Pittman's Progress: 2448 miles...

During the month of June we traveled 2448 miles as a family!

We took Stephen to a Brave's Game for Father's Day as he was missing his Braves' this summer! :-) We thought Caileigh would like it a lot - it was too hot! She preferred playing in the fun play areas. Emma on the other hand LOVED it! I thought she would be the one we would have to entertain.... Caileigh and Stephen were able to run the bases with the other dads and their children after the game. Caileigh enjoyed that but maybe not quite as much as her daddy! :-) She is very proud of her "I ran the bases at Turner field T-shirt!"

Happy Father's Day!

Stripes, is the sweet kitten who adopted our family this summer. Sadly we had to say good-bye to him. We pray that one day he will find a family that will love him and take good care of him. We certainly enjoyed the time we had to play with him and love him! If some of us weren't allergic to cats, and if we owned our own home and had a yard and if we weren't about to be traveling more than we will be at home for the rest of the summer we would certainly have kept him! It was simply not meant to be.

The girls LOVED Stripes aka Kitty! They loved feeding him and petting him. They loved playing with him and would run around with strings for him to chase them. Which always included adorable giggles! Caileigh loved sitting on the back porch just holding Stripes! Emma loved waking up and peeking out the back door to see if Kitty was out there. We hope to one day be able to allow them to have a pet. Until then, we will certainly remember the sweet time we had with Stripes!

Caileigh was able to take swim lessons this summer! She loved her teacher, Mrs. Danielle! At her last day, they let the parents stay and watch the kids swim. We were amazed at all she had learned! She's quite the little fish and already a better swimmer than her mom! :-) I think she prefers being under water than out of it! If asked, she will tell you her favorite part was the hot tub - and she makes sure you know it wasn't hot, just warm! :-) Every day after lessons they got to sit in the hot tub until parents came to pick them up. She's always been a fish and has had very little fear of the water. I was excited for her to really learn how to swim. She is diving for dive sticks, jumping off of the diving board, swimming all over the pool! She wants to be called Ariel now... I suppose it would be fitting as she stays under the water more than she does above, however, we have told her we like Caileigh better. :-)

I enjoyed my time with just Emma while Caileigh was at lessons. Although she missed "Cai-ee" terribly - especially the first day I think she enjoyed the attention too! :-) Most days we sought air conditioning in nearby stores where I allowed Emma to walk through the aisles and "look" at all sorts of things. Her favorite and mine too was the fabric store! I only allowed us to go in there one day. :-) She loved feeling the different textures and looking at the different colors. I started making BIG dreams for different projects - hence why we didn't go back. I need to finish the ones I have already! :-) Another favorite was reading books at the nearby Goodwill bookstore. We tried to walk in the neighborhood one day and find birds and squirrels, some of her favorites! It got too hot and we ended up waiting out the rest of the time in the van. I don't often get one on one time with Emma and she is getting to be such a BIG girl! She thinks she wants to potty train... During the summer I would let her try when she wanted to, but didn't push it since we were going to be traveling more than we would be home. I still wonder if I am a bad mom... I really don't think she'll go to school in diapers... and I think it's ok not to rush my baby to grow up too fast! Trying to enjoy what "baby-ness" there still is and at the same time learn how to handle the toddler that is quickly emerging! :-)

I am thankful for the opportunity Caileigh had to take swim lessons and that she learned and enjoyed it so much! It's fun to see her getting to do such BIG girl things now. I am also equally thankful for the time I had with Emma one on one. She is becoming quite the talker and is such a joy to have around!

We were able to go as a family one week to Camp Grace. I finally was able to put faces to the names of the boys Stephen mentors and tutors at school during their lunch breaks. That was my highlight. There are so many kids that come to New Town and I am in the younger group or chasing Emma that I often have no idea who the older kids are except for the few boys who are in a Bible study that meets at our house Mondays. That for me has been the hardest part of being here in Augusta, the feeling that I don't know even a fraction of the kids we minister to as a whole. After this summer I feel like I am starting to finally get to know them better and putting faces and names together! Another highlight for me was being able to go to Camp Grace with Stephen's boss and his wife and two kids. It was fun to get to know them better as well! I also enjoyed Emma's 3 hour daily nap inside the air conditioned apartment we were staying in and being able to spend the majority of that time in the Word and just resting! Caileigh's highlights were playing with Riley, Cooper and the kitty cats, swimming, sliding down the giant water slide and riding the horses. Emma's highlights were "Riwe," "Pooper," "meows," and "neigh-neighs." The girls did great despite it being the teen boys week of camp. Having Riley and Cooper there as well was certainly a BIG plus as well as water to swim in to escape the heat! :-)

Enjoying morning cartoons with Riley and Cooper

Teen Boys week

We left Camp Grace, dropped kids off in Augusta, drove to Carrollton, spent the night and then drove with my parents, John and Laura to Kansas. The drive is LONG, but so worth it! The girls did great - of course they rode most of the time with Grandpa and Grandma! :-) I had come up with some new games or activities I had made while at Camp Grace like "fishing" and making pictures or animals with pipe-cleaners that helped to keep little ones busy. Movies helped too! :-) We all enjoyed visiting with cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandpa! The animals on the farm were a huge hit for my animal lover girls! Caileigh and Emma loved playing with my cousins and all their horses! Caileigh LOVED singing hymns with my Grandpa and other family members one morning. She's asked several times if we could do it again. I sure hope so! I caught Emma several times with her hands on my sleeping Grandpa's knees "asking" him if he was "K?" (Ok?) and then walking away saying "shhh!" As rough as she can be sometimes, she sure has a sweet sensitive side at times! :-)