad sprain.  He orders physical therapy (PT) twice a week and tells her she must stop running and jumping on it for three of four weeks.  He indicates she can come off her crutches as soon as she is ready.  I expect this to be within a day or two, she ends up staying on crutches for three few weeks…a few weeks on both crutches and then another week on one crutch.  While she is not able to attend gymnastics during this time, she is able to attend dance and participate in various ways over the course of the next few weeks.  There is some watching and some movement of the arms while sitting in her chair.

Mar 15 – After a month of PT and not participating in gymnastics at all and dance in a very limited capacity, Avery’s PT clears her to fully participate in gymnastics and dance.  She believes the sprain occurred long enough ago that it is healed.  At PT, Avery starts doing some running and jumping.  We expect her to be back at gymnastics and dance this week.  While she has been cleared and her ankle her certainly improved, over the next two weeks, it still seems as though it isn’t as strong as it should be by this point. While cleared, she still takes another week off from actual truly participating in gymnastics and dance.

Mar 30 – Avery goes back to the orthopedic and sees the Physician’s Assistant as it is the routine 6-week follow-up appointment. Due to her continued pain, additional X-rays were ordered, ones not only for her ankle, but also for her foot. The PA consulted with another orthopedist in the practice after seeing the images and they thought they were now seeing something called tarsal coalition, which is a genetic condition one is born with and often starts presenting starting around the ages of nine.  A MRI would confirm such a diagnosis. Until the MRI, Avery was put in a boot where she could only take her foot out for PT, to shower, and to sleep.  The exercises in PT changed as well with this potential new diagnosis.

Apr 11 – MRI day.  I spent hours on the phone trying to get an appointment for a MRI.  Our original one was scheduled for even a week later; however, I finally got lucky after calling multiple times a day daily and found a cancellation.  Avery was nervous about the MRI; however, she was able to calm herself and she did great. 

Apr 13 – MRI results were in and turns out she did not have tarsal coalition.  Great news! This was confirmed by Dr. Switagon April 13^th.  I had lined up this appointment as a second opinion in the event she had tarsal coalition.  Due to the first doctor’s vacation schedule, her second opinion doctor read the MRI before her first opinion doctor.  He cleared her to return to things back to normal as she could.  We would continue PT for a few more weeks to continue to strengthen her ankle and foot. 

Apr 17 – Easter – Avery injures her foot in an Easter Egg race.She ends up using crutches the rest of the evening. 

Apr 18 – We happen to have Avery’s follow-up appointment with the first practice (2^nd doctor – Dr. Ludwig) the day after Easter.  We tell her that we saw another doctor and received the good news on the MRI.  She agrees with his path forward based on the MRI, though she is concerned with Avery’s new injury. She wants an X-ray again to make sure she didn’t reinjure it based on where Avery is saying it now hurts.  The X-ray shows a potential fracture, but she isn’t sure and believes it could be a bruise as well. So, she orders Avery back in the boot for two more weeks.  Avery receives a new boot as her prior boot was starting to fall apart on the bottom.  We spend 40 minutes trying to get fitted with the new boot.  Despite the boot being the same boot, Avery is having problems with her foot moving in it.  She is in tears by the time we leave, and we go back and talk to the orthopedist a second time. She assures Avery a little movement in the boot is okay and she is not doing further damage to the foot.  She indicates PT needs to stop for several weeks to allow the foot to heal.

Apr 19 – Avery is not only wearing the boot but also back to using her crutches as she literally can’t walk now without a lot of pain in the boot alone. This continues for the next week plus.

Apr 27 – I leave a message with the orthopedist as she is clearly regressing.

Apr 28 – I speak to the Physician’s Assistant, and she believes Avery has now developed Amplified Pain Syndrome, something that can occur when a body part is immobilized for too long. Avery has now become overly sensitive.  She said the pain is real but it is a result of physiological pain.  She ordered Avery to start PT again right away as opposed to waiting; PT is recommended for up to three times a week.

Apr 29 – We start PT at home, it is challenging as she can barely put up with it.  The PT is simple touch and ice.  We continue this at home for a few days until I was able to get her back into a PT session.

May 5 – Avery has a PT session focusing on desensitizing and she is able to tolerate it. She is off the one crutch again by the end of the day. 

May 6 – The desensitization exercises seem to be making a big difference and she is walking in her boot normally again. 

May 20 – Avery goes back to Dr. Ludwig, takes additional X-rays and is cleared to take off her boot and resume walking on it. Doctor says it may take about a week to get comfortable walking on it all the time so boot can be worn occasionally if/when foot gets extra tired.  PT to continue twice a week.

May 20 (evening) – Avery is attempting to walk in the kitchen without her boot when her knee gave out on her and she has sharp pains for over an hour in the back of her foot (Achilles’area).  She said her knee never actually hurt but she collapsed due to pain in Achilles’ area.   

May 31 – Avery finally been off the one crutch she had been using after hurting her Achilles.  She was in a lot of pain for over a week and is finally walking normal on her foot again.

June 22 – Avery sees Dr. Ludwig and she says her progress is great.  She said it was night and day from what she had seen of Avery previously.  She wants Avery to continue PT for another month since it has been benefitting her so much. 

All throughout this time, Avery has:

– Been in and out of dance

– Been in and out of gymnastics

– On and off of crutches

– Had high and lows

– Been scared, down, positive

– Attended X PT Sessions

– Complained, A LOT, did I say A LOT?

– Above all persevered! 

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions and tasks for her and me.  It seems like a long time to have to deal with an injury, but we are both hopeful that we will look back on this time down the road and realize in the grand scheme of things, it was just a short period of time that she got through and taught her resilience.

Harper – Last weekend, Harper’s VYS Team played in a single elimination tournament.  They were a great team all season in the number one slot, only having lost one game.  The morning of the tourney was cool, a few occasional sprinkles, but overall a nice day.

Harper wanted it; she was hungry the whole game and her passing and footwork were on point.  She scored the only goal for her team; the moment was electrifying. They were prepared for penalty kicks unlike last Fall when the game tie resulted in penalty kicks.  Their practice paid off and they won in the penalty round advancing them to the game championship!  Harper had a great penalty shot and I was so proud of her. 

Game 2 Harper again was hungry. Annie’s mom was behind us and we continually heard her say after Harper’s plays “I could watch her play all day long.” She was on fire!  They were down 0-1 almost the entire game.  They had a few shots on goals, none of which went in.  With only about two minutes left in the game, Harper made a ridiculous kick from the side of the goal and scored to tie the game 1-1.  It came down to penalty kicks again.  Harper had a great kick in the air, which the goalie caught in the nose.  I happened to have it on video and while we felt bad for the girl, we may have watched the replay of the ball to the nose several times with painful commentary each time.  The girls were overjoyed with the win!  They played hard all season, both games, and it was an awesome end to the season.

Avery – Avery had been talking about wanting to get her ears pierced for at least a year since Emerson had hers done last September. She wanted them pierced, at the same time, she wasn’t ready. After talking about whether she was ready for it or not on a daily basis the last month, she finally mentally convinced herself she was.  I made the appointment only the night before as we couldn’t allow too much time between making her decision and the appointment so she wouldn’t change her mind.

We turned it into a date night, going to Silver Diner first for dinner.  She ordered pancakes with bacon and an oreo shake, which she excitedly shared with me.  What impressed me most about our dinner experience was how darn polite she was.  Her “thank you’s” to wait staff are so confident and sincere.  A manager who must have overheard as he was walking bye, even stopped to compliment Avery on how polite she was, to which she said a loud confident “THANK YOU”.

She remained calm and composed about getting her ears pierced the entire evening, from dinner to the car ride to the waiting time at Craig Pokes You.  We were hoping for two piercers; however, only one was available and she not only handled the news like a champ, but also the actual piercing one at a time.  Amy, the piercer, was great…talking through every step along the way.  Avery was so calm and poised that I even took a video of the second piercing as I wanted Avery to remember her composure and bravery. She came home proud to show off her studs!

Emerson – Emerson made VGSL All Stars a second year in a row. Her team played down for the tourney at the 10U level.  They practiced all week and really gelled as a team. Her team dominated their two games on Saturday and the first two games Sunday.  They made it all the way to the championship where they played the other Vienna All Star Team.  While they were ahead most the game, they let a bunch of runs come in one inning and were down by 2 in the last inning. Emerson was first to hit and nailed an incredible double into left center over the outfielders head to start the inning off.  Her team ended up tying the score back up.  In the extra innings, bats were alive on both teams, but in the end the girls couldn’t pull it off and lost by one.  Emerson was actually the last batter and struck out to her disappointment as there was a runner on third and a little hit would have tied the game again. I reassured her she did not lose the game for her team…and that is the truth!

Emerson had a strong weekend.  She hit two solid singles…one shortstop area and one straight up the middle.  She had two legit doubles into the outfield. And she had an amazing double play while playing first.  The runner was going home so after getting the girl out at first, she threw home and catcher made the tag. The girls were disappointed with the 2^nd place finish, understandably so.  The girls played their hearts out over the weekend and it was awesome to watch.  Emerson’s bat came alive this weekend and man was I proud.  

Each of these events left me invigorated for days!!

Two upcoming 6^th graders and one upcoming 4^th grader!  I blinked and here we are!  All three girls had a good year in school.  While they still wore masks and had Covid restrictions and precautions in place, we are ending on what seems like a “normal” year.  The girls benefited from in person teaching and caught up on some years prior topics as well as learned new material.  Emerson wrote quite a few amazing stories and an essay that placed in the OES Reflections Contest.  Harper learned multiplication, which she found to be easy.  Avery dabbled in a little bit of everything and learned how to demonstrate her negotiating and legal skills on paper. Emerson played clarinet.  Harper always had a story to tell about the kids in her class.  Avery eagerly participated in chorus.  

They each found likings to different things in school and in extracurriculars.  Outside the school hours, Justin and I shuffled kids to and from constantly.  

They are growing up for sure.  While I am always on top of the First Day of School signs, the Last Day signs are something I know I should do, but never materializes.  Thankful their personalities shine through to fill in. Emerson had prepared in advance a sign for the last day in Art class symbolizing freedom.  She anticipated all three of them would share the sign.  

The sign was a little too formal for Harper, so she brought in her love of art to represent the last day with a graduating dog.

While Emerson suggested that Avery hold her well thought out manicured sign, Avery chose to march to the beat of her own drum.  Could we really have expected anything less?

I am so proud of these girls.  School is for learning and growing both academically and socially and sometimes the social piece can be harder than the academics.  I am so proud of my girls for persevering.  While I am not in a rush, I can’t wait to continue to watch them expand their wings!

That smile! 

Watched my girl in her chorus performance last night!  She was the only one who didn’t read the music and memorized lyrics and notes.  Not sure that even reading the notes benefited the performers!

After a few of these songs, I caught this very smile on stage.  Justin and I turned to each other and smiled upon seeing her genuinely happy.

The movie star shades….those were the result of having her eyes dilated two hours prior to the performance!  

By the way, her vision was measuring at 20/50!  The best she has had to date!  And eye pressure was down…at 11 and 13!  

Guess she had a lot to smile about last night 🙂

Viva Vienna, the much anticipated event of the year.  I used to love Viva Vienna!  Not that I don’t love it anymore, BUT even better….my kids now love it more than me!

They are at an age now where they can pretty much ride all the big kid rides, though they still chose not to go on some of the scarier ones.  I don’t blame them. 

Avery was actually scared to go on the ferris wheel.  She said she would go on it if I went.  Despite my fear of heights, I said yes!

All three wanted wristbands this year, which meant they could ride as many rides during the day as they wanted.  While Justin and I knew monetarily it made more sense to purchase tickets for Avery and Harper, they felt strongly that the wristband was the way to go and it wasn’t worth the bickering. 

We met up with the Workmans and the O’Neills and the girls had a great time going on the rides with each other and their friends.

We stayed for five hours, the longest we have ever stayed at Viva Vienna! The girls got sunburned and by the end of the five hours were exhausted and felt accomplished.

Harper made the decision to be baptized.  She approached Justin and I with it on her own a few months back. VPC was great working with us to make it happen since it was atypical in the sense that Harper made the decision on her own vs. Justin and I making the decision for her. 

She can officially become a member of the church around age 12 or 13 and until then she has accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior and to obey His word and show His love.

Harper Paige – We support you and are so proud of you! 

Another wonderful month of my sister, Gabriel, Noah, and Elias visiting Virginia.  They came for my cousin Katy’s wedding and were here for so much more.  They were here to celebrate my dad’s 72^nd birthday in a private room at Pazzo Pamadoro.  They were here to celebrate Passover and hear the four questions read by the girls.  They were here to celebrate Easter and join in on some fierce Easter Egg Hunts.  They were here to cheer on Emerson at her softball game, Harper at her soccer game, Avery at her dance recital, and Emerson playing the clarinet.  We spent time riding scooters and bikes; watching a movie, shows, and eating ice cream; going out to eat; going for walks, playing on the neighbor’s swing set, reading books, and playing made up games like Smelly and Monster. We spent time smiling, laughing, and loving.

Noah spent the night at least six times and Elias spent the night three times.  It was wonderful every time. My heart is full.  I feel complete bliss around those boys.

A friend who saw me at Emerson’s band concert in late April texted me a few weeks afterwards asking what face cream I used.  She said for weeks, she couldn’t stop thinking about how great I looked.  While I gave her my skincare regimen, I told her the true reason I looked so great was likely that Noah was with us that night.  He sat on my lap; I was beaming ear to ear and I felt pure bliss as my whole family, including my “four kids for the night” enjoyed the impressive performance.