#1 Way to Make the Summer Fly By

 We were gone for most of the month of June but didn't have much planned for the rest of the summer, so I took a quick glance down the recreation center calendar and started signing kids up for things.  We had a great schedule going and it wouldn't have even been all that crazy, except for Scarlet's added summer dance schedule for her new team.  That threw a very full and busy wrench into our plans.

Our camps included swimming lessons for all three kids, tennis for Scarlet and Rhode, little bakers for Scarlet and Rhode, Hollywood kids for Scarlet, and dance for Scarlet.

Swimming lessons are always a hit, but they are way more fun when I don't have to be wet everyday.  Asher, you may never know the kind of love a mother has to have to pull on the maternity swimsuit every morning for two weeks that is barely covering her 7 month belly while hopping into an inadequately heated indoor pool and then spending 30 minutes flipping you around and carting you back and forth across the pool over and over again for two weeks.  But it is enough love that I don't even need your appreciation, just the fantastic smiles you gave me during every lesson, because seriously buddy, you love to swim.

Tennis was a huge hit with my kids.  Their class only had about five kids in it and they had the greatest time.  It is something I hope we can continue doing... when it isn't so darn hot outside.

I think little bakers was my kid's favorite.  Of course, they made delicious foods and ate them so I am pretty sure it would have been my favorite class too.  They made Dirt & Worms (aka the pudding layer dessert) and Lava drinks (something with strawberry sauce and other yummy liquids) and they turned a chicken salad croissant into a crab which was adorable AND delicious.

We then added on Scarlet's dance requirements.  It involved two hours of dance a week, along with a two day dance camp workshop to prep them for their team and learn their first routine, and a tap intensive three day workshop.  There was one day when she had 5 hours of dance scheduled after having dance every subsequent day that week.  I really thought she was going to lose it at the end but she never did.  Even after her really long day, she came out exhausted but still excited to go to dance the next day.

It has been so fun to see her being challenged and I have already seen an amazing amount of improvement.  Her team commitment is going to be a lot to take on, but I think she will love it.

Her final summer activity was with the theater group, Hollywood kids academy.  They were putting on the play Annie.  I didn't realize when I signed her up that they didn't really have a summer session, so we joined after they had already cast the play.  But even with starting behind, Scarlet was still cast as an orphan with front row spots in all of the dance numbers along with a scene in NYC and got to play President Roosevelt for the last scene of the production.

We spent a good amount of time getting her hair and makeup stage ready.  Asher decided to take advantage of all of that distracted mom time and exposed makeup to make sure he was stage ready as well.

Scarlet did a great job on her part.  She still gets a little distracted watching the people around her instead of looking at the audience but she knew all of her songs, lines and dance moves.


And when, she came out in her Roosevelt get up, I just about died of happiness in my seat.

I wish I had a pictures for comparison but Scarlet immediately took me back to about a million pictures of her Aunt Kristy dressed as a boy for various occasions.  As Kristy openly admits on her blog, she is one who loves to dress up and gender roles were never a concern to her as a child.  And for some reason, Scarlet with short hair, round glasses and a blazer is the spitting image of Kristy.

I can't help but love a busy summer.  We had a perfect week off right before school started to catch up on some summer chores (more on that later) and then it was back to school.  Hopefully cooler temperatures will follow shortly.