It's a been a full day of errands: lunch at McDonald's (oh, how we love that place), a short trip to the park (it was oh-so-hot), the library (where Merry Grace grabbed the first three books she saw, where Ian was in desperate search for a joke book, and Elise slowly and deliberately took her time scouring the shelves for the three perfect books), home for a brief stop and then Wal-Mart (what day of errands would be complete without a stop there?). And finally, at long last, home again. After a supper that consisted of leftovers from the last three days and some evening cleaning, I'm finally taking the time to put my feet up and rest a bit.
I thought about my post yesterday about Merry Grace and decided it would be fun to take a day and write about each child. So tonight I'm writing about Elise. From the time Elise was very small, she was great at seeing the logic in things. We rarely had to really discipline her. Time outs were rare and spankings non-existent. All we really had to do was explain the whys and wherefores of things, and she got it. It was really quite amazing. At the time, we thought we were just super parents. It wasn't until later that we realized it didn't have much to do with us and everything to do with the sweet spirit of this child we were raising. She's still amazing in so many ways. Just tonight, I was tired and a little frustrated at one point, and Elise realized I just needed a helping hand. So she came over to where I was loading the dishwasher and pitched right in and helped me finish the job. It wasn't even that the few things she loaded made the job go a lot quicker, it was that that little act of service let me know she loved me. She's really taking notice of ways she can help out with things. The other day she decided to take out the trash from all the upstairs cans without me asking. I absolutely HATE taking out the trash, so that was a really big deal. Another day, she went downstairs and moved the laundry along without any prodding. She just decided to do it. She's growing up so fast. She's right on that line of teetering between being a little girl and a young woman. Some days she has both feet firmly planted on the side of childhood, while other days I can see her fully taking on the role of young womanhood. And with that, our relationship is changing. Some days its maddening, as hormones start rearing their crazy heads. Some days, I sense that she really thinks I'm dumb as dirt when it comes to certain things. There are times she uses this sassy voice that makes me want to snip back at her like I'm 14 years old. And sometimes I do. But there are other times where I feel like I'm talking to my equal. We can laugh together about something silly that Merry Grace says or we can have a real conversations about things that go on in the world and in our lives. She has such a tender heart, always wanting others to be happy and doing her best to see that it happens. She's ever-ready with hugs, happy notes, smiles and a helping hand. She's our peacemaker and our sanity saver. So many times we say, "What would we do without Elise?" And really, I can't imagine. She's the best. Simply the best.
My brother, Logan, came along with us. He started off by digging a hole. By the end of things, it was probably 4 feet deep. 
In between playing in the water, Uncle Adam spent some time working on his tan. Eventually, he turned over and before long the tide caught up with him and he ended up sandy and soaked. 
