Danny Swimming

Danny swam with the 8 and under team all year. We are fortunate that our local swim team does get to practice three times a week year-round, which gives Danny some focus and exercise.

The meets began the day after school got out and were every Saturday (and a couple of Sundays) for 5 weeks. He also got to swim in the Divisionals meet which meant six Saturdays in a row! It was hot, hot, hot, but Randy, Annelise and I figured out how to cope with the 5+ hours in the heat. Practices were also every weekday morning from 7:45-8:45... no biggie since both Danny and I are early risers!

Here are a bunch of pictures (the first four were taken by the fantastic team photographer, Andy Smith).




The reminders for his first race (Event 11, Heat 2, Lane 2, Freestyle)

Listening to the coach.

Some games in between events.

Danny with his coach.

And who can forget the RIBBONS... wow, the ribbons (I had no idea this was the currency of swimming!).

Swim Season

We had the craziest 6 weeks to the start of our summer EVER! BUT it was so much fun, and I am so proud of the swimming both Danny and Annelise did. They are thrilled with the thought of more swim team in their futures!


I'll post a few more individual pictures of them, too!

Circus Camp

Danny got to go to circus camp for the first time in July. It was two glorious weeks of tightrope-walking, unicycle-riding, trapeze-hanging, balancing, juggling fun. The children also learn some gags and stage presence required to entertain their audience! At the end of the session family and friends are invited to watch a show put on by the kids. Wonderful!


This is Danny being resuscitated by all of the kids coming out of the jam box (a 4ftx4ftx3ft box they stuff anywhere from 15-20 kids in!).

Danny with his fearless leader, Greg May (former Ringling Bros. circus performer).

Summer Fun Part 2 (The Projects Edition)

Screen time is limited to 1 1/2 hours per day during summer, so although we are home most days, the kids aren't hooked up to the screens very much! The kids LOVE projects that we can do together. Here are a couple of projects that have kept us busy in the last two weeks.

1. We made bubble gum (with the help from this kit, purchased at A.C. Moore with coupon). Annelise made mint and Danny made sour watermelon. We have enough to make another two or three batches!



2. We assembled a cardboard treehouse and painted it with watercolor paints. (Here is the kit. I got a Family Finds deal at this store last spring and ended up getting significant $$$ marked off!) The kids use their playmobil and lego figures to play in it. LOTS of fun!




That is enough for one post, but there are a lot more projects we've done in the last couple of weeks! I'll share more later.

Summer Fun Part 1

School is out, and I've known for several months that THIS summer would look different than most.

The usual summer involves us catching a plane for some exotic location (Hawaii, California and Oregon are the normal) the day after school gets out. We vacate Maryland for four to five weeks and then come home in time for the kids to participate in the last two weeks of summer camp. And then it is back to school and work for me and the kids!

This year Danny is on the swim team (more on that in another post). The season lasts from June 18th to July 23rd, and I knew that Danny would want to participate to the fullest. So travel gets switched to the last 3 weeks of summer and the children and I are faced with 6 weeks of summer vacation at home (the kids will be attending one two-week session of summer camp in that time).

Extra planning is required for me to be prepared to offer the kids summer entertainment, much needed downtime and a mother who isn't going bonkers! Because I am usually at work and the kids are at school, we are not used to spending a lot of time together during the days.

The day after school got out the kids and I did some work that would help guide us through the next six weeks: the lists and the snack tubs!

We made two lists: "Summer Plans" (a wishlist of summer fun, big and small ideas welcome!) and "What to do When Bored" list.

I notice that on weekends when the kids are home, they tend to graze and want me to prepare snacks and food for them ALL THE TIME. To avoid their constant "Can I have a .....?" we put these tubs together. Each tub contains 14 packaged treats, something they normally don't get in school lunches (it IS summer after all, and I want them to have some fun!). There are things like granola bars and fruit rolls, plus some special things like chips and candy. The snacks can be eaten in one day (neither have attempted that, thank goodness!) or over the course of the week. When they are gone, they will have to wait until a new batch on Sunday! The children ALWAYS have fresh fruit and carrot sticks available to them as well.


The first two weeks of summer have been great, and both of these things have given us some direction!

Projects in 2nd Grade

At Danny's new school he had many more projects required as part of their curriculum. Danny enjoyed them this year! Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what he did!

Book Reports: A movie poster for James and the Giant Peach (due May) and a presentation on The BFG (due November).


Science Projects: Growing a plant and keeping a journal (due May) and a mineral report on Sulfur (due December).


Social studies projects: A written report and presentation on Ben Franklin (due May) and a family history interview and poster (due October).


**** I obviously took more pictures in May. Reports were saved, but big posters get tossed, so I try to get decent pictures!

Dance

Annelise's little dance studio emphasizes creative movement, balance and control at her age level (4-5 year-olds)... NOT recitals with fancy costumes (YAY!). They have two observation days each session. Here are a handful of pictures I snapped this year.

Another School Year is OVER!

This year has been super busy, and I suspect as the kids get older it will just continue like this! We haven't posted since November, but if you are a friend on facebook or part of our everyday lives, you know what we have been up to.

The BASICS: Danny was at a new school this year. He loved it. We loved it. All is great and we're glad he'll be there next year for 3rd grade. Annelise finished her last year at the nursery school. She was there full time (9-4, 5 days a week). She doesn't know it yet, but she will seriously miss the school next year! Jen (ME!) completed another year as an ESOL teacher at the elementary school level. Our ESOL enrollment seems to be increasing, so job security for me is good right now. Randy had the busiest year of seven-day workweeks (he did take a couple holidays off) with many late nights and early mornings. He submitted his manuscript to the publisher (May) and turned in his tenure packet to the English department (last week). We are all sooooo happy to have him back into our lives! I essentially went into survival mode these last nine months. Glad to have a partner back in the home.

The EXTRACURRICULARS: Danny participated in a Math club all year that met on Thursday afternoons. He also joined the swim team in September. During the school year this means 3 practices a week (2 afternoons and early on Sunday morning). Annelise took dance classes this year. She enjoyed it, although I don't know how long we will continue. She was also on a T-ball team this spring. I served as the President of the Board at Annelise's nursery school for one final year. And other than that, I tried to keep our household running this year. I was able to do a couple of girls weekends this year: one to Las Vegas in the fall and in the spring I went to the beach. Randy had no extracurriculars. He has had one single focus this year (and some teaching, too!). We had family visitors (Randy's mom for Thanksgiving, my parents for Christmas, and Randy's dad, brother and his family during spring break). As a family, we haven't traveled since the triathlon last September!

***These two pictures happen to be the only family pictures we've taken all school-year. The first was for our Christmas card (taken in November) and the second was taken (with my long arm) on Mother's Day.