Crazy Grandkids

Happy 76th to my fabulous grandma! In celebration of 76 years (not to mention the 53 years my grandparents have been married) my family, minus my Dad who was currently in St. Louis, and my uncle Ed and Uncle Kirk who were on a boat trip, got together for homemade cake and pasta salad and an excuse for my aunt and uncle to let Meg and I look after our younger cousins for a while. Most of the following photos are of Alex (age 6) and Claire (age 5), mostly because they are the most photogenic members of our family, but also because Meg and I spent a lot of the afternoon playing freeze tag and swinging on swings and exploring the "little paths" in our backyard. 

At least one of them wants to smile.

Swinging fun

Cutie.

I obviously can't compare to these cute kids, but at least they look adorable.

Chasing cousin Meg.

Decorating the cake with Grandpa.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

And think, she could have ended up with NORMAL grandchildren!

Congrats on making it 76 years grandma! (Especially since you've put up with us for most of it...) 

Midnight Ravioli

Ok so it had been six weeks since I'd last seen Lucy.
You heard that right, SIX WEEKS!
Which is way to long in my opinion.
So we decided we couldn't wait any longer than we already had, and I slept over at her house Thursday night.
I mean, I guess we didn't do anything too out of the ordinary.
That is, if anything we do at all is ordinary...
We went to the playground in the dark and swung on the swings as usual.
We walked to our friend Katie's house afterwards and serenaded her from outside her window so her parents wouldn't see us.
We made ginger, lemon, lime, mint, banana, and pineapple popsicles,
which honestly tasted like some bad sure for a hangover or something,
but were also strangely addicting.
We made midnight pumpkin ravioli with lots of butter.
We looked at Tumblr for at least an hour.
We talked about life and summer vacation and tried to pretend we aren't going back to school in a week.

Sometimes, I feel like Lucy and I are the same person.
Or at least we just have the same brain.
I'm glad I've found someone who understands my craving to eat at night, my love for cheesy old movies, and how I always want to walk around barefoot in the dark.
I love Lucy.

The Cure for Any Bad Day, Ever.

I don't know everyone who will read this post, but I'm assuming maybe not all of you have had your best day today.

No matter what your situation is, I have a solution that is guaranteed to cheer you up.

Here is a series of some of my favorite photos of Meg, photos that will put a smile on your face no matter who you are.

Enjoy.

Gangster Meg.

Meg featuring lizard.

Squinty Meg.

Meg featuring butterfly.

Meg on the first day of first grade.

Pure happiness.

Typical Meg.

Meg, proud collector of pine needles.

Meg, the pro Just Dance player.

Diva.

Meg's true side is revealed.

Meg did the duck face before it was cool.

So, wherever, whoever, and whatever you are, I hope these photos at least put a smile on your face.

Meg seems to be able to do that to people.

I love you Meg. I love love love love love you!

Sugar and Sprints and Everything Nice

Have I mentioned that I love, love, LOVE my field hockey team before?

Well, they're amazing.

By any standards they are incredible, but compared to last year I can't even believe that complete 180 that is the team I play for.

We may have only been together for 3 weeks at this point, but we already feel like a family.

I guess running sprints and having to carry water coolers across the field helps people bond.

But with my team, it's more than that.

We look out for each other, root for each other, laugh with each other.

Maybe not all of us are the best players, but everyone knows their talents,

as well as appreciates everyone else for theirs.

Coach Adler makes even the hardest of practices fun.

She knows how to cheer us all up and get us motivated,

but she also knows how to push us to be OUR best, not anyone else's. 

Even if there is an age gap between the girls on the team, it doesn't really matter.

We're all best friends.

After last year, I considered not coming back.

I didn't want to feel like a worthless member of the team anymore.

I was tired of sitting on the bench, 

being lectured for not working hard enough when I was pushing myself past my capable limits,

being ignored for doing something good,

and being lectured for doing something wrong.

But now that I'm back, I wouldn't trade it for anything else. 

I'm thankful for every single one of the girls on the team.

I'm thankful for our hardworking coaches.

I'm thankful that we have the opportunity, no matter how much we screw up, to try again.

As well as I'm glad we have the Sugar Shack right around the corner, so we may have gone there after practice today...

I'M THANKFUL FOR SAMOA DOUGHNUTS!

I'm just happy I gave this team another chance, and I didn't give up after one bad experience.

Things have changed, and for the better.

Now I finally feel like I'm a part of a team, instead of just playing on my own.

And I couldn't be happier.

Wow I make the same face in every photo awkward...

Adventures in C-Ville

Hello everyone! I'm currently writing this blog post from my grandma's computer in Charlottesville!

I realized it had been a long time since I had actually just gone up to my grandparents house for a visit and done the fun Charlottesville things I always used to love doing when I was a kid, so I drove up here last night to spend some time with my grandparents (don't worry, I'm not being antisocial by writing this, my grandpa is listening to the radio and my grandma is reading so we're all just kind of taking a break) Even though I have to work tomorrow (EEK first day of work EVER) I decided better one day up here in C-ville rather than none! So here I am! Today was wonderful, it was great to do some of the things I always loved doing when I came here as a little kid!

The first thing my grandparents and I did was go to our favorite place for breakfast, Tip Top. I got the chocolate chip pancakes of course!

 After breakfast, we came back to my grandparents house for a little bit, and I wandered around their backyard. My grandma has always loved putting strange little things in her yard, and I found my favorite statue from when I was little, this pig with wings that always reminded me of my favorite book.

Meg and I always loved to play in this little area with all the flower pots and fire wood. We called it our "fort"

After a little while at home, my grandma and I drove to the bakery in town, Chandlers. I have so many memories of going there when I was little, so of course I got what I always do, a radio bar!

You have to admit it looks amazing...

But then again so does everything...

After Chandlers, my grandma and I headed downtown to check out the outdoor mall. I love it, there are so many cool shops and people, and everywhere you look there is something new. (I just included this picture of the courthouse because it was on our way to the downtown mall...)

I loved this awesome clock made out of an old record player!

After walking around a while, my grandma and I stopped at Christian's pizza for lunch. I always loved Christian's as a kid, but had forgotten how amazing it was! Basically, they have every single type of pizza you can possibly imagine, and if they don't have the exact type of pizza you had in your mind, you can invent your own! I stuck with tomato basil though, just because it's AMAZING. My grandma got ricotta and spinach pizza, which was also rather heavenly.

One of my favorite things about the downtown mall was the Freedom of Speech wall. Basically, it is a giant chalkboard wall where you are allowed to write whatever you want to, and I loved looking at what everyone had written. Most of them were just random and silly, but there were some artists who had contributed, and some interesting quotes written up there as well. (See that smiley face in the bottom right corner? That's mine.)

Finally we came home, rested a bit, and then went to Riverside for dinner! We got the big basket of fries as usual...

After dinner, I went upstairs to my mom's old room and discovered this box full of old family photos, which I spent plenty of time looking through. It was strange yet kind of cool to see photos of my grandma back when she was my age, and even younger...

Even though it may have only been one day, I'm glad I got to spend some time with my grandparents after so long. Even though we live so close to Charlottesville, it's not often I get to come up here and spend time with them, so I'm really happy when I get an opportunity to! Tomorrow I have my very first day of work EVER, and even though it freaks me out that I'm growing up, coming here and doing the same old things I always did when I was little reminds me that no matter what, I'll always have that little girl inside of me who likes to eat radio bars and play in my grandma's garden and order the giant basket of fries every time we go to Riverside. 

Here's to that little girl :)