She went away a 7 year old...

On Saturday we picked up Abby from camp. She was super happy to see us, even her brothers! It was awesome to hear about her week, at least what I could piece together. She did BB Guns and Archery (and is close to being a "women of the wange"), swimming, got a million bug bites, laughed during bearclaw (which is a serious thing) because someone tooted really loud, got enough to eat (no easy feat!), got fabulous points, sang songs, learned crazy jokes, and did all great camp things. But she also developed an attitude worthy of a 13 year old. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it was all the week at camp. She'd definitely been working on the attitiude prior to camp. But I think that her being the youngest at a camp with lots of big kids definitely made a difference. Now I'm attempting to get rid of the attitude as best I can.

BUT... on the other hand, it is so nice to have her home. She evens out the boy/girl ratio in our house, she watches Ava, she played with the boys for hours tonight, she's funny and crazy and sweet. I'm already planning her week to go next summer, but for now, I'll keep her around.

She's still my baby girl

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!!

I can't believe my baby girl is 1 today. I still call her that--Hello, my baby girl! How's my baby girl? I guess she'll just always be my baby. But she is so much younger than the rest of the were at one. I mean, by the time Max was one, he was conquering the world. I'm so glad Ava is a little bit more laid back. She doesn't always run for the bathroom if we forget and leave the door open, and if we block the stairs she just goes right by instead of trying to go through the blockade! And she's younger than Abby and Nolan, who both walked by their first birthdays and just seemed so big! But she's just right for Ava... crawling and exploring everywhere, figuring out how to throw things, make her opinions known for toys, food, sleep. I think she can both say and sign "More", but I never can tell for sure what are real words and what aren't. This year has been a crazy one. You would think by the fourth I would be prepared for anything, but she's so different from the others--eating and crawling late, ear infections and hand, foot mouth. She completes us, and there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't been thankful that she's here.

What's the opposite of homesickness?

So, Abby's at her full day three at camp, and I feel like I'm obsessed. Oh, I'm fine just at the regular times, with regular life. I may catch myself thinking "Where's Abby" and it's strange to not see her sitting in her regular van seat. But I feel like I'm stalking her. At the camp website you can look at pictures and read their blog and I look ALL THE TIME! I mean, if pictures aren't posted one hour, I look the next, or the next. It's crazy. I know she's having a great time, I just know it. But I miss her!!

But lucky, lucky her. She gets to spend time away from the craziness that is our house. All the reasons that I'll miss her (she's responsible, helpful, loves to play with Ava, keeps Max busy) are also all the reasons she deserves this week to hang out with friends, laugh, have fun, and do a little of this...

I'm just dying to know what "this" is! I have so many questions... she'll be so sick of me an hour after I pick her up. :)

The Gawrych Clan, Minus One

So, tonight is Abby's second night at camp. We dropped her off yesterday with absolutely no problem. When we pulled into camp, staff counselors were everywhere jumping up and down, very excited to welcome everyone to camp. When the bugle blew, we headed to her cabin number 5, where we met her counselor Lauren. Lauren was so nice and welcoming. We got Abby all decked out in her bed, put all her stuff away, and she was busy working on her bunk poster. We almost had to drag her away just to come say goodbye to us! It truly made it easy to drop her off, and for her to stay.

But I do miss her. Today was rough, not just because she wasn't here, but because I'm still under the weather, Dave now has strep, Ava is clingy and the boys were just driving me crazy. But we survived. I just really, really, really hope that they don't call me that Abby is sick. PLEASE just let her stay healthy this week. She deserves this week. I miss her most because she's so helpful--keeping Ava busy, playing with Max starting activities for the boys--but that's exactly why she deserves this week. So she can just be herself, having fun doing whatever she wants to do, just Abby and not Abby the big sister and oldest, helpful daughter.

Sick at Six Flags

Dave had the day off of work on Friday, so we were planning on doing something, hoping Ava would feel better. First it was Wisconsin Dells for the day, but then the weather showed 72 and thunderstorms. Ugh. So, we checked out Six Flags Great America. It's been a long time since either Dave or I had been there, and neither one of us is really up for the rides, so we had never really considered it. But, they have some pretty big kid areas so we thought we'd give it a go.

First off, the kids loved it! And Dave. Abby, Nolan and Max (with Dave) rode everything except the really big roller coasters--all the spinny things, the water rides, up and down. They went on things I surely would have gotten sick on. Luckily, I got to stay with Ava the whole time. And Ava was mostly feeling better. By the end of the day she was a little stir crazy being in the stroller all day or having someone hold her, so I let her crawl around on the ground. It was pretty yucky dirty but it kept her happy. We got there at 9:30 and didn't leave until almost 9:30--and all the kids did really great!

And then there was me. Thursday I felt kind of yucky, and Thursday night I didn't sleep much because my throat was killing me. But there was no way I wasn't going to go, or have no one go, to Six Flags. So off we went. And all day was kind of iffy. By the time we got done I was worn out and achy. Sleeping Friday night was bad, and so Saturday I got up and went to urgent care... and my strep test came back positive. I came home, did a few things I had to get done as fast as possible, took a three hour bath, then went to bed for another four hours. I got up at 4:00 and was at least able to hang out on the couch with the kids. Another nap last night, and bed at 9:30, and I'm feeling much better today. I can still feel it, but it's so much better than yesterday.

Today, Abby goes to camp. I'm a little worried, mostly because at Six Flags, we shared a drink all day. Nothing like giving my daughter strep. So far she seems ok, but I'm really nervous about sending her to camp. I guess time will tell...