pamelamyers | July 10, 2018
My office held a free shredding event as a PR move and Sam wanted to come help out. I thought she would be bored to death for three hours, but instead, she worked hard assembling all the handouts, and never complained once. I gave her some extra allowance for being so helpful, but I think the best part for her was later, when her picture was in the paper! We sent a press release to the legal newspaper and they printed it!
pamelamyers | July 7, 2018
We wanted to get outside while the weather was good (stupid rain never seems to stop). Mark wanted to go on a bike ride and I wanted to go somewhere different so I suggested the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. We had been there before, and used to walk there a lot when Sam was little and in the stroller, but it is supposed to be bikeable, so we went. Some of the trail was pretty rocky, but not mountain bike rocky, so we were ok. Sam surprisingly didn’t complain much, and it turned out to be a fun day.
As is our usual M.O., we stop a lot to let Sam rest so she doesn’t get too tired. There are a lot of really nice quiet spots to take a break.
We got to the fishing platform and Sam used the binoculars to look out over the marsh. Ok, she could look out into the sky until I picked her up, but I thought this picture was funny.
On the other side of the marsh, on the bridge, we saw a family of swans! Sam loved the baby swan, but who doesn’t like baby animals?
By the time we got back to the car, Sam was really beat, but she pushed on the whole time without complaining (much). She was getting tired on the way back and I told her when we got home to the air conditioning, I would get her some ice cream. She cracked me up. For miles, she kept mumbling to herself, “Must get to the ice cream…pedal faster…get to the ice cream!” Well, whatever works, because she made it – 8 miles! That is the longest she ever biked, and she earned every lick of ice cream she got!
pamelamyers | July 5, 2018
The weather has not been fabulous this summer so far (what a surprise) so once again, we have not made it to the pool much. It finally warmed up and we decided to take advantage of it and go. Besides the fun, Mark really wants Sam to improve her swimming skills. She really doesn’t want to take lessons again and wants Mark to teach her but he didn’t seem convinced she would try. I convinced him to give her a chance. Sam really did try and worked really hard at improving her skills. Her swimming form is not great, but she can move through the water. Mostly, she needs to work on getting stronger. She has no problem going under water, as long as she has her goggles with the nose piece. She does NOT like water up her nose (but who does, right?) She has gotten better at treading water, but still can’t float. To pass the pool test, she has to be able to swim the entire length of the pool, tread water for 30 seconds, and float for 30 seconds. Not too bad, but she is not there.
We kept trying to convince her that if she gets better at swimming, she can pass the pool test and then she can go anywhere she wants, even off the diving board or down the slide. She said she doesn’t want to, so that’s not working. The fact that if she passes, she can go into the lazy river by herself is more of an incentive. Well, finally, we were there and a friend, Delaney, from her class was there. The two girls were playing, swimming around, and Delaney got Sam to jump off the side of the pool, something Sam would never try to do. Well, once she did it, of course, now she loves it. So…her confidence was building. Each day we went to the pool, Sam tried harder and harder. She actually swam the whole length of the pool for us – twice! And she was able to tread for two minutes! Once she realized she could do those things, she was determined to pass the pool test. She knew all she had to do was learn to float. Well. She did it. The kid is an expert floater now. Just like everything else in her life, literally EVERYTHING, she cannot and will not do something until she decides she wants to. But when she decides she wants to, look out! Here she comes. She never did get a chance to try to pass the pool test because after all her practice we thought she’d be too tired to make it, but I would bet anything before summer’s end, she’ll pass!
pamelamyers | July 5, 2018
Happy 4th! We had planned on going to see real fireworks this year, but Sam was insanely exhausted and we knew it would be a disaster. So, just like in years past, we had our own mini fireworks display at home. As usual, Sam was happy! We made it a quick display and off to bed she went.
Sam had fun picking out which ones we were going to light. We saved a bunch and told her we could set some off on her birthday.
Sparklers are always a hit, along with bang snaps.
Mark, our resident fireworks expert, set all of them off.
Not bad for a home display!
When I came home with this monster, I thought Sam’s mind would be blown. It turned out to be pretty cool. Yes, this is one firework!
Maybe next year we’ll get to a real display. We try every year. One time it will work!
pamelamyers | July 2, 2018
In our quest to not let Sam get bored this summer, my mom and I took her to the Legoland Discovery Center for the day. I have been meaning to take her for a while, and never got around to it. It was a bit expensive, but Sam loved it and it was totally worth the trip for her.
My favorite picture of the day is this one, outside the Center entrance. How great is that?!
I think the thing that Sam looked forward to most was the polar exhibit. She just loved this bear!
We spent a bit of time in the Lego Friends area, of course. She loves the Lego Friends…
Speaking of Lego Friends…there was a huge figure of each one of them! And yes, Sam had to pose with them all. I will spare you all the photos….
In one part of the exhibit, the kids could use all the various Lego pieces to build a car, and then they could race their car on the slide right behind her. Sam beat her car, every time!
One of the most impressive parts of the place was a huge room filled with models of Philadelphia. It was insane. They were so detailed.
We saw a 4D movie, Sam built things, we did a Lego Ninjango laser maze, and overall, Sam had a blast. It was pretty fun. I mean, Lego is a hit in our house, for everyone!
