[Composed July 29, 2024]
Today we nominally started our trip to Puerto Rico. With a smooth evening flight, we made it as far as Jacksonville, FL. C is traveling with us and that did make for two moments in the trip that made Shira and me smile.
The first is that we got to introduce C to the American Airlines Admiral's Club. Ahh yes, a taste of the good life: and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Who wouldn't, with unlimited macaroons and donuts on hand?
The other moment came as we found our seats on the plane. Because C is now 15, we can sit in an exit row. 'Ugh,' she groaned as we started organizing ourselves in our seats. 'I can't reach my bag, this is so annoying.' That annoyance, we explained, is because the exit row comes with extra legroom. This resource that I so cherished she saw through a different lens: her carry-on tucked under the seat in front of her, was no longer within reach. She cracked us up.
While today marks the beginning of our Puerto Rico trip, it also marks the completion of C's personal adventure. For the past week she had been volunteering at Arlington County's Civil War Spy Camp. Being a camp counselor was all new territory for C, and we couldn't have been more proud of how she handled the challenge.
But it wasn't just serving in a new role at camp that made the week special. We did a heap of activities, including hiking on the AT, axe throwing, visiting with cousins and bowling. She completed her driving permit's training course (earning a 95% on the final test!) and got some serious touch-typing practice in (Thanks typingclub.com! You rock!). She traded the majority of her screen time for reading time*, getting to fall in love with both the Song of Lioness and Last Air Bender graphic novel series. She mastered making corn tortillas from scratch, and I learned the secret to making a meal C will love: add more cheese!
Did she love every minute of her Uncle and Aunt's boot camp? Yeah, no. But she totally rose to the occasion and instead of vegging out during one of her last weeks before school, she crushed it.
*Have no fear, C still got plenty of screen time. It just wasn't the portion size she was used to.
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