Classical Conversations

This past Tuesday, Big Sister went to her first day at Classical Conversations (it's a group that offers classes to home school children).  We aren't completely sure what we're going to do long term as far as school goes for Big Sister (home school or private school), but we felt like this was a good place for us to start.  She was able to attend a trial day at our local Classical Conversations group last spring, and I was super impressed with the curriculum that they use.  Several of Big Sister's friends also attend the same group that we go to (there are several groups in the Birmingham area and hundreds of groups across the nation), so she's been excited for weeks about going to "school".  She had a great first day, and is looking forward to going back this Tuesday.

As a part of the curriculum, every child does a "presentation" for their class each week.  At Big Sister's age it's more like show and tell (they are supposed to bring an item associated with the topic for that week), but I think it's a great way to get kids used to speaking in front of a group at a young age.  We started working on her presentation a few days before her first class, and I was amazed at how well she did!  She spoke very quietly (I'm sure she'll do better with that as she gets to know her class mates a bit better), but she remembered everything she had planned to say.

ready to go on her first day!

so proud of her princess backpack :)

with her sweet friend in science class

they are such sweet friends!!

Shhhh...It's a Surprise!!!!!!!

Back in the spring, John and I decided that this year on our family trip we would go to Disney World!  We officially booked our trip in early May, and have so far been able to keep the whole thing a secret from Big Sister.

We decided to do the trip as a surprise for 2 reasons:
To add to the magic of the whole experience (John's Uncle and Aunt surprised their girls with a trip to Disney a few years ago, and since then we've always liked the idea)
And if I'm being honest, to eliminate months of endless, "Is today the day we're going to Disney?" questions.

After some discussion and consideration (based on the kind of hectic family trip we took to Disney a few years ago), we decided to go for 2 whole weeks.  John is blessed to have a bit more vacation time than a normal job would allow, so we decided to take advantage of that and enjoy a more extended (and hopefully more relaxed) trip.

We're taking the "motor" (as Big Sister calls the motor home) and camping at the Fort Wilderness Campground.  We went back and forth about whether to stay in a hotel or bring the RV and in the end, the motor home won out because of cost (the campground is in the same area as the premium hotels at Disney - it's just a short boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom, but it's a small fraction of the price you would pay for staying at one of the premium hotels) and convenience (we'll have a kitchen, separate spaces for the kids to take naps and it'll be nice to not have to worry about the hotel "ick" factor that's present even if you're staying in a nice place - especially with germ unconscious littles).  The campground has all of the same great amenities as all of the other on property resorts (playgrounds, pools, water slides!) at Disney, so it's really a win/win for us.  We'll also be able to bring our bikes (along with the kids bike trailer) and fishing poles (the campground has bike trails and a lake).  Overall we think that staying at the campground will make our trip a little more laid back (if that's even possible at Disney?!).

We originally planned to stay for 2 weeks and only get passes for 7 days, but apparently the cost of the park passes drastically reduces after 7 days, so in the end we decided to go with 10 days of park hoppers, so that we'll have a lot of flexibility with our schedule (which is important with 2 littles!).

We decided to go to 4 character meals (we opted not to do the meal plan, because they sell the meal plan based on the number of nights you stay on the property, so it was super cost prohibitive for us - it would have more than doubled the total cost of the trip).  I had a difficult time narrowing it down to 4, but we felt like more than that might be overwhelming to Big Sister (and to Little Bud too).  We were also able to get an appointment for Big Sister at the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique (when we originally booked they didn't have any open slots), so she'll be able to visit with the Fairy Godmother before we go eat at Cinderella's Castle!

We are so looking forward to our trip, and can't WAIT to see the look of surprise on Big Sister's face when we pass under the Walt Disney World sign :)

 

Swimming Lesson Success!

Friday was our last official swimming lesson.  Big Sister is swimming so well!!  She can dive down to the bottom of the pool to rescue her dive rings, she can jump in and swim across the pool to the steps and she can lay on her back and float to rest when she needs a break from swimming.  I am so proud of her!  By the middle of last week she kind of hit a plateau since she was struggling to hold her breath, which made it difficult for her to swim more than a few strokes, but after Daddy worked with her on Wednesday afternoon, she made great strides during her last 2 lessons.  Little Bud did not of course learn to swim, but he isn't afraid of the water anymore and doesn't mind getting his face wet.  Overall the lessons were definitely a success!  Being able to visit with friends (who joined us for the lessons) every day for 2 weeks was a total bonus!

swim lesson kiddos and their teachers

floating

Little Bud

she rescued all of the rings!

fun times in the pool with Daddy!

Daddy is so much more fun than Mommy ;)