9th Annual Holden Beach Trek

The beginning of the 10+ hour drive. . .

Nearing the end. . .

Thank goodness for good travelers and for kids who arrive at a hotel after sleeping in a car, jump around for ten minutes in excitement and then go down without a hitch.

The reward . . .

Are You Making A Mess Up There?

No, we are just cleaning. . . That's one bottle of shampoo down the drain - literally!

We Are All Packed Mommy

Adeline and Lila decided to pack themselves for the beach this year.  Their suitcases were zipped and waiting at the top of the stairs.  Apparently you don't need any clothes when spending two weeks at the beach.

She Swims!

After five long weeks, Miss Lila Grace can swim.

Lila has been taking swim lessons throughout the school year without much progress.  This summer, we enrolled her in the same program that taught Savannah to swim - granted, Savannah learned to swim last year so we recognized that we were pushing the envelope with Lila.  All three of my girls were born fearful swimmers and resisted swim lessons.  Luckily, Lila knew I meant business this year and, while she didn't want to, she put her face in the water and learned how to use her big arms.

At first, Lila thought that she would sink and clung to her swim teacher if he tried to move away from her.  After going back and forth with him for four weeks, he gained her trust and got her over the hump.  The last week, she swam with a new teacher.  The change was positive.  Lila didn't show signs of fear and in five days got her big arms out of the water (they are too straight and make her movements a bit jerky) and learned to swim independently.  Here is a clip of Lila swimming 2/3 of a lap without assistance. 

I am so proud of her.  She believes she is a swimmer, is proud of her accomplishment and has hinted at wanting to take the test in the outdoor pool in order to go off the diving board.

My Train Lovers

Alex took Adeline and Lila to a Day Out with Thomas.  Adeline is mildly obsessed with Thomas.  For example, she wears boy Thomas underwear.  She sleeps with a Thomas blanket, has a Thomas pillow, owns countless Thomas trains and loves it when I draw a Thomas train for her to color.

Lila has taken a liking to James but, in his absence, was very excited to see Thomas with Adeline.  Last year it was just a Daddy and Adeline outing.

I love that my little girls still love their trains.

Goodbye West Chester Friends

Savannah has completed her second year at West Chester Friends School.  She enjoyed her time there and I enjoyed the small size and family-like feel.  Savannah has grown academically, but more importantly, has become a strong and confident girl.  Don't worry, she is still very quiet and reserved.  In fact, she holds the record for not getting in trouble once in her two years there.  I think her classmates were waiting for the day Miss Savannah would be removed from circle to sit at a table for talking.  It just never happened. 

Somehow, this school environment helped Savannah find her footing while at the same time allowing her to stay true to her quiet self.  While we give WCFS the credit for breaking Savannah's shell and helping her emerge, we were not satisfied on all fronts.  Namely, the rigor.  Savannah is very bright girl that functions above grade level in almost all areas. She still has some work to do with ball skills but when it comes to reading and math, the girl is solid.  It became apparent that the school wasn't going to meet Savannah on her level and push her forward, and instead, was going to devote more time for the struggle students and their need to catch up.  I believe in both and wish there was a balance in the teaching.

This, in conjunction with Savannah wishing to spread her wings, has driven us to try public school.  Our local public school is said to be wonderful, a school that meets all students on their level.  We shall see.  We may be running back to WCFS the following year when Lila begins Kindergarten there.  But next year, we have decided to try public.  We hope Savannah is pushed a little harder, and finds making new friends successful.  Being that there is only one class per grade at WCFS,  students don't have great opportunities to meet new friends.  Who you start Kindergarten with is who you will start First Grade with.  By the end of this year, it felt a bit too small in the friend department. 

We look forward to the three minute commute that will replace a 25 minute commute.  We also are excited to begin laying roots in our local community.  There is also the Adeline factor.  Miss Adeline will go to this public school for their services.  Savannah will somewhat pave the way which will make Adeline's Kindergarten year a smooth transition for our family. 

I have spent hours, possibly days if you add them all up, agonizing over this decision.  We finally put it in front of Savannah and let her decide.  It is official now and I can stop worrying about it. . . at least until September!

Goodbye West Chester Friends.  We have loved you and will miss you!  Don't worry, we will be back in year with Miss Lila.

Happy Father's Day

We had a nice and laid back day today.  We were coming off of a pretty late night so church and a brief swim at the pool was about all we could handle.

The girls enjoyed giving their Daddy extra loves and a new running watch so that he can get a better idea of his distance and pace AGAIN.  Yes, if you stumble across a nice Garmin running watch, that would be the one Alex lost!

Here are some informal pictures I took today.  I also have a clip of the Adeline and Savannah talking about their Daddy in their PJ's, way past their bedtime.  Unfortunately, Miss Grace was put to bed early due to lack of listening the FIRST TIME.  It is something we are working on and felt we need to follow through with tonight.  Sadly, Daddy's Father's Day dinner was spent putting Lila to bed early and sitting down to eat after Adeline, Savannah and myself were finishing.  The best laid plans. . .

In the clip, Adeline is distracted by various noises - her sensory issues and attention deficits are pretty apparent.  She confuses a job with working out because she isn't focused due to a fly, a sound or who knows what.  All it took was my camera running out of memory, which caused a break in filming, to rein her back in and provide a focused and answer (I didn't prompt her). I think Savannah's explanations are pretty self explanatory except for when she refers to her bracelet as good luck. The bracelet was a good luck gift from her teacher this year. 

Happy Father's Day Daddy!  You shine in many areas, but fatherhood is your brightest role!

Hot Air Balloon Festival 2011

The girls have been counting down the days until the Hot Air Balloon Festival.  They have painted hot air balloons, talked about how they work and asked to take a ride.  The answer has been a firm no until tonight.

We pulled into the festival about an hour before take off.  While waiting for the balloons to inflate, we visited booths.  The twins had their faces painted and enjoyed a ride on the bungee swings.  At first, both were very apprehensive and wanted to get out of the harness.  Once in the air, they changed their mind.  Because they were so light they need some additional yanking from the workers so that they could really get going.  Of course, Adeline was the one who wanted to go the highest.

This was an interesting evening for Savannah.  She experienced her first punishment for some not so gracious behavior early in the week.  Alex and I decided that we wouldn't spend any money on her at the festival.  I don't who it was harder for, her or us.  She was sad but held it together.  Fortunately, there was a balloon artist making balloons for free which gave Savannah the opportunity to take something home. 

We were joined by our very good friends right before the balloons took off.  After watching the balloons take flight, we settled into our spot and let the girls snack and run around.  As the sun was setting and the anticipation of fireworks was growing, Mr. Marc surprised the girls with a hot air balloon ride.  Since he did this on his own accord, we allowed Savannah to go.  She was beyond excited.  Miss Adeline didn't consider it for even one second which was a good thing after hearing how noisy the balloons are - something you don't think about when you watch them gracefully float through the sky above.  Lila, Savannah and their friends thought it was pretty cool to float up into the sky.  I am sure they will remember for the rest of their lives.

After the ride, the fireworks started.  One year ago, this same firework show put Adeline over the edge and made her deathly afraid of fireworks ever since.  After brainstorming with her teacher, we decided to watch some fireworks on the computer with the sound low with the hope that Adeline wouldn't lose it during this year's show.  I was pretty sure Alex was going to have to walk her to the car.  She appeared to be excited to see the rainbow of colors light up the sky until the sun started to set.  For a good half hour, she was buried in Alex's chest, waiting for the inevitable.  With hands over her ears (both her and Daddy's) and a coat wedged against them as well, Adeline powered through the fireworks.  She really put on her brave face and claims to have enjoyed them - there were moments where I question this.  I am pretty proud of her regardless.  I never dreamed she would make it through the show without tears.

A great night!

Japanese Festival

For the last month of school, Savannah has been in Japan.  Her class boarded an airplane, complete with security check points and passport requirements, and took a long trip over the blue carpet of her classroom.  They landed in Japan and didn't come back until the end of May.

T. Connie has a gift of immersing children in the Japanese culture and we were fortunate to see it seep into our lives here at home.  Savannah learned about the topography, history, modern culture, arts and, of course, how to eat with chopsticks.  In fact, she didn't use a fork for the entire month and is very competent with the little sticks.  Japan infiltrated all areas of the classroom and specialist's classrooms.  It was, by far, the favorite area of study in First Grade.

The children brought back many artifacts from their visit in Japan and put on an elaborate festival.  Savannah was one of the fotunate students who got to wear an authentic kimono and geta (wooden clogs).  Her role in the festival was acting the part of the kamishibia man.  She offered candy to those who entered the festival and eventually called all the adults and children together for a story.  It was a true leadership role.  Each child had an opportunity to read a portion of the story.  After it was complete, there was a fantastic performance of bells which I wasn't expecting.  I only got the tail end of the bell solo but was able to record the portion that included the other instruments in conjunction with the bells.  Savannah's music teacher commented on how well Savannah did taking the responsibility of two bells and noted her ability to read music.  Piano lessons make a difference!





Here are some pictures of the different stations we visited.

Just Because They Make Me Smile. . .

Miss Lila's Move Up Day

After a very long and agonizing decision process, we have decided to return Lila to her current preschool for the 5's program this coming fall. Therefore, she "moved up" this year, instead of graduated from preschool. It feels good to leave her in a warm and familiar place. Each year, the teachers chip away at the shell and Lila becomes more confident. We loved her teachers this year and felt that they moved her into an academic setting with reasonably high expectations. Lila met those expectations and even overcame her dislike of performance. At the beginning of the school year, Lila wouldn't participate in music, finger plays or yoga. By the end of the year, she was participating in everything.

Here are some pictures of her last day of the 4's program and a clip of her singing a song during her program. She reminds me so much of Savannah. Neither girl is an over the top performer. They are quieter, and lead with their gentle spirits. We would rather it stay this way too. It seems to just fit better in our family.