new kindergarten update, plus zip lining!

In my last post I explained why I was taking Lilly out of the kindergarten where she was and place her in my home district.  Lilly has been there for 2 weeks.  Almost immediately she seemed much calmer at home.  The morning time anxiety that we had been seeing was greatly reduced.  On the 2nd day she did decide that she had changed her mind and wanted to go back to school with me.  Once she realized that was not a viable option, she moved forward and has been doing great!

We are helping her catch up with the curriculum.  She is working very hard on learning her letters, manuscript-style, because this district places importance on it, whereas the last one did not.  She also has tons more homework every night.  Most importantly, she has made friends, and she is happy!

Lilly had a big day this past weekend when she attended Camp Riverbend's Family Camp Day.  My parents came to walk around with her, since Vinnie was working.  Lilly went to the high ropes course, climbed the high wall, and then zip lined down.  I was insanely proud of her when I found out!  I am so grateful my parents were there to encourage her and cheer her on while I was doing my baking thing with the other families.

climbing the wall

she made it to the top

zip line!

the swing.  Love that smile!

Next up...Halloween!

Camp is over for the season

Lilly the mermaid

 The last day of camp was a stormy one.  There had been a few rainy days over the 7 weeks, but none as crazy as this one.  There were rivers of mud passing by my cabin.  The annual last day cookout was smack in the middle of the heaviest rain, so the campers ate in their cabins or other rainy day locations.  It was a bit hectic, to say the least!  But in true camp fashion, everyone made the best of it.

My view outside one part of my cabin.

It stopped storming in time for the closing bonfire, which I missed because I was cleaning up my kitchen for the winter.  There is a bittersweetness to the last day of camp.  We were all, counselors and campers alike I think, ready for a break, because it is hard work and tiring.  But then I was thinking of how much fun I had, the people I met, the campers I got to know and how much I learned this summer and it did make me a bit sad that camp is now over.  I am planning on going back next summer, though, so I will have a chance to do it all over again!

See you next summer!

Lilly, too, was sad when she realized that she would not be going to camp this week.  She cried for a few minutes after we got home.  But I think she is physically and mentally ready for the few weeks of a break that we have.  If only she would start sleeping past 6am!  

Last ride home on the bus - Queen Lilly!

I was able to visit Lilly's free swim on the day before camp ended because it was Carnival Day and I had no groups that day.  She was having a great time in the pool and you can see that she puts her head completely under water.  I had hoped she would really be swimming by the end of the 7 weeks, but for a multitude of reasons she was just not ready for that.

She had been completely submerged!

Happy camper!

My little camper

Lilly is having a great time at camp.  At the end of each day she is tired and dirty.  Isn't that the best indicator of a happy 4 year old camper?  Each group has a turn leading the camp in a song or doing a skit or dance at the end of day assembly.  Lilly's group went on Thursday and I happened to have my camera that day.  I cropped the other campers out for privacy reasons.  And bonus...she is so busy all day that her braids stay in ALL DAY!!
p.s.  Check out my other blog, too, for some of the recipes I am making with the campers.

Week 1 of Summer Camp? Rocked it!

Normally I am not an I rock kind of person, but some moments just scream out for it.  I was so anxious leading up to my first week as the cooking counselor at summer camp.  I had not worked in a summer camp in years, and never in one like this.  This camp has an amazing reputation and I wanted to live up to it.  Finally, I had never taught anything like this before.  It was all new and I was anxious.

The first day went well with only some minor hiccups.  I figured out how to get everything washed in between groups.  I learned to ask the counselors what time they had to be out of there for the next activity.  Canoeing and swimming require more time in between than lanyards or arts & crafts.

I learned to direct the counselors in how exactly I need them to help their campers (and me) in order to be most efficient and not have campers sitting with nothing to do.  I also figured out that I had to make some latkes ahead of time so that the campers did not have to wait for me to fry them!

Probably the most important thing I learned was that I could do this.  I think the campers had a great time.  I could tell that they were engaged and interested in what we were doing and what I was saying.  A lot of the campers were asking for the recipe!  They were asking what we were making next.  I enjoyed meeting a lot of campers and counselors.  The only downside is that, while I am meeting a lot of people, I am not really able to spend time getting to know particular people.  Maybe that will change as I learn more about how to get everything done and also as the weeks pass.

Lilly loved her first week as a camper!  I love catching glimpses of her running with the other campers on her way to an activity.  She looks especially cute when she is running with her suit on, towel flapping behind her!  She has great counselors and I am thrilled that she is learning how to blow bubbles in the water!  I just know she is going to be a great swimmer!

I just had to edit this to add something that occurred to me as I was rereading it.  I could not have rocked it (lol) without the help of the other counselors who come in with the groups and the camp directors and other staff.  My supervisor has been really supportive and checking in all day long.  I meant to write that before but my grumbly belly distracted me from finishing all my thoughts.

lessons learned

ahhh....The first day of summer break.  Yesterday was the last day of the 2011-2012 school year.  This past year I have learned so much about myself as a coach, a mother, a wife, a peson.

• I am stronger than I thought I was.
• I will fight for my family when needed.
• I have an amazing network of colleagues who are talented, funny and supportive.
• I don't always know what is going on behind the scenes when I am speaking to a teacher.  I need to find out before making judgements.
• If I listen, they will talk.  In one week 3 different women shared very personal stories with me.  
• I am a good mother.
• I like working.
• They are not exclusive of each other.  You CAN be a good working mother.  

Finally, I learned that I cannot blog as often as I like!  The past 6 weeks I have not written one blog post.  I started writing a post about sleep.  Was that a hint?  I think so.  Maybe I will finish that one, because it is a perpetual theme in my life.  I don't get enough sleep.  I want more.  I need more.  

I am working at an amazing summer day camp starting next Monday.  I spent the past weekend (Thursday-Sunday) at orientation and training.  It was a blast!  I was invigorated by the high-energy of the owners/directors and other camp staff.  I am thrilled that Lilly gets to have this experience because I am working there.  The program I am running is called Passport because it is in essence  "cooking around the world."  I may just be updating my other blog Girls Can Grill with some of the recipes.  Of course I won't be grilling anything really, so there may need to be a name change.  

I plan on returning to the world of blogging here on the Mommy Chronicles, as well.  I miss writing!

Happy Summer!!