Life lessons

There are so many lessons learned in life. Kindergarten sure has taught Summer a lot. This past week they studied presidents so she can tell you who the first and sixteenth presidents were. She may also be able to tell you who wrote most of the Declaration of Independence. It is amazing the things she is learning in kindergarten that I'm pretty sure I didn't learn.

Yesterday when she got home from school, she gave me a jump roping lesson. It was cute to watch her instruct me on how to do it and also what not to do. We jumped rope walking, walking fast, and running. Then she told me to teach her how to jump rope by jumping in place, but my rope was really too small so I did not give her a very good lesson. We went back to her being the teacher pretty quickly. I can tell they have been jumping rope in PE at school.

She is super excited to share her Dr. Suess collection books with her class at school this week. His birthday is Friday so they will be reading some of his stories this week. It is neat to see her so excited about them, and she actually wants me to go get them and bring them back to her today. I hope she will be okay with getting them tomorrow because I've got a feeling that's when it is going to be.

Over the weekend, we went to see the Lady Mocs play. It just so happened to be pink night so if you were wearing pink your ticket was only $2. Summer and I were wearing it, but of course Clint was not. We munched on popcorn while we cheered on our team. Summer could read the scores thanks to all she has learned in school this year and was always trying to keep up with how many points we needed to catch up. She did not think we were going to win because we always seemed to be behind. The last ten minutes of the game we pulled ahead and ended up with a victory which made us all happy. It was also a special night because some of our pediatric cancer friends were honored at the game. So at half time, we went down and chatted with them. We topped the evening off with a trip to our favorite sushi place which is moving locations. It was a bittersweet evening as I remembered being there almost ten years ago on my first date with Clint. Now the once convenient sushi place will be more than ten blocks from our condo instead of one. Bummer! I think Summer likes it as much as Clint and I do. But, life is always full if change, so we will just have to learn to deal with it. One thing I've learned is, no matter what happens, life goes on.......

Vegas vacation

Summer was excited to go see her family in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. She got to see her Nono and Nona which is a treat that doesn't happen often. Her Nona does send her cards throughout the year via email which she really enjoys receiving. We were treated to a wonderful buffet dinner several times, and it wasn't until the last time that I realized they served free wine and beer while dining. Just my luck! Summer loved their orange chicken and fried chicken legs. My favorite was the pasta bar where you could pick the ingredients and they were cooked to order. Clint and my dad couldn't resist all of the meat they had to offer. We left there stuffed and happy every time.

One evening we went to see a few outdoor shows on the strip. The first was at the Treasure Island where we watched the girl pirates outsmart the boy pirates. It was the first time we have been to the show (at least Summer and I) although we go to Vegas every year. We also went to see the volcano erupt at the Mirage. This was Summer's favorite of the two. She even made a little friend while we were there. One this we skipped this year was the Freemont St. experience in downtown Las Vegas. We'll get to it next year though.
Summer and her cousins enjoyed playing together in the backyard. Mia taught Summer how to do the monkey bars which she was proud to show off to anyone who would watch. Lexie dared to swing on the swings despite that being how she hurt herself a few weeks earlier. They danced along with songs on Just Dance Summer Party on the Wii. Summer found a new favorite song when she won on a song she had never done before. She still was not a fan of playing against me. It seems that I win too much for her taste. If I play with the remote in my left hand, it is usually a lot closer and she can even beat me. Shhh!!! Don't tell her!

The kids built magnetic structures a few times. Of course, no one would pose with just a smile on their face. Silly faces were in order! They were followed by destruction of the pyramid by Mia's clasped hands. They really think they are funny, and I guess they are. They are cute to say the least!

Our last full day there, we spent time at the Adventuredome at Circus Circus. We were lucky to get to visit it this year since it seems they close it every year the week after the Superbowl for maintenance. Last year, we only got to visit the arcade and circus acts. We got wristbands for Summer, Amanda, Lexie and myself and happily headed off in search of our first ride. Summer was big enough to ride the bumper cars with me, but Lexie was not as lucky. They tried to ride the frog hopper, but it wasn't working at that time and they had to get back off. So, we moved ahead and found a mine train roller coaster ride for younger kids. They were both smiling when the ride started, but by the time it came around, Lexie was not looking too happy. With only one arm to hold on with, which she was not using, the ride was a bit too jerky for her and they ended up stopping the ride so she and another kid could get off. The next ride was a school bus that went up and around. It was perfect for Lexie, but a bit too slow for Summer. She did enjoy the airplanes, carousel and balloon ferris wheel rides. Later, they revisited the frog hopper and it was working. We rode to our hearts content (at least the adults) and then headed to eat at a Mexican restaurant with Nona and Nono. I think Summer could've ridden a while longer, but she had already done all the rides she was big enough for so it wasn't too hard to get her out of there.
Another highlight of the trip was Summer getting her name carved in one of the trees in front of Nona's house. Nona had told her she could do it the year before, but we never got around to it. This trip, Summer made sure that it was done. Her daddy and Paw-Paw did a lot of the work. She loved climbing the tree and even gave the other climbing side to Lexie although she was not able to climb due to her collar bone being broken. A lot of good memories were made on the trip, and I hope we won't have to wait a whole year to go back. But, we just might.

Report cards and such

It's hard to believe that January has come and gone. Summer got another great report card. Our parent teacher conference with her teachers was also great. I guess it is always good when the teachers have nothing bad to say. She has definitely won them over, especially Ms. Tracy. I think it might have a little to do with Summer's history with cancer, but whatever the reason I'm glad she adores Summer. She says Summer is a big helper and is always ready to do her work. She makes me proud for sure!

I got to see her on the playground a few times last week and it is so adorable to see her running around with her friends and playing. They were playing with a stick that was a "fire key" and keeping it away from some other kids who I assumed were on a different team. I think they might have had their own firer key, but in Summer's mind it wasn't the real one. I was even put in charge of hiding it for a little while. But, one of her friends got it from me and then Summer got on to me for giving it up. Luckily, I didn't get into too much trouble for giving it up to her although I was informed I wasn't supposed to. LOL

She loves her math homework the best. She only gets a few numbers backwards now, but not all the time. This week it was 5 and 7. I'm not going to worry about it too much. I know one day she will perfect them. She is doing really good writing and loves to write words. It is cute to see how she spells some words, sounding them out to figure out how to spell them. Most of the time it is not correct, but she is only in kindergarten so I don't make a big deal about it. I'm just glad she is trying and has the desire to write. Sometimes she asks me how to spell things she wants to write. I just love it when it is a little note for me. I have a few on my car visors that she has done as we drive around. They always make me smile when I see them. Her penmanship has really improved throughout the course of the school year. Practice makes perfect, right?

This week she has discovered all the fun things you can do with a protractor. She really loves to draw pictures with it. She drew her Nona and Nono a picture of their house, complete with the tiled roof it has. The protractor was very helpful in creating archways for her drawing. It looks great and she was very proud of the roof especially. She has also tried using a compass, but I think she prefers the protractor. She's so creative, always wanting to create something as soon as she gets up. We definitely aren't lacking in the artwork department. Maybe one day I'll get around to creating a display for all her best creations. For now, we store a lot of them in the craft cabinet or on her bedroom furniture. One day we are going to have to get rid of some of it. But, for now we look a little like hoarders. Oh well, they mean a lot to her and are always priceless in Mommy's eyes!