Saturday, June 30, 2012

A great summer of fun so far!

I am determined to make the most out of the summer before Kindergarten and we are doing just that! Our summer has been filled with different lessons, crafts, treats and fun! I promised myself I would blog about our summer NO MATTER WHAT! :) So here I go.



Madison was extremely excited to turn 5 so she could get her very own library card! I am so delighted with everything the Lewisville Library has to offer for kids over the summer. They have a phenomenal children's summer reading program! Madison is able to read over the entire summer and earn really cool prizes! They also have GREAT children's reading times and programs. Here are some pictures of Madison with her library card and a picture of Zooniversity who presented endangered animals at the library program today. We are so lucky to have a library close that offers so much!

Madison completed the first level of her summer reading program through the library and one of the prizes was a free kids meal at Chili's. 
 And the best part of eating out is ordering desert!



 In the morning while I'm still waking up, Madison has free time. She built her Lincoln Logs all by herself by following the instructions! I was so impressed and she was so very proud!


 Here are other pictures of her morning free time activities.



Playdough Fun!
Building a castle







Painting on aluminum foil

Painting

Sand Art




Mosaic Art
Coloring





 
Madison just finished up a two week swimming
camp at Aqua Kids. She passed to the next level and will be starting once a week lessons next week. I am so very, very proud of her. Here are the details for the class/camp she just did:
Requirements to enter the class: 10 second breath control, jump turn and swim to wall, swim 25 feet, get independent forward breath with good recovery, back float, back glide
Goals for the class: Proper body position with forward swim, swim 1 length of our pool with rollover breathing, finning on back 1 width of our pool, introduction to frog kick, underwater swim

And here are the details for the next class she begins on Monday:
Requirements to enter the class: Proper body position with forward swim, swim 1 length of our pool with rollover breathing, finning on back 1 width of our pool, introduction to frog kick, underwater swim
Goals for the class: Freestyle 1 length of our pool with rollover breath, finning on back 1 length of our pool, frog kick 1 width of our pool, underwater swim, diving
Yep, I am one VERY proud momma!





We have been participating in every Passport to Imagination craft at Michaels. Each craft represents a different country and she gets to make a pin as well. A super cool fun activity. We go every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  (She dressed herself that day)















Madison is continuing to take gymnastics at Best Gymnastics and is loving it.  She is on the Developmental Team and loves Coach Josh. She is excited about becoming a team girl one day and is even more excited to practice hard after watching the Olympic Trials.













Yogi Kids and Sacred Dance opened a new studio together in Flower Mound and are offering $5 classes all summer long. Madison has been taking Kids Yoga, Hip Hop, Storytime Yoga, and Ballet and Tap. I don't currently have pictures, but will be posting some soon!

Downtime is also very important. I have finally discovered how to implement it for both Madison and I for an hour every day....books on CD. I checked out a bunch of Magic Tree House books on CD and downloaded them onto her iPod (temporarily we delete them after she listens to them). She LOVES them and lays down and listens for an hour or more.  It's GREAT!

We also have started a reading list of books that I read to her and she is on Set 2 of BOB books that she reads to me. Next week I am going to start Story Stretchers to go with the books we are reading.  Lots of different activities. I also hope to involve her in cooking and start some music. Trying to find a balance without putting anything off for her can be very difficult sometimes. I am very, very lucky to have a great helper (Madison's sister). She has been wonderful this summer.

I can't believe it is already almost July! It is crazy how fast time is flying by, I need a pause button! I am very fortunate to have a 'cheat sheet' website with all the activities for kids in North Texas right at my fingertips. Thank goodness for FamilyeGuide or I'd miss out on all the fun things to do this summer!

So far it's been a busy and productive summer and his doesn't even include all of the organizing of Madison's room! I'll save that for the next post!