Last Friday Night

Dear Em,
It's fall, & we've been spending many of our Fridays at the pool. You love swimming, & I love swimming with you. Daddy & I have been so impressed with your budding swimming skills, & it's so fun to swim along with you. There has been a lot of splashing & floating competitions & giggles & family fun. Of course, I have to bring my camera along...

A few weeks ago, you & I had a night of swimming as just us girls. You had been asking to jump off the 3 meter diving board for over a year. Each time, Daddy has been too chicken to let you take the plunge. "Maybe when you're a little older," he would tell you as he shook his head in fear. I have to admit, I was feeling a little fearful too. Three meters is just so high! 

But then you asked me again when it was just the two of us. More often than not, I find myself holding my breath, not ready for you to take that next step or grow anymore into a young lady. I think after a long & hard work week, I was feeling the need to be brave. Somehow, I found myself saying yes. You climbed up the ladder timidly & slowly inched out onto the board. You gave me a nervous, questioning look. I tried to be as brave as I could for you. I gave you a thumbs up & a reassuring smile, & then you jumped!

My heart thumped out of my chest as you splashed into the water & finally swam up to the surface. You had a huge smile on your face. "I want to do it again!" I let you jump one more time before we had to leave. "Next time, I'm going to do a cannon ball," you exclaimed. Oh my goodness, I love you so freaking much my little dare devil.

I have to say, there's something pretty dang exhilarating about watching you conquer each first as you did on the 3 meter board that night. It gives me the inspiration & the confidence to try to conquer my own.

I love you so,

Mommy

Our Halloween 2015

Dear Em,
This year for Halloween, you were a gorgeous purple butterfly.

Our Halloween celebrations started a week before Halloween. Your school held a Fall Spooktacular. I got to help put the event together, & I couldn't believe the hard work the PTO put in to throw such a fun event. The decorations were so fun. There was a photo booth, crafts, a DJ, & fall snacks galore. We had a blast.

We carved pumpkins on the Thursday night before Halloween. Daddy carved out the minnie mouse you had picked, & I went with a nautical theme & carved a lighthouse.

We continued with our annual tradition of meeting up with your best friend & her family to go trick or treating at Mystic Village. The two of you were so stinkin' cute & had such a blast together. The hardest part of it all was contianing your large, butterfly wings. You're already like a bull in a China shop. Pair that with a set of wings that stick out & you were bumping into everyone & everything. Ha!

Savanna came back home with us, & the two of you trick or treated together in our naighborhood. Our neighborhood is small & doesn't get many trick or treaters. You both got handfuls of candy at almost every house. Your bags were overflowing by the time you got home. We offered you lots of candy that night, but you & Savanna were too busy playing barbies & writing your own books to be bothered by candy. Ha!

So, now I'm living in a house with an over abundance of candy. This is not good.

I love you so,
Mommy

One Fun Fall Saturday

Dear Em,
We had such a fun fall Saturday this past weekend. Our friends had driven up from the New York City area (you fondly refer to them as Aunt Erin & Uncle Matt). Wanting to show them the best of Rhode Island & knowing rain was on the forecast for Sunday, we jam packed our Saturday with as many of our favorite fall activities as we could.

It started with a 5 year old birthday party at The Farmer's Daughter. We don't typically take our out of state friends to birthday parties of children they don't know, but the party was at a farm. So we figured, why not? We had planned on having some pumpkin patch fun, & this way you could also celebrate one of your dearest friends.

We watched you have a blast with you little friends, going on a hayride, picking out a pumpkin, & painting your pumpkin. You hit a pinata & collected candy. It truly was the perfect fall birthday party.

After you hugged all your little friends goodbye, we explored the farm ourselves. It took us a little while to pick out the perfect pumpkins to take home.

After we had purchased our pumpkins, we had fun at some of the other farm activities. You worked your way through a hay bale maze. Everybody slingshot pumpkins at scarecrow targets. We all got lost in the corn maze. Although there was a flock of bird nearby making ominous, horror movie bird sounds, everything else about the corn maze was hilarious. At each fork you would split up our group, ordering half of us to go one way & the other half to go the other way. Eventually, we all made it out together.

After the farm fun, you went to have a sleepover at Grandma & Papa's house. Matt, Erin, Daddy, & I began the adult portion of our Saturday. We went to Tilted Barn Brewery. I just love that there is a place near our house where we can taste beer in a barn & walk along a path filled with chickens.

We stopped to enjoy the fall foliage on the way to our next stop. The foliage was at its peak this past weekend. It made my heart so happy as we drove along backroads.

We took Erin & Matt to our favorite beach in Rhode Island. I promised them that after they climbed the giant dune, they would love the view. Of course, Napatree Point didn't disappoint.

We went into the night at Ocean House & Malted Barley (two of my favorite Westerly spots for very different reasons), & returned home exhausted from our full fall day. Luckily, Sunday was the perfect grey day for us to relax & recover from our busy Saturday. We mostly watched movies & football & ate a lot of yummy food. Although I felt a little guilty about not getting out of the house, I think it's what we all needed.

I'm so thankful for our beautiful fall Rhode Island weekend. The best part was sharing it with friends & family, & the excited smile that spread across your adorable face.

I love you so,
Mommy