Sophie's 9 Year Old Birthday Interview

Wow, I feel like 2015 was a big year for Sophie.  She started 3rd grade in September and I learned immediately that 3rd grade is NO JOKE.  We just happen to go to a very competitive school that pushes students hard.  While I'm grateful to live in an area with such an awesome public school, I can see all the problems with this style of education.  And, of course, this just means more work for me.  Sophie & I work on homework for at least an hour every night AND THIS IS 3rd GRADE!  

Last Spring she also tried out for and gained a spot on a competitive soccer team.  This means 4 days of soccer every week.  Now you know why I haven't been blogging!   It's been a whirlwind since school started.  I spend a lot of time thinking about how kids grow up these days and, the majority of the time, I'm thinking I don't like it at all.  When I was nine, I was playing in the creek and building forts in the woods.  Sophie goes from one activity to the next and every single activity requires hard work from her.  I am constantly wondering which activities to continue and which to drop.  This might possibly be her first and last year on the competitive soccer team.  We shall see.  

Sophie also came home a few weeks into school and told us she wanted to run for Student Council.  As someone who always took part in Student Council and loved it, I was excited.  She wrote her own speech, made her own poster and spoke in front of ALL the 3rd, 4th & 5th graders.  And she made it!  Alain & I were both so proud of her!  It was also obvious that she was very proud of herself.  Her teacher confided to me that Sophie won "by a landslide".  I wasn't surprised.  Sophie is a social butterfly if there ever was one!

 As you'll see, when I interviewed Sophie, she said she hated school.   This broke my heart.  I always loved school.  Still do....even when I'm not the student.  And I know it's because she is being pushed constantly.  Learn more, be more, do more.  One of my goals for 2016 is to slow this ship down some.....if it's even possible.  

Anyway, I could talk about my Sophie all day, so without further ado, here is the birthday interview for our lovely, colorful, lively, passionate Sophie:

What's your favorite color? 
Seafoam Green & Turquoise

What's your favorite food?
Mac & Cheese, Burritos, Spaghetti, Rice & Beans

Who are your favorite friends?
Kaylie & Summer

{I failed to mention that we also do Girl Scouts.  I say "we"because I'm the troop leader.  Our troop went to a local hockey game in January.  Sophie is here in the center with two of her friends.}

What's your favorite thing to play?

With Millie, with friends.

What's your favorite animal?

A puppy/dog, dolphin, elephant, black-footed cat.

{I adore this picture and it was just one example of many, many where she was being a wonderful big sister to Clara.}

If you could hop on a plane and go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
New York City & Hilton Head

What's your favorite letter?

S, C, H, N

What's your favorite number?

9, 2, 5, 12 & 22

{One of our favorite events of the year is the St. Patrick's Day parade where we march with The Golden Retriever Rescue Club of Charlotte.}

Do you like school? 

Hate, hate, hate

What's your favorite subject in school?
All the "specials" (Art, Music, PE, etc.)

{At a friend's roller skating birthday party.}

What's your favorite book?
Magic Treehouse, Puppy Place

What's your favorite word?

Flexible

What's your favorite song?

Anything by Taylor Swift, Adele or Katy Perry.

{Watching the women's final in the World Cup.  We were beyond elated at the outcome!}

What's your favorite thing to do?

Swimming, Soccer, Tennis

What makes you happy?

Grandma, Crystal, ,my puppy and you Mom.

{In at least half the photos I took of Sophie this year she was wearing her soccer clothes.  I had to include one here.}

What would you like to be when you grow up?
A puppy trainer/sitter.

When you close your eyes, what do you see?

Darkness & Hubbell.

{First day of 3rd grade}

What is your favorite pet?

Dog, kitten, bunny.

What's your favorite treat?
Reeses, Ice Cream Sundae, Banana Split

{We took a group of Sophie's friends rock climbing for her birthday.  Wow, Sophie is an awesome climber}

What five words would you use to describe yourself?

Playful, restless, girl, flexible, joyful.

{Without question, my favorite photo of Sophie from 2015.  I took this while we were sitting on these rocks watching the dolphins feeding at Sunset.  It was an intensely beautiful moment.}

I can't wait to see what my beautiful girl accomplishes in 2016.  She recently expressed a strong interest in tennis.  That's MY sport and I feel so at home and very much myself on the tennis court.  My intention is to play a lot more tennis with Sophie in 2016!  I look forward to it.  The tennis and everything else!!!

XOXOXO,

Audrey 

Sophie's Eight Year Old Interview

Yep, it's that time again.  How on Earth do these interviews keep coming around so quickly?

We celebrated Sophie's birthday earlier this week so we sat down to do her birthday interview, one of our most favorite family traditions.....

What's your favorite color? 
Green and blue

What's your favorite food?
Spaghetti and burritos and mac & cheese

Who are your favorite friends?  

Emilia & Chandler

What's your favorite thing to play?
Freeze tag

What's your favorite animal?
Dogs, dolphins & elephants (and bunnies)

If you could hop on a plane and go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Honduras (two of her cousins live there!) and New York

What's your favorite letter?

S and H

What's your favorite number?
9

Do you like school? 

I don't like it that much, say "kind of".  I have fun seeing my friends at recess and I like some of the learning things. We're doing some fun writing at the moment.

What's your favorite book?
Magic Treehouse, Junie B. Jones, Berenstain Bears and Curious George

What's your favorite word?
(That is like the weirdest question ever.)

Color

What's your favorite song?
Am I Wrong?

*such a great song*

What's your favorite thing to do?

Go outside for recess and see my old friends.

What makes you happy?
Seeing my old friends when I'm at recess.  Seeing when other people are happy.

What would you like to be when you grow up?
A dog trainer and I'm going to be in the World Cup.

When you close your eyes, what do you see?
Seeing people who have passed away, pets too.

What is your favorite pet?

Dogs, bunnies, hamsters, cats.

What's your favorite treat?

Every treat.

What five words would you use to describe yourself?

Smart, cool, funny, beautiful, fun.

All past years can be found here.  Each year we go back and read all of her previous answers and she cracks up.  I just get all teary.

Lulu & Goose in D.C.

Our family spent last week in Washington, D.C.  One of my favorites places.  I've spent a lot of time there in my life (being a Virginia girl and going to college only 45 minutes away) but this was the first time our girls visited the city.  I'm not really sure what took us so long!

Honestly, it was too hot to take pictures. It was too hot to breathe.  Plus I was sick and/or recovering the entire trip. But I managed to squeak out a few photos. Here are some of my favorites....

  

  

{My nickname for Sophie has always been 'Goose' so I'm quite fond of this picture!}

{I gave Clara a dime and told her she could put it in her pocket.  She rarely took her hand out of her pocket the remainder of the day!}

{Alain found an awesome place called The Swiss Bakery.  Pretty authentic and SO delicious!  We may or may not have gone there three times during our visit...  On this particular day, I had Clara wear her "Heidi"/Switzerland shirt that was a present from her Tio Iggy and Tia Bianca (originally Sophie's present but it's now fitting Clara perfectly)!  Tio Iggy is always with us.  Always.}

Alain agrees with me that we will only return to D.C. during the cooler months of the year.  I'm looking forward to it already and I know the girls are too!

Marsh Island

We've been home over a month now but I'm still trying to get caught up on my Kiawah posts.  It's much harder when time has gone by.  Still, I really LOVE some of these photos of Sophie and it's been in the back of my mind that I needed to get them "out there" before too much time passes and I forget.  

When we first arrived on Kiawah, I immediately set my sights on figuring out the best nature spots.  On our first full day, we set out in the car to check out a bunch of these sights.  Can you imagine my disappointment when we discovered that the majority of the island is behind a gate that can only be accessed if you're staying in one of the homes there?  Let's just say that I was miffed!  How come no one told me that?  I honestly don't think I would've gone there had I known.  At the Nature Center later that day, I asked an employee how I could see some of the good nature spots inside the gate.  She said by walking or biking.  Yeah, with a two year old in tow. Sounds fun.  I think the closest spot was 4-5 miles away!  Still, I really wanted to see some of these sights.  I'd read they were good for birding and wildlife.  Right up my alley!

One afternoon, when Clara was getting sleepy, we tucked her in the cart with some snacks and took off on our bikes.  It was a long ride, especially with a seven-year-old riding her own bike.  It took a long time to get there, especially with a stop here and there to look at/for gators.  In one pond, we found babies!!!

After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at Marsh Island (the first stop on my wish list).

It was a beautiful place.

Then I spent about half an hour photographing this sand fiddler crab.

He was fascinating to me!

When I turned around, I discovered that Sophie had been playing with the crabs down by the wet sand.  She was in her own little world and having fun. 

As she walked toward me, she was smiling to herself and looking up at the birds.  She's my nature girl.  I really believe she is.  And I feel so lucky to have someone like her, who has a strong interest in nature, to share my passion.  It's so much more fun going to places like this when she's around!

As we were walking the boardwalk over to the island, we saw a raccoon walking on the sand (it was low tide).  I was too slow grabbing my camera and didn't get a picture.  As we were walking the boardwalk on the way back to our bikes, I told Sophie we should look for raccoon tracks.  And she found them before the words finished leaving my mouth. 

In the end, we'd spent so long biking to and exploring Marsh Island, the kids were tired and cranky and hungry.  We also had to bike the full way back.  No matter how much I wanted to see the other sites, it wasn't a good idea.  We started back but I felt real disappointment in not seeing all the nature this place had to offer.  I knew there was no way we were going to bike all that way again another day!  It seems so wrong to me that the nature is not accessible.  For this reason, we likely will not return to Kiawah again.  I get gated communities yada yada.....but nature should be accessible to everyone. I left there not feeling totally satisfied with my vacation....I know I missed out on some great spots.....and that's not a nice feeling.

Yep, so we're looking forward to heading back to Hilton Head in the Fall!

Instantaneous Happiness

Earlier today I uploaded a month's worth of photos.  As I flipped through them, I came across the photos below and knew I had to post them right away before I forget!  

At the end of April, Sophie attended a friend's birthday party.  Right before we left the house, I finished wrapping the gift and went to collect the birthday card that Sophie had been working on.  When I glanced down at the card, my heart just melted. 

{Even though I didn't get a close-up, I'm pretty sure that green dot hanging from the bottom branch is an inchworm ~ we've seen so many of those lately!}

Lately I've had a lot of moments when I questioned my parenting abilities.  But when I saw the innocent, sweet drawings that Sophie had made ~ full of nature ~ I realized I was just being terribly hard on myself.  This is not at all unusual!  As Alain always reminds me, this is a marathon.

 

When I picked Sophie up from school the following Monday, she told me that the birthday girl relayed that her Mom's favorite present from the entire party was Sophie's card and that it made her heart happy.  "That's exactly what you said, Mom!", Sophie said.  Yes, it does make my heart happy.  As we drove towards home, I peeked at Sophie in the rearview mirror and was delighted to find that she was smiling to herself.

Several years ago, I published a post entitled Instantaneous Happiness.  I still melt into a puddle whenever I see those pictures. Especially these days!  Every once in a while, someone will arrive at my blog because they've GOOGLED "Instantaneous Happiness".  I love that!  The very second I saw this card and when I came across the pictures today those words were the first to enter my mind.  The innocence and creativity and sweetness of childhood will forever make me happy.....instantaneously.  

Happiness is.....

......watching Sophie play soccer.  Seriously, she is always smiling when she plays soccer.

....this little goofball.

.....being a Girl Scout leader.

......this little goofball.

......scootering with Dad.

......roasting marshmallows.

.....this little goofball.

......sending Sophie & Alain off to the Father/Daughter Dance.

{Whew, these pictures make me emotional!}

.....this little goofball.

.....the first strawberry blossoms.

......and this little goofball!

Hope you're all well, happy and healthy!

XOXO,

Audrey