It has been a pretty full and amazing summer for Zoey this year. We traveled to South Dakota as a family, did some local traveling as well and Zoey attended her first concert at Big Top Chautauqua where we saw Brett Dennon and Josh Ritter perform. She discovered that she has an interest in the Beatles and lots of other bands, (some including, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, the BeeGees, the Jive Five, the Kooks, etc.) and also has an interest in learning how to play the guitar.
She and some friends are planning a band...they've even contacted our local arts center to inquire about practice space availability and they are working with them so they can practice on their stage. All communication has been handled by the kids, no parents!
She was in the local Children's Theater production, The Reluctant Dragon, in which she played the part of Mortimer the dragon and ended up being on the front page of our local paper.
This summer marked her first time riding go-karts (and I wasn't even there!). I was told that the first time she went around she rode the rubber along one side the entire way and then the next time around she was passing anyone and everyone on the track!
It also marked the milestone of going down a water-slide at a waterpark on her own as well. Again, I wasn't there but got to hear all about it.
It's been a summer of exploring newfound independence. Specifically it's meant that she's allowed to walk (with friends) downtown on the island. She and her friends frequently eat at the local sushi restaurant, peruse the record store, the thrift shop, the candy store and the local park. There have been movies seen at the local cinema without parents in attendance. There have been sleepovers and afternoons spent at the library. A few trips to the beach here and there as the weather has allowed.
Zoey babysat for the first time this summer and loved it and best of all the little boy that she sat for loved HER!
She's continuing her love of drawing and painting...
I am certain that I am forgetting a million other things (like gardening, YA library programs, bike rides and berry picking adventures, etc.) but these are the things that jump to the forefront of my mind.
She has two friends that moved away this summer...one to Colorado and the other to Minnesota. She's exchanged emails with them already.
Her favorite reads over the summer were, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.
Summer isn't quite over yet...I am told there is end of the year party to be planned and we're hoping to do a few more family things and hopefully get a henna tattoo with a friend before our days of freedom are through!
