Brooke

Brooke is the young lady in the front who LOVES the camera. From left to right we have her Mom Janet, Emily's Mom Nancy, and Emily. When she is happy, as above, Brooke is lots of fun. She and her sister have a bizarre fascination with being carried. "Carry me!" they would say about 2000 times a day, give or take 3, and jump up trying to get me to catch them.

They were around a LOT. Emily likes to say her cousins "hang on her" all the time. I get her meaning because they were ever-present. I even have a picture where I am trying to type and Brooke's sister has her head interposed between me and the screen.

Saturday we went mini-golfing. At first...well, how do you politely say she was terrible? You are supposed to pick up your ball after 5 shots. It sometimes took her 5 or 6 swings just to hit the ball. Finally I showed her how to stand, how to grip the club properly and how to swing...and she got a couple legitimate 2s. However, on other holes she ended up "brooming" the ball into the hole. Sometimes she would carry the ball 2 or 3 feet on the putter blade which did a great job of guiding it into the hole.

Brooke is at times a very sensitive girl. She is very wild emotionally, going from outright glee and laughter to tears in about 1.2 milliseconds. From the week and change I spent around her I would say she is very fragile emotionally and the next few years are going to be vital to how her life turns out. She has a sweet side that can really help her along if it is allowed to develop. She also has a nasty side that will cause her lots of problems if it is allowed to take over. We will see. We will hope.

When we went to Knotts Berry Farm she was the one who first agreed to go on the Jaguar, the first "big people" roller coaster she has ever been on. She insisted on sitting with me. I was a bit nervous myself...who knows how someone will react to their first coaster ride? I spent the entire time with an arm wrapped around her. She ended up loving it. We went twice more and by the third I was just sitting there like a normal person and she loved it.

The Jaguar is a pretty basic coaster...no loops, no huge climbs or drops. It is a good "starter". Close by is Montezoomas Revenge. That one goes 0-60 in something like 4 or 5 seconds, goes through a complete loop and up a tail where it hangs for a second or two....then repeats the process backwards. Brooke elected to go on it with me.

And she LOVED it. Went on it twice more. Later she went on it with someone else and said she liked it better with me because she "felt safer". I am blushing...but that also makes me feel pretty good. I can help a kid out. Woo-hoo!

No, I really cannot explain why I felt compelled to put up these particular pictures. Deal with it :-)