Nim's Island

We rented Nim's Island for our family to watch tonight. It was a good movie, though sometimes required a little explanation as several scenes are part of the characters' imaginations. It is a little Swiss Family Robinson, Indiana Jones, Dr. Doolittle, wrapped up in a kid-flick. We all enjoyed it.

Mia though, is bewildered. "WHY would anybody GO there?!? That's like a place where you could DIE!"

All throughout the movie she kept commenting, "She shouldn't have done that! She should tell her dad!"

Guess she's not my adventurer. Cailey, of course, had no problem with it.

Hannah Montana Camp

Well, like I mentioned, July flew by. We finished out the month going to Hannah Montana camp at a local dance studio. The girls made microphones, a frame, and did a photoshoot wearing the Hannah wig. The letter that went home said they'd be wearing a "little" makeup. Well, if that was little, I'd hate to see a "lot." As I told them, it was definitely stage make up! But as you can see from their smiles, they felt beautiful!

Their performance at the Fair today included singing to one song and then dancing to another. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Mia did. She looked pretty confident. Cailey also loosened up more as well, though she'll tell you soccer is more her thing.

Here is a video of their "sneak peek" at the studio I took with my Flip camera. Mia's in yellow and Cailey is in the front in pink. I'll have to finish my disc on the Canon before I can post the one from the Fair today.

Two little girls from the neighborhood were also in the class. The girls played outside for several hours with one of them other night. It was nice to see and reminded me of playing with my neighborhood friends growing up.

Lukey's Summer Activities

Lukey's summer was somewhat less eventful. Used the potty. Played trains. Played cars. Bothered his sisters. Read books. Rode in the van. Watched his sister's perform.



Each day as we drove by his preschool he'd beg me to take him to school. It was hard explaining the concept of summer vacation and that school wouldn't start for several weeks to a child who has no concept of the calender year.



Day after day he'd beg and cry to go. (Didn't help of course that we were driving by it around naptime each day.) Finally I told him his teacher wasn't there and that she was at home with her kids like I was home with him. That seemed to work; though he now keeps asking me if his teacher is still home with her kids. He's excited and ready.



Luke wakes me up each day about 7:30. Usually he wakes my by telling me he's hungry, though he actually doesn't have an appetite until 9:00. But he insists on being fed though it is always thrown away. Then I feed him at 9:00 and he eats. I learned to put a tiny amount of food in the first bowl.



Anyway, some days though, he wakes me up without asking for food. Sometimes he would just "pet" my arm for awhile. One day though, I will always remember, he was just giggling up a storm and "tickling" me, rolling all over me and laughing his head off. It was the most memorable wake-up ever. I told him I liked that and that he'd have to wake me up that way again, but he hasn't.



Luke's favorite things to day these days are, "Okay, okay, okay" when he's giving in to a demand (or giving up on one of his!). Another favorite phrase is, "You can.... if you want to." He uses that to convince you to do something he wants. Quite the tactic, making you think it's your decision. He uses this a lot at night when he wants me to lay down with him. "Mom, you can lay here. I've got a pillow for you. You can lay down if you want to. Here, go ahead." That's another one of his sayings, "Here, go ahead." And when you pause to contemplate it he'll add, "C'mon, just do it" like he knows you really want to. Uncle Mike said he should have Luke answer his calls because he might make more sales. Quite the little negotiator. True, it can be cute, but also having your two year old try and negotiate with you constantly is quite tiring, another real reason I didn't post much in July. It's one of those personality traits that will benefit him in the long run, but has it's drawbacks as a two-year-old. Grandma says he's just like his daddy like that; she said he always had to have the last word too.

Girls' Summer Activities

Wow. I didn't post at all last month. Let me try to catch up.

Cailey participated in the Circus Extravaganza camp at the Playhouse. Her age group was learning about being clowns. To make it extra fun, the teachers dressed as clowns each day. They learned about stage fighting, pretending to stomp on each other's feet, throw punches, and duel with balloon swords. They designed their own clown face on a sheet of paper and the teachers painted it on for them. They made cute little hats and a variety of other props. They sang a clown song and played with a parachute. They told jokes. They had to look through their closets and find articles to make a clown costume out of. Cailey picked a lime and hot pink paisley and polka dot set with heart applique jeans I had made for last Valentine's day because those were the same colors and similar style to her teacher's outfit. The camp was a great chance for Cailey to get to use her creativity. At the end of the week the groups all got together to put on a circus for family and friends. This clip below is just a portion of the circus, with Cailey's group doing the parachute.

A couple weeks later Mia did Broadway Babies camp. They learned 3 songs and choreography. Wow, the sound these kids produced was great! At the end of the week they also got to perform for a packed audience of family and friends.

Click on the video and you will hear "Oh the Thinks You Can Think" from Seussical, followed by "Different" from Honk!, and then, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" from Annie.

Then they went on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa to South Dakota. As Cailey put it, "We learned a LOT on our trip!" During the week they visited a live archaeological dig where they learned about mammoths. They learned the presidents that are on Mt. Rushmore. They climbed rocks in the Badlands and artistically drew pictures in their sketch journals of the rock formations they saw. They became Junior Park Rangers, which involved taking a test and an oath, so it was very official! They "froze" in Jewel Cave and were active participants in the tour, asking questions. The got to drive through the wildlife loop at Custer and through Bear Country and saw lots of cool animals. Basically it was a more educational than a year's worth of science and geography class!

Of course, any trip with would be incomplete without souvenirs. The girls added to their plastic animal / toy stash. When they came home Cailey spent a lot of time setting up a "museum" with them and then ceremoniously admitting us to it.

The following night they used their new knowledge and skills as Junior Park Rangers to take us on a tour of the "cave" they made in their room. With all the skills of a tour guide, flashlights in hand, we were led around their room as they pointed out the variety of wildlife inhabiting their "cave." Cute little touches included tiny lizards peeking out here and there, and a story accompanied each bat.

The highlight of the trip was surely the hotel swimming pool though! They did a lot of swimming! According to them, this trip was better than New York City, and even Iowa City.