She stayed up to midnight!

Of course she was completely bored and couldn't believe how boring it was.....  guess we're not too exciting.

Happy Holidays!

A Girl After My Own Heart

When I was a kid, I taught myself how to rollerskate at the Taste of Chicago on Navy Pier.  My dad worked at Chicago magazine which sponsored the event and was working the booth there.  I was bored hanging out with him so he gave me some money to go do something else.  I remember it fondly because I pretty much held the rail all the way around the rink.  I did this for four days and I was pretty good by the end.  Gretchen went skating for the first time with Girl Scouts.  I hadn't been on skates in about 12 years so it was an experience for me as well.  After a good crying fit, she gathered up her resolve and did what I did at her age: hung to the wall for dear life and kept going around and around the rink.  By the end of the afternoon, she was asking me when we can go back and skate some more.

Do You Recognize this Girl?

Cheer has been all encompassing lately right next to scouting in our lives.  I thought it might break Gretchen since she is mature enough yet to really commit to a discipline but after getting this trophy, I think we may have turned the corner on that....

So it looks like we'll be doing it again in 2013.......

Girl Scouts!

Last weekend, Gretchen and I attended an area wide girl scout camp out in Juniper Knoll Camp (East Troy WI).  I haven't been to a camp like this in 25 years but oddly enough it did not seem to have changed much!  We stayed in a lodge and slept on mats on the floor.  It was very crowded with about 25 girls and 11 adults so there was a real incentive to keep busy and out of the lodge.  There were a bunch of craft stations and activities for the girls to do.  They enjoyed letterboxing (it's a cross between geocaching and a scavenger hunt) and performing in the talent show.  I did pretty good energy wise but sleeping on the floor really hurt.  I mean really. hurt.  Even Gretchen was not happy....

Growing Up

Gretchen has a friend across the street who is also in second grade.  While she has always lived across the street, they have just started playing together on a regular basis in the last 18 months or so.  Anyway, the girl across the street got her training wheels taken off recently from her bike.  She and Gretchen were riding a week ago and it made Gretchen want to take her training wheels off.  Steve told her we need to work at it and she did!  Gretchen can be hard to consistently motivate but she REALLY wanted those wheels off.  She has been riding whenever she gets a chance with Steve.  He has been great with her, riding his bike all over the neighborhood.  I don't like bragging but this is a moment where I am just so proud of her for working so hard at it.  She got her wheels taken off a few days ago and has been riding with Steve all over our town.  Now..... if I can get her to feel this way about math and reading! 

Give me a G!

We have tried many activities with Gretchen in hopes of finding some kind of sport that she enjoys doing.  I was never much of a team sport kind of kid preferring to ride my bike, roller skate or swim.  Gretchen picked cheer leading so she could be with her best friend (who does not go to her school).  I was never a cheer leader so I don't quite get it but it seems to be VERY popular in suburbia.  I don't remember it being like this growing up in the city but perhaps I never noticed.  Anyway, she seems to like it.  They practiced three times a week until school started and have had their first game.  It is a huge commitment of time and effort so I hope she likes it.  If not, there is always archery.....

First Day of School

The boys are still in Early Childhood so preschoolers again.  Gretchen is a big 2nd grader....

An End to A Summer

This summer has been crazy!  We didn't do any birthday parties but yet we seemed to be busy a lot!  A family of five makes it difficult to do anything on the cheap so we have several passes this year that we did our best to maximize:  Six Flags (of course), Brookfield Zoo, MSI and Field Museum.  So, almost every weekend, we went to one of those places!  We also went to Six Flags St Louis and camping.  One of our last (or second to last) outings before school started was our annual Cubs game with the kids.  They are getting better and better at tolerating the whole weird atmosphere (sitting in the nosebleed section) and at honing in on their taste for junk food.  Gretchen has a list of food she "needed" to eat at the park which included:  hot dog, ice cream, cotton candy and peanuts.  The boys were not as bad but they did enjoy quite a bit of cotton candy!  We have one more day off before school start so we may have one more outing left in us though I am not sure I will survive it!

Enough Said

Camping

We survived another camping trip with the kids this year!  It was quite a trip - we went to Devils Lake State Park like we do every year.  We spent the first day at the Circus World Museum and all three kids were in the show.  Gretchen told me before we got there that this year she was going to be the ringmaster in the kids Interactive Circus that they do.  And she was right!  In fact, she was in every show:  the clown show, the magic show (with Sean) and the Interactive Circus.  What a ham!  She seemed to really enjoy the spotlight so we may have a theater bug going on there.  There a lot of pictures here if you're interested (both camping and the circus)! 

My baby turned 7!

Gretchen has been through a lot in the last few years with occupational therapy and the such.  A few therapists have told me that sometimes it's a maturity thing that resolves itself around age seven.  I am hoping for my little bunny's sake that SEVEN is her year.  We gave her a scooter for her birthday back in March so she could practice riding and she has gotten really good on it.  Maybe seven is the luckiest number!