Tween Friendships

When I look back on my life, I can recall handful of friends over my lifetime who have made an impact on my life.  They stand out in my memories of growing up (which says a lot because my memory is turning to mush).  Some were friends from my early elementary school days, which lasted through grade school, high school, and adulthood.  Others were friends I made in college, or in my early 20s, who are still friends of mine.  These relationships formed me!  Of course I continue to make new friends, but it is these old, endearing friendships that I want to focus on here.  When you are young, and growing up, you learn who to trust, who you get along with best, and how to be a good friend to others.

As a parent, I am now watching Bennett (and the boys) establish friendships.  Some have been cultivated by my relationship with the mother, and a few were initiated by my child.  This blog is about Bennett and her sweet friendship with Mary Caroline.  This sweet little girl transferred into Shades Cahaba in the 4th grade from Atlanta and Bennett found her.  They formed an instant friendship!

In Auburn for a Auburn-Mercer Football Game, Sept 2017

My sweet Bible Club from SCE - Dec 2017

During the 4th grade, I formed a Bible Club for the all of the g
irls of the grade.  Mary Caroline and Bennett were there weekly, and sat with her each always (all the way through 5th grade Bible Club).  These girls introduced us parents, and formed such a sweet and endearing friendship.  Bennett has always been a kind-hearted, thoughtful person, and she met her match with MC.  They always thought of each other on vacations, coming home with little tokens, never forgetting a birthday, and face-timing each other often.

Edgewood Creamery - Jan 2018

Their friendship is one that never seems to tire, and they can spend days together without fighting.  In fact, Bennett even went on a long weekend trip to MC's grandparent's lake house this past memorial day.  As they get ready to enter middle school together, they have planned to show up at the same time, so they can get lockers near one another.  They don't have everything in common, but they certainly have enough....a love for cooking, shopping, American Girl dolls, and making slime!

In the Fall of 5th grade, they had a little "incident" where there was a misunderstanding.  They both came home from school in tears, and didn't know how to handle it.  When Bennett couldn't fall asleep at night, I encouraged her to call Mary Caroline to discuss things.  They both apologized to each other, and have not had another issue since.

Camp Cosby Field Trip - May 17, 2018

SCE Spirit Day - May 22, 2018

SCE 5th Grade Graduation - May 23, 2018

Bennett's birthday dinner at Gian Marcos

At MC's grandparent's lake house in GA - May 2018

slime, slime and more slime!

Lockers across from one another at HMS-6th grade

I love this sweet friendship, and hope that it is one that spans Bennett's life.  She has a few other friends that have hung around throughout the years, and it will be fun to watch them through middle and high school.  They are sweet girls and ones that I think would leave a stamp on Bennett's heart when she is old and reflects back on her early years.  Cheers to sweet and kind friends, and tough skin for the mean ones.

The Mizeranys Do St George Island!

Last year, the Mizerany boys decided that they wanted to celebrate their parent's upcoming 60th wedding anniversary with a family beach trip.  They used to take annual beach trips back when all of the boys were young to Panama City Beach.  Then before Steve and I were even married, about 15-20 years ago, they spent a couple of years together at Fort Morgan Beach.  But since we have been married, and had children, there have been no family vacations.  They wanted to change that.

Cheers to these two lovebirds!

So the search began to find a house large enough for our family of 13, over the week of their 60th anniversary.  We wanted to try somewhere different for this laid back family, so we looked at Mexico Beach, Port St Joe and finally St George Island.  We finally settled on St George and a large 7 bedroom house which fit our family, plus Maria's boyfriend, just fine.  Cathy, Lisa and Teresa and their families even rented a house across the street from us...so we had a group of 23 people!!!

Going in July was hot, but we stayed on the beach where the breeze was good and spent a lot of time in the water.  In addition, we had several large tents to hide under.

It was a great, relaxing place.  We would wake and drink coffee while watching the dolphins swim right in front of house.  I took Beckham on walks several days.  Steve and Louis fished daily with the kids.  But we otherwise just chilled.....ate, drank, laid on the beach, played beach games and watched sunsets at the point.  It was awesome!

What a phenomenal trip for our family...we ate in every meal, but one.  So thanks to Mimi for her daily grocery store runs, and for her endless time in the kitchen for everyone.  We had such fun, and have such fond memories with everyone!

Here's hoping we get to do this again!

Beck LOVED his time at the beach, chasing birds and keeping watch!

The kids and I loved following the dolphins, it was amazing seeing them so close in their element!

No huge fish, but lots of unique ones over the week

Walker was really brave holding the almost dead fish, ha!

Our view from our living room!

The best sunsets!

Lunch at the Blue Parrot!

Celebrating 60 years!

Beck hated being away from us, and would swim out every time and float with us

cool needlefish!

Happy 60th Anniversary - beautiful cake made by Teresa with chocolate shells

Our family!

A Quick Illinois Visit

After several days at Smith Lake, I headed up to Illinois with Bennett and Walker to visit Nene and Poppy.  We purposely planned our visit around my mom's birthday.  It was just a long weekend, but it was great!  Walker jumped right into his old routines....riding the scooter, helping Poppy walk the dogs and asking for treats because he knows his Nene and Poppy will spoil him.  After dinner, they granted his wish and treated us to soft serve ice cream...my favorite!

The next day Nene took Walker to the Caterpillar museum while Bennett and I went shopping for

some new sunglasses for me at Maui Jim!  I received some money for my birthday and wanted to treat myself.  Since the headquarters is right there and they have every pair on the market....it was the perfect place to go.  It ended up being a productive day for both of us...I got new sunglasses and Walker had a fun morning with his grandparents.

That night, we ate dinner on the terrace and then went to see a movie that was playing on the Peoria Heights water tower.  We brought lawn chairs, and just enjoyed the people watching, free snacks and movie!

Dinner on the CCP Terrace

Movie at Peoria Hgts Tower with icees and popcorn after dinner!

we cherished the shady spots

On our third day there, we decided to hit the Peoria Zoo.  Though it doesn't compare to Birmingham's, or many of the other zoos we have been to recently, it is free since we are Birmingham Zoo members.  Sadly, it ended up being a terribly hot day, so it was really quite miserable.  After making a quick loop, we were ready to leave.  Since we were all hungry, we went home to change into swimsuits, and then went to the country club to have lunch by he pool, and go swimming.  It ended up being even more fun than we planned because we ran into Katie and Melanie McCord and their children.  All of the kids had a blast together, swimming and trying to outdo each other on the diving boards.  Bennett learned how to do a back flip, and Walker got brave enough to go off the board and then even tried diving off of it.  We were there most of the afternoon, but what fun we had!

Walker mastered his belly flop!

Snuck in a quick dinner with Suzanne, Tiffany and Roni

For our final day in Peoria, Mom and I went to play golf.  Bennett babysat Walker back at the house,

and it was an absolutely wonderful morning on the golf course!  It was supposed to be a fun way to celebrate mom's birthday, but it was more a gift for me.  I haven't played golf in so long, and boy did I enjoy my round...and it wasn't a terrible one.  In fact, it came down to the last hole to determine who the winner was going to be.  Like always, Mom had kept her balls nice and straight down the middle of the fairway for every hole, while my balls were a little erratic.  However, my putting (which usually isn't my strong suit) was off the charts and I was able to make up some strokes.  Mom won in the end, but what a fantastic morning!  We celebrated Mom's birthday that night with dinner at The Fish House, where everyone enjoyed their food.  It was a busy few days in P-town thanks to Mom making plans each day for us.  It was a great visit, even though Steve and Preston couldn't make it.

Before dinner at The Fish House