garnet mondays @ ruby tuesdays

When you are
a real princess
you are sensitive
to your own feelings
and to others around you.
You care about
what is true
and you tell the truth
and you do that in ways
that are loving,
respectful,
full of grace
and gentleness.

Meet a real princess. We cut our chips and salsa time short this week since Carlee didn't have to be at gymnastics. She did need to be home early enough to practice her Walt Disney presentation with Mom that she was giving at school on Thursday AND being videotaped! [can't wait to see how she did] and how confident she'd be knowing her stuff! Like, once upon a time, in a land far, far away....well actually, not so far away, dontchya know...Walt Disney was born in Chicago, IL. With Mom coaching her, she would surely stand up strong and present all the fun things she learned about this creative genius in her own unique captivating style!

But that still gave us plenty of time to go on a little adventure trip down Sherrie Lane!

We stopped home to pick up Gracie and listened to this song and visited Haiti before heading over to Woodbury. We spied "the popsicle man" driving his ice cream truck on a side street and started thinking about different things we want to do on our summer days together. Five minutes later we were at our old stomping grounds...where her Daddy grew up. I remember the day my Dad brought Mom and our new baby home from the hospital 37 years ago today actually! (Happy Birthday Stephan David!!) I was down on my knees on our red brick sidewalk trying to gently assess the life of a bumblebee when the little bugger stung me! Ouch!! I remember putting mud on it and crying but mostly I remember adoring my little brother!! and I still do.

Now back to our Woodbine-Sherrie Lane Adventure...we visited the creek where as kids we'd ride our bikes to and would walk in the creek to our picnic spot around the bend but this time we got there by driving down the path that starts where Coggins' house used to be in the culdesac court that we played in tar puddles once with our cousins and rode our bikes and big wheels and inch worms around and around...just before the top of the sledding hill that would take us all the way down onto the lake! and there was that curb along Sherrie Lane where my sister fell and broke her arm that I went back there to dissect the gum that fell out of her mouth to see if she was going to be ok while my parents had taken her to the hospital...and last but not least, actually first, we went to the office building where I used to look for agates for hours. We're going to go back there when we have more time. We looked across the highway at the spot where Dad (Grandpa Jerry) would take us in our station wagon and we'd swim at the Tanner's Lake drop off.

I gave her Princess and the Pea
and read it to her at the restaurant...
[it helped us talk about that terrible fight she and her sisters got into that Saturday]
I loved that book as a little girl and now I can see why through Carlee's eyes. We drove past Carver Elementary to see where Daddy went to school and drove past Afton Park where he played little league. It was fun!! Next time we are going to make a list of ideas for our garnet mondays...

There's a ravine by her house that we are going to pack a picnic basket and blanket and bring Gracie. Some days we'll probably just hang out at her pool and bbq with the family. We even hope to visit Marcell's garden so Carlee can meet her beautiful granddaughter April! [Hoping to find a bumblebee that feels safe enough to let me pet its fur again...still longing for Eden.] The Girls Rock video will arrive in September so we're for sure planning a last hurrah girls' night in! And paint rocks that say cool things like "I'm Sensitive" and "Create Beauty" and "You Are Safe" and "You Rock" and "I Know a Real Princess" and "Sisters Share Love & Laughter" and we hope Auntie Sue will come with us sometime too!