Summer Full Of Fun

We have many things to update here so it will be long.
First off we had a great 4th of July. We skated in the parade down in Coeur d'Alene with the team. It was fun but our feet were really sore by the end. The kids had fun showing off. Ericka then got to spend the rest of her day at Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. We walked around and looked at all the booths. She went on all the rides and then we just sat around waiting for the fireworks. It was a really good show but still not as neat as the Ft Lewis shows. We miss the military party, they know how to have fun. Civilians just don't quite have the same kind of patriotism as the military folk, for obvious reasons. When we got home we had some fireworks of our own to set off. The city of Airway Heights still allows some fireworks, so the kids were really excited to set some off. Ericka has never been able to because they are outlawed everywhere we have lived. I think her favorite were the sparklers. We sat for a while and watched all the neighbors set off theirs.
A few days after that we went to Troy's brother Doug's wedding. Ericka had an excuse to dress up and look pretty. They had it down in Columbia Park. It was really hot but she had fun getting to see her cousins.

Then the fun really started, we were on our way to Nationals. We started in Washington, went through Idaho and into Montana. The next day we went from Montana to Wyoming then through South Dakota into Nebraska, but our hotel was in Iowa. Ericka went through 7 states in two days so she picked up a few souveniers from each state. She was a great traveler. We drove with the coach, his wife and one of their daughters, Chelsea. The girls sat in the back and watched movies and played games. We got there late Friday night (13th) and drove by the stadium. The next day we went to Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. That place is big and has to be the best zoo we have ever seen. I guess it is considered one of the best in the world. We got some good pictures of the animals. The monkeys of course were our favorites. There was a gorilla that stole our hearts. He was a big sweetheart, came right up to the glass and made faces at the girls. The next day was Ericka's first race. She had one each day from Sunday to Wednesday. The morning of her 5 lap race she was sick but still went out and gave it her all. She didn't make it out of her heats but she tried her best anyway. It was a tough group of girls and many were twice her size. She was right up there with them but not enough to advance through. She still had a lot of fun and was just excited to be there. She met some of her favorite skaters that she looks up to. She and her friend Dakota danced with Michael Cheeks, he is a skater from North Carolina who comes to our meets. He is really tall and all the kids follow him around. He is Joey Cheek's brother, for those of you who don't know who that is, he won gold at the Olympics in ice speed skating. She also got to meet Derrick Parra, another gold medalist skater. She still wants to meet Apolo Anton Ohno, maybe she will someday.

Once all the racing was over we left Omaha and started the trip back. We stopped at Wall Drug South Dakota. It's a little town out in the middle of nowhere full of souvenier shops. She found some neat stuff. We were able to see a massive thunderstorm while on the highway. Since it's so flat you can see for miles so we could see lightning everywhere. She thought that was quite a show. She was bummed we don't have storms like that here to watch.
We went to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful erupt. She didn't care much for the sulfur stench but was amazed at all the geysers. She was a bit freaked out that she was walking on top of a volcano. We saw several animals. We had a female elk come right up to us while we were on the bridge. I even got a picture of her "smiling" at us. We got back on the road and got home on the 23rd. It was a long drive but so worth it. We got to spend a lot of mom and Ericka time and we had a blast. We have a lot of good memories and fun things to laugh about from our trip.
Now we have been home a week and things are back to normal. She is back to picking on her brother and saying she is bored. She spends time reading and is in the local library reading club. If she reads so many hours this summer she gets a reward.
The next couple of weeks probably won't be much fun for her though. She has a growth on her leg that has to be removed. I took her to the doctor a couple of days ago and he referred her to a specialist. She goes in on August 7th. He wants a biopsy to make sure it's nothing serious. Either way it has to be taken out which means surgery. She was going to skate in the local marathon but that is out now so she is upset. It also means no skate session for probably a month or so. She should be healed by the time next skate season starts so she is happy about that atleast. Oh and before I forget she had her first couple skate the other night. One of the other rink rats has a major crush on her and got up the nerve to ask her. His mom even took pictures!
Well there isn't much more to report. Life is back to just hanging out and enjoying what is left of summer.