Explore 2019: New family hobby

When you have kids who are 6.5 years apart (+ have different interests and personalities of course), it's a total unicorn moment to find an activity that everyone in the family genuinely enjoys. That's why skiing became such a magical thing for us this past winter, when Violet jumped on board.

Tennis is a huge source of joy for me and Jon, and when Laurel picks up a racquet, she's amazingly natural at it, though it's not the activity she normally gravitates towards. But Violet has shown zero interest. So typically, Jon and I head to the courts on our own.

Yesterday Laurel was off early to the beach and Jon and I really wanted to play so we asked Vi to come down to the courts with us. We packed snacks and an activity and most of the time she just chilled in the shade doing her thing, but then when we were done she asked if she could swing Jon's racquet. And all of a sudden was having so much fun that she asked us to dig out the kid's racquet my friend Anne gave us.

This morning I took both kids to the court and it was UNREAL. Laurel and Violet were on opposite sides and most of the time I just fed Violet balls and she would try to hit it over the net to Laurel. And she ended up being REALLY FREAKIN' GOOD AT IT and she and Laurel ended up rallying a bunch and each of them were hitting winners. I mean, WHAT??

Whenever Vi took a water break Laurel and I rallied or I'd practice my serve a little bit but largely I watched in complete awe as I fed Violet balls, and called out encouragement to both kids, and freaked out when either of them hit a winner, and we all just laughed a ton while a new spark grew for these two. I can't believe our whole family can now enjoy tennis together!