Heat Wave

It's official: yesterday we hit a high temperature of 113!  We were at a pool party for a friend's son's birthday.  You would have thought that would have helped us stay cool but it was just so hot outside.  The temperatures are expected to continue through the weekend with a bit of relief coming through tomorrow evening.  If it's this hot at the end of June, I can't even begin to imagine what the rest of the summer will be like.

Wordless Wednesday - First Day of Summer

Before and After

I finally had the chance to get my hair cut to donate it.  It is a bit shorter than I normally like but I can still put it up in a ponytail, which is a must.  (Pictures taken by Michael)

Girl Time

This week, Michael was at camp in the morning and I wasn't watching any other kids so it was just me and Katie from 9am-12pm.  I wanted to take advantage of the time we had together since it's so rare that the two of us get time alone. 

Tuesday we went to the summer movie morning and saw Happy Feet 2.  Katie watched about the first hour of the movie and then told me she was ready to go.  This also coincided with the exact moment that she ran out of popcorn!  We headed out to pick up Michael.

Wednesday we went to Music and Movement at the library.  They normally have storytime on Wednesday mornings but this is something different for the summertime.  Katie was a little slow to warm up to it and I think it was a bit overwhelming at first.  There was lots of singing and dancing.

Thursday we went to another library for coloring, doing puzzles and reading books.  Katie often asks if we can go to the library and I love it too.  We left there and still had some time before we had to pick up Michael so we went to a new playground.  We were the only ones there and it was fun to watch Katie play and make up games by herself.

Friday we decided to just relax at the house while Michael was at camp.  I got a few things done around here while Katie did letters and watched some Scooby Doo.  It was nice to have that one-on-one time with her this week!

Mega Camp

We have been getting settled into our summer routine.  This week we signed Michael up for Mega Camp at a local church.  They have different themes that you could choose from that include soccer, hockey, arts and crafts, cooking, dance and field day.  Michael is on the red field day team.  He went in this morning and got his t-shirt, backpack and water bottle when he arrived.  Everyone was gathered in a large auditorium to watch a video before heading off with their teams.

The camp is from 9am-12pm every morning this week.  When we got there to pick him up, he couldn't wait to tell us about his day.  He said that it was really fun and he was glad it wasn't boring like he thought it was going to be.  Apparently he now thinks that anything he hasn't done before is going to be boring until he does it.  Michael told us all about watching a video about teamwork and then heading outside to participate in an activity that consisted of carrying a wet sponge from one end to the other to fill up a ball.  He also said that he really liked the snack, which was Cheez-Its, and that he had been wanting some for the past few days.  He is too funny sometimes.

I am so glad that he is enjoying himself and it's keeping him entertained.  With all of the rain that we have had lately, that's no easy feat!

Fun with Friends

We went to the zoo today with a friend of mine from college.  Between the two of us, we had seven kids.  It could have turned out very badly but things actually went well.  I think it helped that three of them were in strollers and 2 of them are actually old enough to know better to not run away.  The weather here lately has been perfect so we were able to go and enjoy the visit.  After feeding the giraffes, seeing the elephants, bears and kangaroos, the kids went for a train ride.  We headed over to the playground to let them burn off some energy and ended the visit with a ride on the carousel.  Michael didn't want to go on it but Katie was quite happy to be riding on it.

 We left the zoo and came back to our house for a playdate and lunch.  The kids all played nicely with each other.  The boys went up to play Legos and the older girls played baby dolls and kitchen.  The moms actually got to talk a little in between tending to all of the kids.  The younger kids alternated between sleeping and smiling.  It was a great afternoon.

Science Fun

Now that Michael is out of school for the summer, we have been trying to stay busy to keep him from getting bored.  I was cleaning up some papers in the kitchen and came across a folder that had pages from magazines that I had ripped out.  There were recipes, crafts and educational games.  I found an article I had taken out with easy science experiments to try at home.  I decided to do this one with Michael and a modified version for Katie.

Michael was hesitant at first because he didn't want to do anything that had to do with learning.  I told him that it would involve him and he would get to perform the experiment on his own.  This seemed to get his interest.  I got him his own bowl and gave him some pieces of paper towels to cut into strips.  He used each and every different marker color (I think there were 15 or so) and hung each strip over the edge of the bowl when he was done.

It was really neat to watch the colors move up the paper towel.  Michael also told me that he was happy he decided to do it and that it was fun, not boring like he thought it would be.  This activity actually held his attention for about 45 minutes, which seemed like a long time to me.  Katie did it for about 20 minutes, which was good for her.  Both of them told me that they would love to do another experiment soon!

Swimming Lessons

Michael is taking swimming lessons again this summer.  This year we were able to get him into an earlier session at the same place where he took them last year.  I figure this way he will have the lessons before he starts going to the pool every day.  And with the rain every morning, there isn't much pool time right now.  One of the nice things about these lessons are that the pool is inside.

Each child was tested when they entered the pool to place them in different levels.  Michael placed into Level 2.  He was the only boy with all girls and also looked to be the youngest in the group.  They did kicking while holding on to the wall, as well as lying on the board and using their arms to paddle.  The instructor also had each child do the back float while supporting them.  This was the only thing that Michael did not like to do and he would not rest his head in the water.  At the end of class, they went down to the 6 ft depth and each swimmer took turns jumping in to the instructor.  Michael did this with no problem, which was a major improvement from the lessons last summer. 

I am hoping that we can build on these lessons by spending a lot of time at the pool this summer.  Katie wasn't old enough for solo lessons this year and she was pretty disappointed about it.  I plan to take her to the pool and work on some basic skills with her.  She is much less fearful about the water than Michael was and will go down the steps by herself.  She also submerges her face in the water with her goggles on and comes back up easily.  Looking forward to seeing the progress of both kids!