Jump Around

During the summer, Hadley attended a one week gymnastics camp.  It was a way to keep her busy and to see if she was interested in taking lessons.  Not surprisingly, she loved it.  Malia also had a blast playing on all of the apparatus when we would drop off and pick up Hadley. 

When lessons started, we signed Hadley up.  We considered signing Malia up for the Mom and Tot class, but decided she would like the open gym option better as it was longer and she got to do what she wanted. 

They have each gone three weeks, and they both love it.  Hadley’s favorite is the balance beam and bars.  Malia loves lying on the trampoline while I bounce her and swinging on the rings.  I’m happy that they have so much fun while getting exercise and burning off energy.

Warming up

Bear crawl

Block pit

Playing under the parachute

School Days

Even though the calendar may not agree, to me the end of summer and start of fall is always marked with the start of school.  A few weeks ago, Hadley started her second year of preschool.  She was just as excited as last year to start.  Hadley was also very excited to be going full-time this year.

At a parent-teacher conference last year, her teacher told me that if they started something new on a day when Hadley was not there, Hadley would demand that they start at the beginning for her so she got all of the information.  With that in mind, I knew she would do well with full-time. 

She still loves school and is excited to be in the big kids group with Mrs. Tetreault.  This year she is much better at telling me what she learned at school and what they talked about.  Her teacher said she is a great listener and always wants to learn more. 

I’m so glad she likes school and hope she always keeps her love of learning.

Walking up to school

Malia also started “school” this year.  A good friend started an in-home daycare/preschool.  Malia and I have never been apart, so Gideon and I decided it would be a good thing for both Malia and me to have some time on our own. 

She only goes one day a week for a few hours, but I was still worried how she (and me) would do.  I talked to her about going to Ms. Christy’s house by herself and how much fun she would have.  When her first day came, she was very excited and ready to go. 

Malia’s school is close to Norwich, so Gideon dropped her off.  He said she was excited to hang up her backpack and jacket, take off her shoes and then run off to play.  She didn’t cry or get upset at all.  I kept myself busy and did okay too without her. 

I’m so proud of her and love that she is learning to go off on her own.  My babies are growing up so fast!

Very excited for her first day

Heading to school with Daddy

Worn out after her first day

Princess Play Group

For over a year now, our play group has been just little girls.  We didn't do this on purpose, but the people who come only have girls.  As a way to end the summer and send off some of our older girls who would be starting school, we had a special princess play group. 

Christy decorated her house in pink and purple and I made each of the kids’ individual mini cakes.  The girls came dressed in their best princess dresses.  Christy now watches two little boys, so we had some princes at our party too. 

We started out with decorating crowns. 

Next we moved on to the cakes.

After their bellies were full, they played pin the princess on the castle and then posed on the throne for pictures. 

It was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate our princesses starting school. 

A Light at the End

When Gideon said he needed to go to Portsmouth, NH for his commissioning medical exam, I thought it would be a nice end of summer, before school starts trip.  It ended up being so much more.  In May after graduation and another batch of Marines left, I kept thinking we STILL have another year here.  After this trip though, I am thinking we only have one year left, which is a big difference. 

It was so nice to be near a military base and a Navy one at that.  I loved the area and the idea that Navy bases are usually located in large port areas.  I have had my fill of isolation. 

Our hotel was great with a separate sitting area where the girls slept, an office, and kitchenette/dining room.  We also found out this is pretty standard in most Naval Lodges. 

Along with it being a great rejuvenator, we had a lot of fun on the trip too.  We did a ton of shopping as there was a huge outlet mall.  We all got a lot of clothes and a few new kitchen gadgets for me.  There were so many options and we left with probably more than we needed.

In between all of the shopping, we visited a children’s museum, water park, and zoo.  It was all within 20 minutes of the base, and for those who have lived in VT you know how big a deal that is.  On the day we visited the children’s museum, Gideon had several doctor’s appointments, the real reason for the trip, so he couldn’t go with us.

While it wasn’t one of my favorite kid’s museums, we still had a lot of fun and kept busy all day.

Trying out the different masks from around the world

"Working" in the restaurant

Story time

Digging for dinosaur bones

Testing the strength of her aluminum foil boat she made

Caught by the crab

The next day we went to the water park.  It didn’t go as well as we had hoped.  Malia has developed a fear of slides and won’t go down them without one of us and Hadley hates getting water in her face.  Since this water park doesn’t allow parents on the kiddie slides and there were water sprayers everywhere we did very little. 

Our last day made up for it though as we visited the York Wild Kingdom.  It is a zoo-amusement park combo.  The girls enjoyed the animals, but their favorite was the amusement park.  There was a mini Ferris wheel that they loved.  The bumper boats were also a huge hit. 

On the paddle boat

Feeding the goats

Feeding the deer

How cute are these kiddie bumper boats?

It was a great trip and so much more.  While we have had a lot of fun in VT, I am ready to move on and this trip was a great way to show us what we are in store for next.