Westminster Camp

Eleanor and Hayes have spent the last two weeks going to Westminster Camp each day. There, they participate in outdoor activities all day long. I love this camp because the kids come home utterly exhausted each afternoon. Eleanor has attended this camp every summer since she was 4. This summer, she is in one of the oldest groups so this might end up being her last summer at this camp. This summer is Hayes's first time as a full-day camper as he just went for half-days last summer. At the end of each session, the kids come home with an individual award. This year, Hayes's award was "Superstar Swimmer Award" for his group. Eleanor received a note of recognition of her "friendliness."

Busy Artist

Much of Ben's free time here at home is spent coloring with either markers, crayons or Dots. He moves his "tools" around the house with him as he rotates from room to room. In the last 24 hours he has colored in the kitchen, family room, dining room, and upstairs playroom.Right now, he's big into drawing lines and circles, as shown in this picture of "pools" that he drew while at Mimi and Papa's house. He also has gotten focused on coloring pictures single colors, as he has in this picture.It will be interesting to see if he sticks with his art or moves on to different things over the next few months.

Under the Sea Birthday

Sunday June 26th finally arrived! It was the day of Ben's 3rd birthday party! He had about 15 little friends over for some water games, snacks and cake. We were very worried that an afternoon shower would pop up but luckily the rain stayed away until an hour after the party ended. So, with the sunshine, we had some very hot but happy kids.

Eleanor and Hayes did a great job helping us get set up in the front yard. We had a sprinkler, the jumpy, chalk, lots of bubbles and a fishing game set up to keep the kids entertained. All of the parents in attendance were great sports as the mid-90s heat was sweltering. When it was time for cake, the kids seemed to get an extra burst of energy as they all raced up the back porch steps for their treats. Ben's cake was copied from his birthday invitation and turned out beautifully. When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday"Ben started to get a bit shy. All of the attention was too much for him. But, he had to perform as it was time to blow out the candles. Success! We had lots of both little and big people on the porch enjoying their cake, popsicles, goldfish and Swedish fish.
Ben complained about how his feet could not fit below his table so he improvised and ate with his feet up. By the time the party drew to an end, Ben was a happy camper. He had finally gotten his birthday cake and had his friends over to play. Life was good!

Ben is 3!

It is hard to believe that the baby in our family is now 3! Though his birthday was on Thursday, the 23rd, we had a birthday party planned for him on Sunday, the 26th. He really struggled throughout the day of his actualy birthday with the concept of having a party on a different day. He kept asking for his cake (we had a cake coming on Sunday so we bought Publix cupcakes for after dinner on his actual birthday) and for his friends to all come over. We let him choose where we took him to his birthday dinner. His selection? West Egg Cafe so that he could enjoy a waffle for dinner.Then, we came home to enjoy our cupcakes and sing "Happy Birthday!" After making a wish, Ben told us that he wished that he could "climb a tree." Wouldn't it be nice if all dreams were that simple?

In our new tradition, I had Ben answer the questions of the family questionnaire to mark the person he has become at the age of 3. Happy Birthday Ben!

Junior Shark Hayes

Like Eleanor, Hayes has spent much of the month swimming as a Junior Shark. The team is coached by the same coaches as the big Sharks team, with the head coach being Coach Muldoon, a first grade teacher at Eleanor and Hayes's school!

This summer, Hayes has learned how to swim freestyle and backstroke and has even spent some time working on his dive. He has loved swimming and seems eager to take on the challenge of learning new strokes. Since the Junior Sharks do not swim in the weekly meets, the junior team had their annual meet this week. Hayes had never attended a swim meet before (he had not ever wanted to go cheer on his sister) so he had no idea what to expect. There was a pretty good crowd for our first overcast morning this month. Hayes was not so sure that he could swim the length of the pool, though his coaches and I knew he could. On his arrival to the pool, he declared that these lanes were shorter than our "home" pool's so he should be good for swimming laps! There was no way I was going to share with him that all swim lanes in meets are the same length. :-)

Each swimmer swam one lap of freestyle and then their second lap could either be freestyle or backstroke. When Hayes swam his freestyle lap, he started off very strong but midway through the lap, water came into his goggles. It totally flustered him as he struggled, but made it to the finish line. He quickly stated that he did NOT want to swim another lap, and that he was done. I kindly told him that he could not quit, that he could swim without his goggles, and that backstroke might be a fun change. Somehow, someway he agreed. So, without goggles, he swam a beautiful lap of backstroke. After completing both laps, he was awarded a medal and a Blow Pop. I think he was still processing his achievement when I captured this shot. Hayes has had such a strong finish this season that Coach Muldoon has asked him to swim in the big Shark swim meet this upcoming Monday night. Hayes told Coach "no" when she officially asked him if he wanted to swim in the meet. I then clued her in to the fact that Hayes will always take the easy way out when given the option. Instead of asking him if he wanted to swim, she should just tell him that he was swimming in the meet on Monday night. She followed my advice, told him that he was swimming with the big kids, and he responded with an "ok." Wish us luck!

Monday Nights in June

On each Monday night in June, you can find Eleanor at a pool, competing in swim meets as a member of the Ansley Sharks swim team. This summer, we highly encouraged both Eleanor and Hayes to try the swim team. We had been hesitant to try it in years past due to the minimum 3-times-a-week practices (some of them at 8:30 in the morning), the weekly meets and the overall huge time commitment. This summer, though, we were ready to bite the bullet and commit.

Eleanor encountered a huge learning curve in the beginning. Many of the kids her age on the team had been swimming since they were 5 and 6. They knew all of their strokes and how the practices and meets worked. Eleanor had to figure it all out on the fly. Over the course of the season, she's learned the proper stroke form for freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Now, with three swim meets under her belt, she's also gotten used to the ebb and flow of swim meets.

What are some things we've learned this season about swim meets?
1. You must have your name written on your back in black Sharpie. 2. On your left arm, "den" moms will write the events you are to swim in that meet. The numbers on your arm will tell you your event, heat and lane just like this. 3. Entertainment is key while the kids wait for their events. 4. I can hardly recognize my daughter when she wears her swim cap, which she is required to do at swim meets. 5. Eleanor usually swims the freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. 6. Druid Hills is Ansley's toughest competitor. When Ansley swam against Druid Hills two weeks ago, about 1,000 people were in attendance!! The meet was very intense and competitive. I think Eleanor even felt the pressure, as seen on her "game face" on the blocks. 7. If you stay until the end of the meet and Ansley wins (we are undefeated this year, including a tie with Druid Hills), all of the swimmers get to jump in the pool. The kids love this because it is late Monday night (usually around 9:30) so it is a night-time swim. Eleanor and her friend Olivia did not want to get out of the pool once they got in with the crowd. As you can see, we've all learned a lot about the sport of swimming this summer. Eleanor has had so much fun that she has asked to swim again next year. Go Sharks!