As usual, Abigail blossomed over the summer. \u00a0This year she started violin. \u00a0She read the first 4 Harry Potter books and is halfway through the 5th. \u00a0She has made a multitude of crafty masterpieces and science experiments. \u00a0It is her favorite time of year. \u00a0There is something about getting up with no agenda that brings out the creative spirit in all of my children. \u00a0They love to stay in their pajamas all day and “forget” to brush their hair. \u00a0It is free and fun.<\/p>\n
About a month ago, Abigail went to camp for the first time. \u00a0It was a 10 day experience like no other. \u00a0She had a ball.\u00a0 She tried new activities and made new friends.\u00a0 She also happened to be there on her birthday. \u00a0We had a little party before she went to camp and they celebrated during camp so she was able to stretch the occasion out over almost a week. \u00a0Joy for her…hard for Mom to be away from her on that special day!<\/p>\n
While she was gone, Hattie, Laura and I went to North Carolina with my parents to visit relatives. \u00a0We had a great time too. \u00a0But I missed her. \u00a0Oh, how I missed her. \u00a0So much so that when I finally crept my way through the line of Suburbans to find her on pickup day, it was like one of those cheesy chick flicks. \u00a0I spotted her and she saw me and I leapt out of the van and we ran for each other. \u00a0I couldn’t squeeze her tight enough. \u00a0My eyes were filled with tears of joy. \u00a0I had reunited with my love. \u00a0Of course it only took her about 15 seconds to say, “Mom! \u00a0That’s enough!” \u00a0I let her know how important she is to me and I almost embarrassed her in public. \u00a0I must be doing something right!<\/p>\n
She gained confidence and perspective while at camp…two things that are so very important at this age.\u00a0 Whoever equated children to sponges was a genius.\u00a0 They soak up everything.\u00a0 As a parent, I have to accept that they will learn plenty without me.\u00a0 They do not NEED me to teach them everything.\u00a0 Of course they get information at school but they glean information from their surroundings all day long.\u00a0 Abigail is very observant.\u00a0 She is starting to notice people and their behavior.\u00a0 She is learning those hard lessons about why people do some of the dumb and hurtful things that they do.\u00a0 I hate to see her innocent view of the world tarnished but the real world is out there, like it or not.<\/p>\n
I am so proud of the person she has thus far chosen to be.\u00a0 Of course she has her moments.\u00a0 We all do.\u00a0 I had several today.\u00a0 But for the most part, she is a loving, kind, thoughtful child.\u00a0 Robert and I are completely, unashamedly in love with her and we can’t wait to see what she does next!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As usual, Abigail blossomed over the summer. \u00a0This year she started violin. \u00a0She read the first 4 Harry Potter books…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16,210],"class_list":["post-381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children","tag-abigail","tag-summer-camp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions\/384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakatedonovan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}