Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Visit to Schramm SRA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking around all the ponds, we discovered this awesome playground.  Mena was so proud of herself moving from piece to piece that she wanted me to take a picture each time she moved to the next piece of equipment. Maggie was scared to go through the tire and then was so excited when she did it!

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Visit to Schramm SRA

 

 

 

 

Friday the 12th, we visited Schramm SRA to look at all the fish.  The girls enjoyed walking around all the ponds.  Maggie asked me to take a picture of her with all the flowers in the pond behind her.  I got two quarters out of the truck and the got fish food out of the machine.  While feeding the fish, Mena said, "This is exciting!"

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Hiking

 

 

 

We sprayed ourselves down with bug spray and ventured into the "jungle."  That's what Mena called it :)  We had to climb over a fallen tree which didn't please Maggie.  We found the river.  I took a picture of the girls.  Mena took a picture of Maggie and me.  Then Maggie tried to take a picture of Mena and me, but snapped a picture of her nose and mouth instead!  Mena ended up with a ton of bug bites even with the bug spray and the bites were swelling up so we only went hiking the once.  Maggie and I never got any bites, but Maggie kept pointing to spots and telling me she needed cream just like Mena.

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Biking

 

 

 

Mena is learning to ride her bike, but needs a little extra motivation to practice.  I took them across from our tent where there was an empty pad.  I told her that each time she went up and down the driveway that she would get an M&M.  She made the complete loop 12 times!  She was actually starting to experience the enjoyment of riding a bike!  Maggie is catching on, but she loses interest.  She only made it down and back twice.

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Swimming

 

 

The girls spent Wednesday evening/night at their dad's.  Then he dropped them off to me on Thursday morning before he went to work.  The girls and I packed our clothes and food in the truck before driving to Louisville.  We arrived around 10:30 am.  By 12:30 pm, we had our tent set up and our lunch eaten.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we swam in the lake.  A little of our time was spent in the sand and a lot of our time was spent in the lake.  I was surprised to realize that the girls seemed to prefer the lake over a swimming pool.  I think it was due to the zero-entry versus the 3 ft depth of the swimming pool at our complex. 

The first day the girls stayed where it was so shallow that I was able to sit in the water and it only came up to my chest.  The second day the girls got a bit more adventurous and by the third day, I was holding the girls' hands as they swam out to where it was as deep as my chest while standing up.  Both of the girls wore their ladybug life vests so I wouldn't have to worry if they accidentally let go of my hand.  The funny thing was when I told the girls we needed to turn around.  I told Maggie we needed to turn around because she couldn't touch the ground of the lake because it was so deep.  She was perfectly calm when she didn't know she couldn't touch, but as soon as I said that she started freaking out.  I told her to swim back like she swam out and the life vest would keep her safe.  She calmed down and even wanted to go back out deep again after that.

The picture of Mena alone in the water is when she was laying in the water with her hands on the bottom of the lake.  I was sitting on the shore with Maggie who was digging in the sand.  There weren't many times when the girls went in opposite directions like that and Mena is such a cautious child that I didn't have to worry about her doing anything dangerous!

Spelling Philomena

 

I had a 5-day weekend between my two summer classes.  On Wednesday, I kept the girls home from daycare with me.  While Maggie was napping, Mena and I got out the letter tiles.  First, she spelled Mena.  Then we spelled Philomena Denise Hogan.  She got so upset with me when I told her she needed a lower-case "m" in Philomena rather than a capital "M" like in Mena.  She finally gave into me, but I'm not sure she understood why the m's needed to be different.

Swimming Lessons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie started swimming lessons on July 9th.  She walked with Mena in the line for the shower.  An instructor calls the kids from the oldest class to the youngest class to shower before the classes start.  Maggie wasn't so sure about the shower and watched the kids take their turns without moving herself any closer to the shower.  Then the instructor actually had to hold her hand to get her under the shower.  She did great  in her swimming lessons.  In the picture of Mena sitting on the side, she is leaning over to see Maggie in the class next to hers.  Mena has continued to improve in her lessons, also.  It is so hard to take a good picture when the lighting is reflecting off the pool water!