Summer Begins

Summer got off to a great start with circus camp and pottery class. Analise learned how to use the pottery wheel. She said it was difficult and most things didn't turn out, but it was fun to try. Emma liked circus camp so much she wanted to sign up for flying trapeze lessons in July. She will be doing a month long course. Besides a few camps, the girls have started synchronized swimming lessons with Stillwater schools. They are both really excited to be part of the sport. They have been practicing their routines in the water with Grandma Kathy and at the lake. Emma thinks that she might want to join the synchro team this next year. Analise is still set on gymnastics. However, she said if gymnastics isn't fun at some point that she would definitely choose synchronized swimming as a second option.

Some days have been spent indoors because of the rain. These days have been filled with board games like Doodle dice, science experiments, lots of books from the library and Lego building. Both Analise and Emma entered the library's summer reading program and received their free book for finishing the challenge.

Emma has also been working on some of her American Heritage Girl badges. She learned all about car maintenance with Grandpa Mark. They went through all the parts under the hood, checked the windshield washer fuild and the oil level. Grandma Kathy had her fun teaching the girls some of the skills she remembered from her synchronized swimming activities when she was growing up. Both girls credit grandma Kathy with teaching them how to dive. They have been practicing for a few years, but their skills paid off when they started synchro classes and needed to dive in to start their routines.

Besides swimming, we have been catching up with friends at the beach and pool. The annual sand castle building event was brief this year because it started to rain. Both of the girls' teams placed again this year. Analise's team got third with their "Beach Buddies" bear design and Emma's team took first with their Paddington design. Paddington represents immigrants that come from different communities. It shows the openness of people in White Bear Lake welcoming new bears into their community. Emma worked with Lily and Lilynn and Analise worked with Ella, Tessa and Violet. Both groups did an amazing job despite the rain.

A few days later, Erin took Emma's group of five friends to the waterpark together. Emma had Svea, Neveah, Lily, Lilynn and Hanhah join her at the Highland pool in St. Paul. Erin didn't realize that there would be parades for the new holiday, Juneteenth, so she got stuck in tons of traffic with a car full of very talkative girls. It was definitely an experience she wouldn't recommend, but Emma the navigator came to the rescue. Thankfully we made it to the pool safely. The girls swam, dived, went on slides and played Marco Polo in the pool area. After swimming we adventured to the nearby park to play on the playground and explore the area.

This week the girls head off to separate camps. Emma is going to coding camp at the U of M and Analise to Vacation Bible School with her besties Ella and Tessa.

In the afternoons Erin is starting to work with her troop co-leaders this week to plan the yearly activities. Analise will join in with the other mothers' children as they plan. At the end of the week, Analise will have her pool party with five of her friends.

The Forgotten Ones

The end of the year rushed past and I may have forgotten to post a few end of the year events. Both Emma and Analise had music concerts this year. Erin and Dan decided to tag team the event that would end up lasting 4-5 hours from early drop off until everyone was finished. Emma was in choir and Analise had both band and choir. During Analise's concert, there was much laughter. Her headband kept falling down as she tipped her head to play her clarinet. This caused all of her friends around her to laugh as well. In addition, when she was on the risers for singing, one of the girls almost fell off the back. They had to catch her and pull her back up which resulted in more laughter. Emma's performance went well, however, there was a major storm that formed during that time. Dan and Emma had to run to the car without an umbrella. They came home soaked. Erin and Analise were thankful that Analise's performance was before Emma's. They got home just as the rain was starting.

Besides music performances, the girls had their annual art show. Both had many fine art pieces. Emma's favorite was her clay pieces. This year the focus for Analise was her box sculpture. In fourth grade, the main event is the voting on box sculptures. This year Analise's team won with with their Yum Yum bakery design. They received a gift card to 5 Below, which Analise said she would like to give to someone that is homeless, so they can get some supplies. The next person we see will get the gift card, or perhaps someone we see walking into the store.

The year wouldn't be complete without the Chronological Quest. Like Emma, Analise was fascinated by Irena Sendler, so we ended up with an Irena Sendler the II. It is an amazing story and worth hearing again. Erin was just glad we didn't have to create a new costume this year. Last year we had to ask Dan's friend who is from India to lend Analise a dress. She would not accept anything that was not authentic. Irena's getup was a bit itchy and both girls commented they wanted it off the second the performance was over.

Analise's class also took a field trip to the Mill City Museum where they learned about the Pillsbury company and how a mill works.