In the blink of an eye, Emma is 14. She took driver's ed training in Parker for a week in June, and she has already had her behind the wheel training, and she passed her written and driver's test as well. And actually, today I took her to the DMV, and now she has her instruction permit. She can now drive, as long as an adult is with her. That is crazy! I had her drive me to band practice tonight, and she did very well, but she was pretty nervous.
Emma also has been going to High School Orientation for the last couple of weeks. She goes Monday through Thursday, 8-3:15pm. They are long days, but she loved it. She met some friends, had fun, learned where her classes are, and just generally had a good time. And now, she is starting to ramp up with Band practice. She has had a couple evening this week, and a few days next week, and then she is in full blown band camp. She has days that go from 1-9pm, and she is going to be putting in some long days. I am so proud of her. She does enjoy it, and she is excited to be playing the instruments she is playing. I can't wait to go to football games and competitions.
Emma still likes drawing, painting, crafting, being messy, coloring her hair, having her own style, scrolling on her phone, hanging with friends, listening to music, and just vibing in her room. She is really excited for high school and moving on to bigger things. She played fastpitch softball this past summer and really enjoyed that. This summer we will work on getting some driving hours, and get her ready for high school.
Elliott also played baseball this summer. His first half wrapped up last week, and his team did pretty well. They had a great season. Now, he is starting his second season and he's on the same team as Rory and Jacob. The only thing the team is missing is a coach at this point.
But, back to Emma. For her birthday, we got her an Olivia Rodrigo album, some fabric for crafting, an April Ludgate Funko pop, a monster drink, and a new water bottle. She was a happy girl.
We also had a nice summer weekend with Katie. John, Emma, Katie and I ate at Pho Thai. It was delicious. (Elliott was at Grandma and Grandpa's house). We also went to the Levitt with Katie for some live music. The music group was pretty good, and we had a fun time, but it was a little hot. When we had enough, we dropped Emma at home, and then the three of us when out for a couple drinks and some adult time.
We also finally made it to Luverne to the drive-in movie theatre, and we saw Toy Story 5. We brought Katie and Elliott with us, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. We got there early because it was the opening night. So, we played some boardgames, played catch, and just had a nice evening. We had to wait until 9:45 for the movie to start. We all enjoyed some concession stand food, and the movie was great. It was about midnight before it was over, and we all headed home-we did not stay for the double feature.
On Emma's actual birthday, we ate at Wing Stop (per her request) with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jim. We ate there before an Elliott baseball game. It was a fun evening of celebrating Emma.
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| Softball games and sunsets |
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| The Strikers |
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| Luverne Drive In |
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| The Levitt |
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| Rainbow after the baseball game |
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| Birthday Girl |
