Monday, June 27, 2011

This and that!

Another post with lots of pics! The Viet Nam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC is beautiful! I saw this when I was 21. They have since come up with a half-sized traveling version which came to a nearby locality earlier this month. Drew's class was able to take a field trip to see it. Here she is with her flag in front of the Moving Wall.


Something Drew's class learned about before their field trip was of a program started in the early 1970's by some college kids in California to honor and remember those who were currently fighting in Viet Nam. They made metal bracelets with the name and rank of a soldier who had either died or was missing in action. My parents bought two of these bracelets which my mother still has to this day. On the day of their field trip, my mom was wearing these bracelets on a chain around her neck and the teachers were so thrilled to have the kids actually see them as they had learned about them in the days before! Here, Drew looks at the bracelets around Meema's neck.



Mom poses with Drew's class for a newspaper photo op.



I thought it would look cool if they all held their flags up! Too bad my mom's face all but disappears! Ha ha!



We finally pulled the little pool from last summer out of the garage attic around the end of last month. I proceeded to unflod the thing and was shocked to see big holes chewed right through! Stupid mice!! As I kept unfolding, didn't a half dozen of those little vermin jump right out!!! In the center was a cozy little mouse nest! Ugh!!! I am not afraid of mice, but they've ruined enough things to really make me hate them!! So as not to disappoint the fish...er, I mean, the girls, Dean decided an investment in another pool would be in order! Yay! Hero of the day! Instead of getting another 12 foot 2 and a half foot deep pool, we decided on a 15 foot 3 and a half foot deep version. The girls were ecstatic! Drew is pretty much swimming on her own now, but Luci isn't confident enough to brave deep water without her floaties. This pool is shoulder deep for them, so not only do they not need floaties, they are actually swimming! Even Luci is swimming underwater all the way across the pool without coming up for air or dropping her feet! I am so happy we ended up getting this size pool, it is just what they needed to really master swimming!

























Three amigos! Darien, Luci and Drew





Drowned rat! Darcy after a dunk in the pool!



After they all got a dunk, they proceeded to get the "rammies", what we call it when they get all frisky and crazy after a bath!













The girls recieved some brand new rollerblades this year! Drew is, of course, a natural on them. The first time Luci tried them, she was a bit wobbly and needed someone's hand to hold. And on our little sidewalk, she was practically an accident waiting to happen as our sidewalk heads downhill and has a sharp curve in it. But we brought them over to Grandma and Grandpa's while the girls had an overnighter and when I came the next day, Luci was zipping up and down their sidewalk just as well as Drew!! Dean got an expensive pair of rollerblades for Father's Day, so needless to say, there will be much rollerblading on camping trips!! I'd like to borrow someone's pair to try it out first before I get myself a pair. I'm not sure my knees and ankles could manage, so I don't want to waste my money!



Both girls recently bridged up to the next level in Girl Scouts. Here's Luci wearing her Dasiy vest for the last time!



Sonja also bridged!



Sonja gets welcomed into Brownies!



Drew welcomed her little sister into Brownies!





Drew says goodbye to her Brownie troop leader...



And hello to Juniors!



From Daisies to Ambassadors!



Drew's troop.



Luci's troop.



Drew shows off her wings and bridge patches.



Luci's patches hadn't arrived at the time of the ceremony, but she was ok with that!





The first and second-graders held a science fair at school. The kids were seperated into groups and given a project to research, write about and perform at the fair.



Luci's group demonstrated the "phenomenon" of floating water! Put water in a glass, put a plate on top of the glass........



Flip upside down and take your hand away! Voila! The water stays in the glass!!



At another station, Jeb's group demonstrates how to build a bridge over a span using textbooks!



Skipping the quotes for today, until next time!!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Camping and my little ballerina!

Ahhhhh, camping season is BACK!!! We took our first trip to a favorite state park for Memorial Day weekend. The kids got the Friday before off from school as they didn't use a couple snow days over the winter. So we packed up and headed out Thursday evening. Drew brought a friend from school with her for the trip. Below, are a few of the many kids roasting marshmallows on Friday night. Friday was cool and rainy all day and everyone needed jackets in the evening, but the weather turned beautiful as the weekend progressed.







The weather got warm and dry enough by Sunday that the kiddie pool and water guns came out!











Even with the crummy weather starting the weekend, everyone managed to have a blast as usual! We're looking forward to our next trip! As hinted in my last post, we finally finished off Luci's room. She is now the happy resident of her very own ballet studio! I found these decals on ebay and they are just perfect!! They look black in the picture, but are actually brown.





These cute curtains match her new bedding set.



Well, the green desk kind of throws off the whole color scheme in her room, but she only just got this desk at Xmas, so I wasn't about to go get her a new one! She'll have to deal! I took a bunch of her old dance costumes from recitals past and actually hung them on the walls and her closet door! They add a nice touch!



Luci has her own personal ballet barre!



This antique 3/4 bed was given to us many years ago and it has been collecting dust in the attic. But it is a perfect fit in her new room!








The barre is slightly higher than it should be for her height, but she manages to stretch those beautiful legs up there anyway! Both girls have once again decided to attend the Rebecca Kelly ballet camp this summer, and yet again, I have a wedding to shoot, so I'll miss the recital just like last year...I am SOOO bummed about that!! But I have blocked off 2 weekends in July 2012 so I won't book another wedding around the recital again!!! I'd rather watch my girls dance than make money! Ha ha!! Anyway, Luci loves her new room as she is totally focused on ballet right now. And I love that she loves it, too! I wasn't a great candidate for it as a kid, so my parents didn't encourage it in me, but I love ballet as well. I would love to bring the girls to a real ballet performance, just to see their faces! Someday....




Today's Quotes:


“Everything is beautiful at the ballet... “ ~from “A Chorus Line”


“Ballet is a dance executed by the human soul.” ~Alexander Pushkin