Category: Family Matters

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The last of the single digit birthdays

So the boy turned nine a couple of weeks  months ago, and it hit me – that’s the last of the single digit birthdays around here. I made it a point when MaM was running through the digits to buy a numeral candle every year, probably because I love them. Plus, it makes it REALLY easy to remember which birthday is which when you have a cloud of unsorted digital photos (ahem). I found the 9, and from now on, we’re going to need the 1 to go with the rest of the birthdays around here.

We celebrated with camp friends, pizza delivery and a movie dinner. Then we celebrated with more friends and laser tag and more pizza and a NERF arsenal that’s rather impressive.

And for a few seconds, I was nostalgic. The “baby” is halfway to 18. There are no more numeral candles to buy. Sigh.

Then he got invited to a sleepover, packed his own backpack, and left without a look back. And while I’m still sighing, I realize it’s all really, really good.

Happy birthday, kid – we love you gobs and gobs!

 

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Swimming Through Summer: Goldfish Swim School Giveaway

We are almost to the halfway point of our ridiculously early Indiana summer break – we’ve been on vacation (hello, Florida!) and the kids are finishing week three of assorted daycamps. VBS has also come and gone.

The fox turned NINE yesterday, and I finally got to let the cat out of the bag that WE ARE GOING TO SEE HAMILTON IN JULY and I am so so happy about that.

Many of our school routines have gone out the window- there’s tv before supper, there’s hardly any showering because SWIMMING, and in general, we are lying about like sloths every chance we get.

One constant we are keeping is attending Goldfish Swim School. MaM has just a few weeks left on the swim team before she ages out. The fox is working diligently on his breaststroke like it’s his job. As much as they’re swimming nearly every day at camp, they are mostly splashing around with friends in a free swim situation.

Last summer I didn’t ever get around to signing them up for lessons. I knew they could use some refreshing on technique, but suddenly I blinked and it was mid-July. I couldn’t pick a day of the week for weekly lessons, because each week was slightly different, and well, I was the picture of indecisiveness.

I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT GOLDFISH SWIM SCHOOL’S JUMP START CLINICS.

From now through the end of July, Goldfish locations in Fishers and Carmel are offering weekly clinics – pick one week, one time slot and get five :30 lessons out of the way. Instead of once a week for a month, go every day for a week. How convenient is that? And since these are indoor facilities, summer storms won’t rain out your lessons (we’ve had that happen), and the water is always a comfortable 90 degrees, so half of the lesson isn’t spent coercing teeny tiny kids into freezing water (we’ve also had that happen).

Are you ready to try a Jump Start clinic* for your child? Enter below to win one free Jump Start clinic at either their Fishers or Carmel, Indiana location and spread the word for more entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*the prize is one jump start clinic at either the Fishers or Carmel location during July 2017- be sure you’ve got a week to do this, please! 

Disclosure: Thanks to Goldfish Swim School for partnering with us  to build my school-age swimmers’ confidence in exchange for my honest review of their programs! 

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Spring Break State of Mind

We are wrapping up Spring Break here at McNally Manor – tomorrow morning the alarm gets set and the lunches get packed.

I didn’t actually take any time off from work this time around, but thanks to a flexible schedule and free wifi, we were able to fit in some fun (and at least a change of scenery for me).

High points included a quick trip to Trader’s Point (no, your school age kids really aren’t too big, honest), where the kids and friends climbed all over every thing and played some basketball, while I worked in their snack room with the free wifi.

We also made a trip north to celebrate a nephew’s birthday, and visit my grandma who’s hanging in there at 103.5. I heard some more great stories, including one where “Doris and I met these guys on the boat – we decided to go with them instead of where we were supposed to go…we would have gotten away with it had my cousin not told her mother who told my father.” Pure gold, I tell you. We also had a quickover night, complete with hotel swimming pool.

Big kids are awesome for many reasons, and one of those reasons is they can swim for HOURS. What I noticed this time is that while they continued to have jumping contests and hold your breath contests, they were also really swimming, not just dog-paddling everywhere. More on that later.

This week we also went to the library (computers for them, free wifi for me), got some RedBox rentals, hit a new-to-us YMCA, and the noon time free swim at Goldfish with friends.

Yesterday we visited the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, which was really interesting. I had no idea so many people try to keep big cats as pets, or operate “roadside zoos” or whatever. The kids loved it, and want to go back for one of the special events they hold throughout the year.  The tour was enjoyable and educational, and held everyone’s attention for the full hour +. Definitely worth the trip.

 

 

Today we finish up break with a recess from Sunday School,  but we attended our regular swim class/team practice. The fox LEVELED UP to Pro today! I am so proud of him – he’s been at the Star level for weeks (maybe months), and working hard on his dolphin kick and 4 min continuous swim. Today he NAILED it. He was beaming from ear to ear, and might have been gloating just a little when he told MaM he was going to catch her (he’s one level below her now- swim team is so close he can taste it).

And that’s a wrap on Spring Break 2017. Not the most exciting, but it was a good break in the routine, and my kids are one step closer to growing gills. I’ll take it.

If you’re thinking summer like I am, and you’re thinking your kids could use a swim refresher, check out Goldfish Swim School’s Jump Start clinics. They will be held between now and the beginning of summer, and will help get your swimmer pool-ready!