Story Land 2012

It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Story Land, and this year we took the entire Lippman Family along for the ride - Auntie Kae, Auntie Jen, Uncle Devan, Cousin Eva, Grammy, Grampy and even "cousin" Becky! 

We went up on a Thursday, and spent Friday morning playing in the river near the house we stayed it.  It was a beautiful day, and the water was very refreshing.  Grammy brought tons of inner tubes, and we had a lot of fun tubing on the river.  Grampy took a lot of pictures and we're hoping he'll send them to us soon (hint, hint, Grampy!).  That evening we got to do a few hours of Story Land to check out which rides were our favorite.  It was hard keeping the kids away from Bamboo Chutes, but when we finally got there we rode down many times.  It was a blast!

That evening, Auntie Kae finally joined us and the entire clan got to go to the park the next day.  It started out as a beautiful and hot day.  We had lots of fun on the tea cups, the swan boats, the Polar Coaster, and more!

Lexi and Grampy being silly with the guards.

Swan Boat Bumper Boats!  Oops!

Princess Lexi

Silly Cousins!

Lexi and Zach in the pumpkin

Lexi and Zach got arrested.  Zach tried to escape, Lexi thought it was a bad idea...

The kids hitched a ride on a burro.

 As the day wore on, thunder storms started to threaten, so we were on high alert to stay close to a covered ride, or indoor area.  After several hours of threats with no rain, we got a bit cocky, and made our way to the complete back of the park for some rides on the tractor.  When it started to sprinkle a bit, we were told we could hang out in the covered line area until the rain stopped.  After a few minutes the sprinkles turned to downpours.  We thought it would pass quickly, so continued to sit tight.  Awhile later we were told that the circus would begin in 20 minutes, and was in a covered tent.  We decided to make a run for it because it was close, but we were all soaked by the time we got there.  We enjoyed a fantastic circus and when it ended about 30 minutes later we thought for sure it would be dry.  But no, it was still pouring rain!  We had no choice but to make a run for it - clear across the entire park to our car that was parked as far away as you could park.  So off we went.  Part way there we stopped under a tent to make sure we had everyone with us.  While we were standing there (soaked) we noticed that Twirling Turtles, our favorite ride, was still running!  So Lexi and I decided to take a ride.  On our way there we ran into Auntie Kae who was coming to find us to see if we wanted to take a ride!!  Off we ran, and Zach decided to join in too.  There was nothing more fun, that day, than twirling around on those crazy turtles in the pouring rain!!

Twirling Turtles in the RAIN!!  No better way to do it!

When the ride was over, we still had to get back to the car and it was still pouring.  We ran as fast as we could, but we were all just soaked to the bone when we got there.  Of course, as soon as we reached the car, the rain stopped and the sun came out.  It was hysterical, and probably the funniest and most fun time I have ever had at Story Land.  :)

That evening, the guys grilled up a yummy dinner (in the rain again!) and we enjoyed a great evening in with our family. 

Sunday seemed to come too quickly, and it was already time to pack up and go home.  But, we did hit our favorite restaurant for breakfast, and do a little shopping downtown in order to tucker the kids out before the long drive.  Once we were on the the road, it was only about 5 minutes before they were both sound asleep - definitely a sign of a good weekend. 

It was a wonderful way to kick off our summer.  :)

Last Day of School!

On Tuesday, the last day of school, I dropped my Kindergartener off at the Thomson school.  

First Day of Kindergarten - September 2011

Three hours later when I returned, they handed me a First Grader!!  Oh my goodness!!

Last Day of Kindergarten - June 2012

Thomson School Fun Run

The Thomson School Fun Run is an event that is near and dear to my heart.  My memories of running it when I was at Thomson are some of my fondest memories of my elementary career, so I was thrilled for Lexi to be a part of it.  Additionally exciting was that the PTO president ask me if the Striders would be willing to host a little training session for the kids in the weeks leading up to the event.  I was thrilled to do that, and lucky to have a few MVSers who were willing to help me out.  We held two sessions in the two weeks before the event, and on the first night I was shocked when 18 kids showed up!  The next week, on a dreary Tuesday evening, we had over 30 kids come, and they all had a blast!  We did a lap to warm up, some dynamic warm ups across the field, practiced racing and cheering for our teammates, and even had some fun with a good, old fashioned banana relay.  It was so much fun, and we had a lot of wonderful feedback from both the kids and the parents.  Here are some pictures that my mom took for us:

Thomson School Fun Run Training

The next week should have been the week of the Fun Run, but disappointingly threats of thunder forced the event to be postponed.  Ultimately, it never rained, and when Lexi noticed that she had a little "just like her mom rant" about it.  "You know," she said, "we could have had the Fun Run tonight.  If they want us to Fuel up to Play 60, then they have to SHOW US Fuel Up to Play 60, and that means no ice cream socials, no cookies, no popsicles, and when we want to run they have to LET US RUN!!!"  What can I say?  She's my kid! But, the decision was the right one to make, because when we actually got to have the Fun Run the following week, the weather was fantastic. (Note - Fuel Up to Play 60 is a program that was introduced in the school this year.  The basic concept is to teach the kids about eating healthy food that can give their bodies enough energy to play or exercise for 60 minutes each day.  At the beginning of the year they had a kick of party where they served the kids cake and hot chocolate to celebrate.  No, I'm not kidding.) 

The event was changed this year to be at the track, and incorporate some other activities as well.  So there was Zumba, a balance beam (or balance rope?), karate, etc. to keep the kids entertained.  Each grade and each gender had their own race, and all the kids worked really hard.  Lexi ran her heart out and did great.  She was very pleased with herself, although she plans to win next year.  :)  Of course, I was thrilled with how well she did, and had so much fun being a part of it with her.

Lexi Runs The Fun Run

Overall, it was a wonderful event and I am so proud of Lexi for how hard she worked.  It was wonderful for me too, as lots of kids from the training program came up to me at the Fun Run to tell me how much the training helped them in the race! One girl from our training program told me she won her race because she learned how to pace herself from our program. Another girl who won her race came over to me smiling and thanking me for the training. She said, "This is a very big accomplishment for me, because I'm not really a runner." I said, "Well, you are now!" 

I'm already looking forward to next year.  :) 

Lexi is cool, calm and collected.  Ready to run!

Rosie, Jaslyn and Lexi

Zachary in his appropriate shirt.  He asked me when we were going to the meat race.  :)

Lexi spent a lot of time here.

The kids receive their racing instructions.

Kindergarten winners

Thomson School Field Day

Lexi's Kindergarten class had their Field Day a few weeks ago, and most of the parents attended to volunteer and enjoy the morning.  It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast!

The Kindergarteners receive instructions from "The Proud Principal of the Pvt. Albert E. Thomson School".  Aka, Mr. Gilligan

Under the parachute!

Lexi's gets a butterfly from Mrs. Gordon.

And Zachy gets a spider.

And then neither of them would smile for fear of ruining the picture.

Tug of war!

Lexi's team won this round.

Ms. Sciamanna's class against Mrs. Afarian's class.  KS lost.  :(

Lexi's class

The girls

Last tug of war of the day - Kindergarten against...

...high school. Kindergarten won.  :)

Proud Mama

Lexi has been having a lot of fun with various end of year activities, and I am way behind on posting.  I plan to get to that this afternoon, but I had to post this one right away.

This morning the parents were invited into the Kindergarten to watch a slide show of the children throughout the year.  It was very nice, and fun to see some of the things that they did that I didn't hear about at home.  After the slide show, the reading teacher approached Lexi and asked her where her mom was.  Lexi pointed to me, and the woman nearly leaped over the tables to come speak with me.  She has a very thick accent, so at first I wasn't sure what she was trying to tell me and asked her to repeat it.  She had come over to tell me how special Lexi is and how much she loves her.  She went on for some time telling me that she is not only SO smart, but that she is just a lovely child in every way.  I wish I could have had a video of her speaking because she was so animated, and so excited to tell me about how much she loves Lexi, and I think I only understood about half of what she said.  I believe I just said, "Thank you" about a million times, but it made me so happy.  Lexi has not had the easiest first year of school, but it was really nice to know that she stood out so much to the reading teacher that she made it a point to come tell me.  Lexi loves to read, and I know that will serve her well for her entire life.  She makes me proud every, single day, but this was such a bright moment for me that I will never forget.

Lexi and Ahren read together on Father's Day

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Thomson School Arts and Academic Night

On Wednesday evening we had the extreme pleasure of visiting Lexi's school for their Arts and Academic Night.  The evening began with a performance put on by the two Kindergarten classes.  Their phenomenal music teacher, Mrs. Dragosits, worked hard with the children all year to teach them how to sing beautifully as a group.  She gave us a demonstration of how she taught them about pitch, and then asked them to do the same demonstration with the parents.  You can see the two videos of this here and here. Next she had the children sing a beautiful song to us in French, and then they topped off their performance with a beautiful rendition of "Wonderful World".  I believe that an amazing music teacher at young age is a gift to any child, so I am very grateful for the hard work that Mrs. Dragosits does with the children.  She could easily sing nursery rhymes with them each day and move on, but instead she chooses challenges, and really teaches the children something about music.  I was so thrilled to see the final product of all of that hard work.

After the musical performance, we were invited back into the classroom to see all of the work Lexi's done throughout the year.  It was extremely crowded, so we didn't have as much time to see everything as we would have liked, but it was great getting to ready her weekend news journal, and check out her science notebook.  They are really working on some nice projects in her class. 

After spending some additional time roaming the hallways looking for her posted artwork...

...we let the kids run around on the playground for awhile.  I am very impressed by the confidence Lexi has gained on the playground over the school year.  I had an opportunity to watch her interact with some of her friends, and show off her climbing skills.  She has been working hard to master the monkey bars, and was very excited to make it to the third bar while we were playing that evening.  I can't get enough of watching her face a challenge and simply refuse to give up until she gets it right.  That attitude is going to take her very far in life.

It was a wonderful evening all around.  I told Lexi later that I wished we could have Arts and Academic Night every night.  She said that it would be a lot of work to learn that many songs.  :)