Some Kind of Wonderful

Wrong! I was sooo wrong!

And I'm more than happy to admit it.

Eldest girl surprised the heck of me (and the rest of the family) by actually choosing to stay overnight at camp!

I was convinced that we were going to have to deal with a meltdown about whether or not to stay. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. She was still undecided when we got there but I told her I had brought along all her things and she still had time to decide. I asked if she had talked to the counselors about the evening plans and she had not. She is the kind of kid who likes to know what to expect and I thought that hearing about the evening's activities would help a bit in making a decision. So, I offered to go over and talk to the counselors with her. After the counselor gave us a brief run down of the evenings events Eldest girl made a surprising turn around. She said "That sounds like fun! I want to stay!" And from that moment on she never looked back.

Eldest girl seems to have found her confidence. She is becoming a 'can do kid'! It's exciting and makes us all so proud of her.

While the kitchen crew prepped for the BBQ we took a bit of a walk and allowed the girls to show us the nature center and nature trail. We also checked out the cabin where Eldest girl would spend the night.

two happy campers in front of the Nature Center building



eldest girl in front of her cabin


showing us her bunk


with her counselors



the fearless camper hamming it up for the camera


After dinner it was time for the skits that the kids had been working on during their two weeks at camp. There was a variety of performances from a dance number (to Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC but with no puppet strings, trains, psycho chicks with dogs, or car chase scenes involved) to a mock news broadcast of the days events at camp. Eldest girl took her new 'can-do' attitude to a new level when her group got up to do their skit. I am still not quite sure how to describe their skit other than to say it was filled with the antics of a gaggle of soon-to-be 3rd-grade girls. I do know that it had something to do with waiting for the camp bus. Here are Eldest girl and another girl waiting at the bus stop...



She was so proud of herself last night. Once she finished she came running up to me and said "I did it!"

Indeed, she did.

And it was every kind of wonderful.

Sleeping Beauty

I had wondered why Youngest girl was so unexcited by the park yesterday. But, she did seem to perk up a bit when we went to the pool yesterday afternoon. So, I figured she was probably just more excited by the idea of going to the pool and just biding her time until we got there.

She played hard for about an hour and a half in the pool and ate a ton of blueberries and raspberries and then we came home so we could get ready to go to the BBQ at the older girls' camp.

I went to take a shower and left her looking at books on the couch.

When I returned this is what I found:



I think she is growing. Either that or Corduroy is a real snooze.

I find it so funny that she can fall asleep just about anywhere. In the last few months she's fallen asleep on the living room floor, the rocking chair, and the couch. And she is the only one of my three kids who has voluntarily gone to her room in the middle of the day, climbed into bed and fallen fast asleep. This one takes after me - she likes her sleep.

In fact, today she came with me to my dentist appointment (routine cleaning) and she was so freaked out when the dental hygienist put the mask over her face that she curled up on my lap so she wouldn't have to look at her and promptly fell asleep. She was much happier when she woke up and found that the 'scary monster' was gone and the nice looking hygienist was back.

Tonight we are heading off to camp again for another BBQ. Last night was a fun mixture of hot dogs, burgers, lemonade, energetic camp counselors, silly skits, campy songs, and a real campfire over which we burned roasted marshmallows for our s'mores. Tonight we go back for more of the same but this time it is for Eldest girl's group. Middle girl did a nice job playing the part of a counselor in her skit last night - it will be fun to see what Eldest girl's group has planned for us tonight. It is also up in the air whether Eldest girl will decide to partake in the sleepover option or not. She seems completely torn- afraid on the one hand but intrigued on the other - and I fear a meltdown when push comes to shove and she has to make that final decision. I am planning to bring her overnight necessities, just in case, but at this point if I were a betting mom I'd be betting that she'll be coming home tonight. Only time will tell...

Lazy Days of Summer

Updated

Must. Move. More.

I'm still having a hard time with the motivation to get any exercise. And my afternoon slump is a good indication that I'm slacking off on the exercise. I definitely find that I feel sluggish and want to take a nap if I don't get my daily dose of exercise. I also want to eat more. It's a strange thing how exercise uses up calories and yet seems to suppress the appetite.

This morning Youngest girl wants to go to the park and I want to go for a bike ride. So, we've made a compromise. We'll bike to the park!

This afternoon we have an invitation to a friend's pool. It's supposed to get close to 90 today so that will be a great place to hang out for the afternoon.

The older girls are at camp and this evening we are driving out to meet them there for a family 'hot dog BBQ'. Tonight is the BBQ for families of the younger kids and Middle girls says they have some songs and skits prepared for us. Tomorrow night will be a repeat but this time for the older kids so our family will be there once again for Eldest girl group. They are both having a blast at camp - I'm already planning on signing them up again for next year.

OK - time for a bike ride!


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You can't ride my little red wagon

Front wheel's broken and the axle's draggin'

You can't ride my little red wagon

Any more today!

Well - we tried.

We got about 1/2 mile away from home and my bike gave up the ghost. Or rather - it chose to stick to one gear and some wire thingy that was sort of attached to my gear shift thingy was sticking out funny (yes, I'm quite technical when it comes to all things mechanical). I was stuck in one gear and the shifter was no use. At least we were able to ride back home without any major issues but it was clear that if we wanted to get to the park we were going to have to take the car.

Once there, Youngest one was completely unmotivated to actually play at the park. She enjoyed the swings for about 2 minutes and went down the slide once. I tried to entice her with a walk along the river but we barely made it 10 yard before she gave up on that idea and asked to back to the swings. We got to the swings and in the 2 minutes it took to get there she decided she was no longer interested in the swings anymore. It was time for mommy to take the lead and declare that it was time to go home. We ate our lunch and are having a bit of quiet time before we head to our friend's house to swim in her pool.

Here's hoping we have a more successful outing this afternoon!

Summer Camp update

Aside from being 15 minutes late, the camp bus arrived back into town safe and sound with all the campers accounted for. The girls came off the bus no worse for the wear and with smiles on their faces which I took as a good sign. They both were quick to say that they had a fun day at camp. At one point, Middle girl even reported that she was sad when it was time to get on the bus to leave because she wanted to stay even longer! I fear we may have a party girl in the making in that one. She never likes to see the good times end.

One of Eldest girl's first comments to me was, "you're probably going to be mad, but I failed the swim test." Huh? I cannot for the life of me figure out why she thought I'd be mad. (Apart from the fact that she sets high expectations on herself and tends to be a bit perfectionistic. I'm guessing that failure was not an easy pill to swallow - it never is, but she seems to have a harder time of it.) She was very mad because of the way the swim test was given. Apparently, the kids were asked to swim a particular length from one side of a u-shaped dock to the other and then tread water for a given amount of time. Eldest girl cried as she told me that she knew she wouldn't be able to do it and that she swam the distance fine but then was too winded to do the full amount of treading water. She felt it unfair that they made her do the water treading after the swimming. I explained that it was probably set up that way for a reason - namely that they needed to test her strength and stamina in the water. She would not be disabused of the notion that the test was unfair. I did my best to reassure her that I was not mad and that I was sure she did the best she could. She also stated that she knew she was not going to be able to pass as soon as they told her what was required. To which I explained that if she went into it thinking so negatively that perhaps that didn't help her get a positive outcome. I told her that perhaps she needed to go into it with a more positive attitude. I'm not sure I helped much with that bit but I really feel that negative thinking will lead to negative results and it's a lesson best learned young. Eldest girl has a tendency to think negatively and that has always bothered me. At the end of a fun day she will most often lament the things she didn't get to do instead of rejoicing in the things that were fun about the day. Or she'll let one sour moment overshadow all else. She did the same thing yesterday. She let her failure in the swim test overshadow the fun times. She also compared Middle girl's activities to her own and complained that Middle girl seemed to have participated in more activities. I explained that the kindergarten set tend to have shorter attention spans which might account for the increased number of activities but that they both arrived at camp at the same time and left at the same time which would indicate that one did not get more than the other. (However, Middle girl - by her very nature - might have possibly squeezed more fun out of her day! I'm just saying... Not that I would say that out loud.)

In the end, I think they both really did have a good day and they both climbed on the bus this morning happy and carefree as all summer campers should be. Eldest girl did tell us that she will have another opportunity to attempt the swim test again today. Maybe she will take my words to heart and think more positively ("I think I can! I think I can!" -- perhaps I should have given her that book to read last night...along with her current Harry Potter obsession).

Youngest girl and I have another quiet, but fun day planned. Yesterday we ran a few errands, took a bike ride through the neighborhood (something that is a rare treat since Middle girl doesn't want to do much more than ride to the end of the street and back and Eldest girl can ride her two-wheeler but refuses to practice stopping so she doesn't really like to use her bike for fear of falling...sigh), read a few books, did a few puzzles and she even took a long nap which allowed me to get some cleaning and pick-up done around the house. Today we have been hanging out at home this morning in the comfort of the a/c because it's stinking hot outside. After lunch we are going to a friend's pool for some cooling off and by the time we leave there it will be almost time to get the older girls off the camp bus.

Plans for tomorrow? A much needed haircut and lunch with Rick while Youngest girl hangs out with Grandma and Grandad!

Booty Camp Complete...on to Summer Camp!

Youngest girl is doing her job quite well this last week! She still occasionally needs to be reminded that a trip to the potty would be in everyone's best interest, but she has not had any accidents since I last posted. She's even dry through the night so we've gotten rid of the pull-ups as well. I'm still in awe of just how quickly it all happened. I think she was the easiest to train of all. And I'm thrilled that I can stop carrying a diaper bag and won't need swim diapers in the pool anymore.

In other exciting news, the two older girls started camp today. Middle girl seemed apprehensive last night about going but this morning all was well and she happily climbed aboard the bus. I was afraid I'd have one or both in tears this morning (since Eldest girl seems to have more anxiety issues at times) but it went very well. There was a slight snafu at the bus, however. The bus driver was a substitute and the camp counselor was a newbie - so neither of them knew exactly what was what. But, thankfully there was a veteran camp mom who knew the ropes. There should have been a bus monitor (possibly by the name of Chris) who was supposed to have clipboard in hand to check in the campers and get them loaded on the bus by 8:05am. By 8:15am it was obvious that something was amiss. The veteran mom said that they are usually right on schedule and yet there was no sign of the monitor. She called the YMCA to find out if they knew anything. We finally did get the kids signed in on a makeshift list (created on the back of a High School tardy slip provided by one of the dads) and sent the kids off on the bus with explicit instructions to the sub and the newbie not to let the kids get off the bus without a parent present at the end of the day. I would have been much more concerned about this lack of organization if it were not for the the fact that the veteran mom was there and reassured me that this was not a common occurrence. Let's hope tomorrow bus drop-off is a bit more routine.

While were waiting for the no-show bus monitor to possibly show up and get the show on the road we chatted with some of the other kids and parents. One 8-year-old girl was a familiar face to me, if not to Eldest girl. And her younger sister was familiar to both me and Middle girl. The 8-year-old (L) had gone to preschool with Eldest girl but they didn't remember each other and Middle girl just finished a year of preschool with her sister. I'm hoping that Eldest girl and L will get reacquainted at camp and have fun together. I was also able to introduce Eldest girl to another 8-year-old who was the daughter of the veteran mom. She seemed quite camp savvy, having gone to this camp for the last three years. Eldest girl often has a difficult time meeting new people so I was happy to be able to send her off with two girls who might be able to help her acclimate and learn the ropes. There were no 5-year-olds to introduce Middle girl to but I'm sure she'll make friends in no time.

The girls won't be back from camp until 5:25, which is when the bus arrives back here in town. I'm sure they will be tired but hopefully also happy from a long, fun day at camp! I'll keep you posted.

Lastly, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the girls in their 4th of July parade costumes.

Last Monday I realized time was getting short and the girls still needed something to wear for the little parade we have every year around the town common. The kids are invited to wear costumes or decorate their bikes and sometimes a family might get ambitious and put together an actual float for the parade (show offs). Sometimes a small band leads the crowd playing patriotic songs and in years past we have also had some mounted police to join our little ragtag parade. After the parade someone reads a portion of the Declaration of Independence and the kids all get prizes for participation. Then folks gather on the common for foot races and other games, as well as free lemonade and watermelon.

For this year's parade the girls wanted to wear costume instead of decorating their bikes and wagon like they did last year. After a brief discussion Eldest girl decided on being an Indian girl (everyone at the parade asked if she was Pocahontas and she was so annoyed because she was just an indian! - the kid needs to lighten up a bit). Middle girl decided to be a 'nature fairy' and although her costume did not end up looking the way I imagined a nature fairy would look she was pleased which is really all that mattered. When we went on our shopping trip to get fabric and patterns we had been unable to decide just what to have Youngest girl wear. In the end we found some simple pieces to put together and made her a hula girl costume. She liked the grass skirt very much, however, it appeared that the concept of 'hula girl' was lost on her. She walked around picking up the grass pieces and letting them fall while chanting "snowing! snowing! snowing!" Ah well - she still looked pretty cute.

In fact they all looked cute, if I do say so myself.