Dance Class

If you ask Claire what she wants to be when she grows up, she will enthusiastically answer, "A ballerina!" She has always loved to dance and sing (Could it have something to do with my belief in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and the fact that I have been playing music for her since she was in utero? Hmmmm...). She twirls around the house, dances to music by Laurie Berkner and The Fresh Beat Band, among others, and has been talking about wanting to take a dance class for a long time. Today, that dream came true. Claire took her very first ballet/tap combo class. Unfortunately, the mommies have to sit in the waiting room while the ballerinas-in-training dance in the studio, so I wasn't able to observe what went on in the class (I think one of the studios has a camera in it that's connected to the tv in the waiting room, but it wasn't on. Next week I will ask about it!). Claire was happy to see a friend from school (Ava) in her dance class. When the class was over, she came out of the studio beaming. She was ecstatic and so proud of herself! Claire reported that they danced with hula hoops, did "bend and straight," walked in a circle and she was not silly. I'm sure as the days pass, I will get more information about what happened at dance class. We look forward to dance class #2 next week!

Before Class

Ready for dance class to begin!

The First Day of School

The First Day of School is a highly anticipated, sometimes dreaded day that comes around each September. Like clockwork. When I was teaching, I always felt excited and nervous at the same time (And, in all honesty, I also felt sad since the summer always seemed to fly by soooooooo fast!). I even had nightmares! Now that I'm a stay at home mommy again, the first day of school feels different. I was excited for Claire this morning as she set off to be one of the "big kids" at her school. She was excited too. There were no tears shed this morning which is a big change from two years ago when little Claire started school/daycare two full days a week. We both cried. Now she's comfortable at her school and she LOVES her teachers and her friends.

This is going to be a great school year! I can feel it!

Hershey Park

We went to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA on what seemed like the hottest day of the summer!! At the end of the day, the thermometer on our car's dashboard screamed 102!

When we first arrived, we teamed up with a little girl (Lily) and her grandparents so our girls could ride the rides together. They were so cute! Claire went on a bunch of the kiddie rides and she enjoyed each and every one of them! Luckily, there were hardly any lines because it was the first day of school for many districts. As we walked to the bigger rides, we each took turns riding with Claire. One of our favorite (air conditioned!) rides was the Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge.

Since it was my first time there, I didn't realize how big the park was, so I left our bathing suits and towels in the car and figured one of us would run out and get them when we wanted to go on the water rides. Big mistake. By the time we were far into the park, I realized that it was too hot and too far to walk all the way back out to the parking lot. Next time we will bring a stroller to carry everything!

We had dinner at a GREAT, kid-friendly restaurant (The Chocolate Avenue Grill) and spent the night at a local hotel where we swam in the indoor pool.

All in all it was a great mini vacation!!!!