Major Updates!

Apparently this blog will be updated every 6 or so months now...so here's a quick recap of Emer's life since beginning 3rd grade...
She did join the swim club! She's been in swimming since October and is loving it. And so am I! She's pretty good - especially at breast stroke. She's gotten 2nd place in every meet for breast stroke. She's done very well with backstroke and freestyle as well. Butterfly is a work in progress. She does a pretty good job but hasn't gotten fast enough yet to be competitive. She'll get there though, I'm sure. I'm really proud of her! She works hard, is good, and enjoys herself. It's the perfect combination!

This wouldn't be an update blog without a picture of Halloween! So...

Emer was a pirate this year! Somehow we went from multiple costumes last year to just one this year. Whew, so much easier for me, haha! This picture was taken at the Colts Kids Club Halloween party. She was also a pirate at Lake Rudolph where we made our golf cart into a pirate ship! Halloween continues to be so much fun!!!!

At Christmas we didn't get to NYC this year. As I write this I'm still missing my city! Emer and I had a conversation recently about NYC. She's very insightful at times. We were talking about where we might move to in the future. I said I really wanted to live in NYC. She did not. (Of course she doesn't want to leave IN...) When I asked her why not she said that if we lived there then we wouldn't have our annual tradition of visiting. Huh...that makes sense...I still want to live there!

Let's jump forward to spring break. Emer and I set off for her first international flight! We spent 10 days in Portugal!!! It was so much fun! The country is wonderful - filled w/ nice and helpful people, castles, delicious food, and new adventures. While we were there we met up with Stephen Miller from Ireland and his daughter. That was possibly the highlight of our trip. Emer and his daughter Lily became instant friends, almost like sisters. There's nothing like traveling to one country to make friends with someone from yet another country! It's so international of Emer  :)
Here are a few highlights from our trip:

BOS airport!

 The famous Arch in Lisbon!

 Belem (the castle and Monument to the Discoverers!

 Outside the Monastery.

 National Tile Museum!

 Oceanaria! (the greatest aquarium ever!)

 The obligatory McDonald's from Lisbon!! (Hey, it's a long-standing tradition!)

 Boca de Inferno (Mouth of Hell)

 Coffees and hot chocolates to warm up from the beach!

 Cascais: where else would you eat but an Irish pub?!

 Traditional Portuguese meal in Sintra.

 First of two castles in Sintra!

 Chickens! (A national Portuguese symbol, all over the park in Cascais!)

 Cascais beach!

 The university near our last location, back in Lisbon!

 Mmmm, what a fabulous lunch!

 Castle Jorge!

Last day's hot chocolate and adventuring!

And this brings us to now...spring break is over, school is back in session, swimming has started up again, and life is nearly back to normal.
The next blog will feature things like Emer's quest for braces, her continued effort to lose a tooth in a new location, and updates on swimming or any other adventures she gets into. I continue to love being her mom and think she's just about the greatest living being in the world. She will always amaze me, I think. I <3 3="" br="" emerson="">