The Miller Babes: Smart Summer Challenge

Monday we had dedicated to "Art Day" but we decided to ride downtown with Dad on his way to work. We went over to the library, over to Target, and then met Dad back at his work and drove down to Lake Calhoun. We had lunch a Tin Fish (which is a little eatery right on the lake) and then headed down to the beach (the part of the lake where Tin Fish is has sailing, boat rentals, etc, but no beach). There are several beaches on Lake Calhoun, but we went to the East Lake Calhoun Beach, as it was the closest to Tin Fish. We were there for hours and it was BEAUTIFUL! No pictures, but we had a really good time and plan on going back either Monday or Tuesday. There were tons of Sunny's that Maddox and another kid were trying to catch (with their hands). If we had a net, we probably could have caught a couple! We walked over to a shoe store that I have a groupon-type deal at that was just a couple blocks down and spent a little too much time there. I didn't like any shoes that Faye picked out and Faye KNOWS what she likes and didn't like any that I picked out. We were running really late but I had promised the kids Ice Cream, so we hopped on the bus and rode down to Sebastian Joe's and called Clayton to come meet us there. We were not going to make it back to his work before he got off and Maddox had T-Ball that we would have been late for.

We continued to work on some Ocean/Sea related stuff through out the week. We looked at Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and even Mermaids. We also have been looking at different Chinese holidays and festivals. We went to the Dragon Festival on Saturday. They had Dragon Boat races. We had seen them on Ni Hao Kai-Lan and were curious about seeing them, plus they had all day Martial Arts demonstrations and Maddox is really into Martial Arts. We've thought, on and off, about getting him into something, but haven't. A couple weekends ago, Faelyn and I made friends with a woman at Caribou that was waiting for her son at the Karate Studio next door. Of course I had to ask questions about it because Maddox would really love to learn and I'd really like him to as well. She raved about the studio. She has three boys, all go to the school. The oldest has gone for 17 years, the youngest for 6. She said it has taught them a lot of discipline, respect, and confidence.

Tuesday we walked over to McDonald's. It's about a mile away and we never go there. It was the first time I had ever checked in there on Foursquare! Maddox did his Summer Bridge book and reading, but we really didn't do much that day at all. At McDonald's, we ran into a boy that Maddox went to preschool with. Maddox did not remember him at all (and I don't believe the boy recognized Maddox), but they made instant friends! Faye was all over the play place, all the way to the top.

Wednesday, I finally used my laminator. I bought it at Costco at the beginning of June and have not touched it. I laminated some of the pieces from the Pretty Bugs Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. I showed them to Faye on Thursday and we played with those. We did the 3-Part Cards and she really liked them. I laminated a lot more that day, including the Add It! Math Game from Confessions of a Homeschooler and showed that to Maddox today. I laminated even more today, from the Under the {girly} Sea Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. We haven't played with those yet, but I also laminated the hide n seek number leaves thing from Pretty Bugs and played with those. I used the first 8 with Faye and gave Maddox the last 8 and all three of us played. I also gave Maddox some little gems so that we could make up different math equations to tell each other (that equaled the number that the little dragonfly was under). With Faye, I'd just tell her which number the bug was under. She can count up to 13, but she does not recognize numbers yet.

Also on Wednesday, Faye woke up puking in the morning and had a belly ache and other issues that evening. She was fine during the day though and Maddox's bike seat came in the mail, so I fixed that and we were going to go to Tumbling Tots that evening. Walking (and Maddox riding his bike) is our only way of getting there and it is 2.3 miles.

It took me an hour to fix the darn bike. -Long Story Ahead- We got a bike seat from my brother's house and the post ended up being too small for Maddox's bike. The seat and post were attached to each other, so I couldn't put the saddle on the post that I already have. So I didn't put it on. "Someone" decided to MAKE the seat fit and clamped the metal of the bike down around the too small post. Then took the ring clip that goes around the bike and post to tighten the post onto the bike and clamped that down around it too. I got pretty upset that day and they took the seat out and put the old post back into. I'm not entirely sure how they got the old post back in, but I imagine it involved a hammer. So as you would suspect, I could not pull this post out of the bike! This post actually belonged to Maddox's 12" bike. It was a Lightning McQueen bike and the seat was attached to the post with a screw. We threw away the seat (it was all tore up and too small because it was for a 12" bike, but we kept the post, just in case because it was the same size as his new bike, an 18" - and in case you were wondering what happened to the seat that came with his bike, it was stolen off his bike at his elementary school (the ONLY bike with training wheels at the bike rack) during his elementary school carnival...) So anyways, this post had holes in the top where the seat had screwed on, so I finally got it off by finding a screw driver that would fit into the holes and holding onto that and twisting and pulling. After that, I couldn't get the new post in, because the hole in the bike was still too small from being clamped down. I had to use the screw driver to loosen it back up. I oiled it a ton and got the post in only to realize the ring clip was bent and the screw that was in it was bent too. I got the screw out and found a new one. The ring fit around the post, but not the bike. I could not get it unbent, but I did find something that I could pry it open and slip it down around the bike. I went from angry, to really angry, to really really angry, to so happy that I'm darn stubborn and got the thing fixed by myself and ready for tumbling! I'm feeling much better about the whole situation, but not totally, because it's not the first time this has happened and I know it won't be the last time. And then Faye got sick again, so we didn't end up going to tumbling anyways! But Maddox's bike is fixed, he rode it all over the driveway and then he rode it to Caribou on Thursday afternoon.

So Thursday, I did do laminating and played a little bit with Faye and helped Maddox play the preschool pack stuff with Faye and we walked over to Caribou, but mostly, we did nothing. I woke up with the most horrible headache. I get headaches a lot. I've been a little better lately, but usually, I have several headaches a week and when I get a headache, they last all day long. Sometimes they develop during the day and sometimes I wake up with them, but I always end up going to sleep with them. This headache was the most awful headache that I've had in years. I did what I could, but it was bad and even Faye came to me a said "Mom, can you turn on the TV for me, but really really quite because I don't want to hurt your head"

She was an absolute terror that day, but she is a sweet, sweet girl! We all went to swimming that night because it was Maddox's last class. He did not pass his level and will be starting Level 2 again in September. He said "I didn't pass, but Drew said that I did a really good job!" And he did. He did an excellent job and he has come so far from the first time he did Level 1 (he did Level 1 twice). He did not pass Level 2 because he has a hard time with the rhythmic breathing and he cannot do the front crawl and back crawl on his own. We got him goggles last night after swimming and I want to find him a nose plug and we'll be going to Open Swim on Wednesday as much as we can (T-Ball runs until the end of July and Tumbling Tots until the end of August, but Tumbling Tots time does not over lap open swim).

Today we were going to go to the Como Zoo, but our friend that we were hoping to meet there had a sick daughter and Faye still was not feeling too well, so we decided not to. It's a good thing because it stormed all day. Severe Thunderstorms and a large branch came off our tree in the front yard. I wouldn't let the kids into the dining room because there is another branch on that tree that is handing over the roof right over the dining room and I swear it is going to come off of the tree and land on the house if it is not taken care of. Fortunately, the branch that did come off, did not hit the house. Close though.

Here is a video of Maddox and Faye and the 3-Part Card from Pretty Bugs

and Maddox and Faye playing with the Add It! Math Game

Here are just some links to an awesome Taekwondo demonstration that we saw at the Dragon Festival last Sat!

Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#1
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#2
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#3

A Dragon Boat Race

First things First at the Dragon Festival...

From July 2011

Performing Arts

From July 2011

Watching boats from the path

From July 2011

Faye wanted to go to the playground, so Maddox and I went and waiting for them Martial Arts. We were both glad we waited as long as we did to see if someone was going to perform!