We started out with tennis camp again today - the last day of the camp for Madison. The weather remained overcast, which was perfect again: the kids were returning serves without having to worry so much about the bright sun. Everyone showed much improvement over the course of just one week, including Madison. If she keeps at it everyday, she gets better and better and better. She had some vicious returns with her backhand today, shooting lasers just over the net. I didn't envy the instructor, who occasionally had to dodge the returning balls as they zoomed back towards her!
We went for slushie after that, of course. Daddy and his cup were reunited after a short absence, but the onslaught continues: Madison and Daddy got yet another free slushie. We're well over fifty or sixty by this point, all free. We're what you'd call a "worse case scenario!" But Madison deserved it, having done well with the tennis practice, and also wanting to get something to drink. She downed the water from her bottle, and had a juice box as well - why not add a slushie?
We got home for a bit, and there was the matter of lunch: it was a big one. Mommy made all kinds of the traditional summer fare, from hot dogs to potato salad to deviled eggs to this incredible watermelon that we've been polishing off as a family. It was a tasty lunch, followed by some work on the piano: Daddy wanted to make sure we squeezed that in today. It was going to be a full day today, because after piano came a trip to the pool! It's been on Daddy's mind to get Madison learning to swim, so the lessons continued today. She's still not quite there, although the mechanics are improving. She's seeing herself move in the water, both up and forward - but not quite there yet on swimming without a float, or Daddy's arms nearby. Still, it was a good deal of fun to head to the pool for an hour or so.
We did get back, and then it was time to go to the moon!
We went to the library to learn the different phases of the moon! You can see here in this photo that we did this with Oreo cookies, each one representing a different phase. Even Daddy learned a thing or two - like why is it called a "waxing crescent," or what's up with a "waning gibbous" moon? You can see the entire cycle there on her plate. Remarkably, this survived intact until we got home to show Mommy! But it was there that Madison correctly identified each phase, and that's when her parents were quite impressed. And then... the cookies were gone. Daddy helped eat them!
We had a little time to spare after this, but we also needed a little rest time as well - that's why we popped in a DVD we picked up at the library. Can you believe we hadn't seen the Marvel crossover with Phineas and Ferb? Well, this afternoon, we did. The three of us sprawled out on the couch and had just enough time to rest a bit, and watch the Marvel heroes team up with Perry the Platypus and fight the bad guys.
Madison wasn't quite ready to rest after that, and we had a little time - so we tried some drawing after that. It went well, sort of. We're trying to draw Queen Elsa, and Madison is in a bit of a hurry. We'll take our time on that with our next attempt! Daddy's version came out well, but Madison's version resembled something more along the lines of a Picasso. Which could get hung in an art gallery when you think about it, so that's not entirely a bad thing, right?
We rested a bit, but were soon up once more, this time to go out for our grand finale of the day: "Tarzan." We climbed in the car, and went through a few sun showers on our way over to Cumming. Madison noted that this is the perfect kind of weather for rainbows, because of the sun and the rain together. And sure enough, right around halfway there, we saw a very bright rainbow hanging in the sky - such a beautiful sight. It stayed there as we drove all the way to our destination, a wonderful thing to see today.
But soon it was time to climb out of the car and visit the Cumming Playhouse once more. Last year, Madison was here to see "Treasure Island." The year before, we saw"It's a Wonderful Life" and "Big River." And this year - tonight - we saw "Tarzan."
This production was going on at the Cumming Playhouse, not far from here - so we got ourselves a few tickets as a treat for the family. It was a great decision - Madison had an excellent time, laughing out loud many occasions (mostly when Tarzan was imitating the other actors on stage). The set design was well done, and the performances were pretty good too. We've been singing the songs from this one all day and night, even now one of the songs is stuck in my head as I type.
It's a shame that the cost of going to see things in Atlanta has skyrocketed over the last few years. The jump has been sudden and steep. Remember the days when $30 was a good ticket? I know that was a long time ago, but so were the days when $60 was a good ticket. Now, for "The Little Mermaid," we'd easily be spending upwards $300 for our family to go see that production. That same money could be spent for three of us at a Disney amusement park all day, right? Or, there's always the local theater, which is about eighteen percent of the cost of going to see a play in Atlanta. That's a huge difference in cost, and what we've discovered is that these smaller productions have a heck of a lot of heart behind them. Tonight's performance had great singers, good choreography, fun costuming, and a great set. We really enjoyed it, and we've been to all kinds of plays in "the big city" as well. But more importantly, Madison is enjoying these quite a bit. We'll get her downtown to see the big shows from time to time. But for now, these smaller productions are just fine with all of us. Tonight's show was proof of that.
Madison is a little under the weather again, a persistent cough making itself known during the play. She's in bed now, with vapor rub on her chest and cough medication to help the coughing go down. Tomorrow we'll take it easy with her - we had a full day today. Actually, this whole week has been a pretty active one. Tomorrow, we'll tone that down quite a bit and try to keep her here at the house for the entire day. There's plenty to do at home, that's for sure, and hopefully she'll be doing much better by day's end.
The moon was full tonight, not quite like an Oreo, but still nice to look at. It was a beautiful night, and the end of a beautiful day. Time to turn in, thankful for all we're so blessed with. And still singing those songs in our heads...
We went for slushie after that, of course. Daddy and his cup were reunited after a short absence, but the onslaught continues: Madison and Daddy got yet another free slushie. We're well over fifty or sixty by this point, all free. We're what you'd call a "worse case scenario!" But Madison deserved it, having done well with the tennis practice, and also wanting to get something to drink. She downed the water from her bottle, and had a juice box as well - why not add a slushie?
We got home for a bit, and there was the matter of lunch: it was a big one. Mommy made all kinds of the traditional summer fare, from hot dogs to potato salad to deviled eggs to this incredible watermelon that we've been polishing off as a family. It was a tasty lunch, followed by some work on the piano: Daddy wanted to make sure we squeezed that in today. It was going to be a full day today, because after piano came a trip to the pool! It's been on Daddy's mind to get Madison learning to swim, so the lessons continued today. She's still not quite there, although the mechanics are improving. She's seeing herself move in the water, both up and forward - but not quite there yet on swimming without a float, or Daddy's arms nearby. Still, it was a good deal of fun to head to the pool for an hour or so.
We did get back, and then it was time to go to the moon!
We went to the library to learn the different phases of the moon! You can see here in this photo that we did this with Oreo cookies, each one representing a different phase. Even Daddy learned a thing or two - like why is it called a "waxing crescent," or what's up with a "waning gibbous" moon? You can see the entire cycle there on her plate. Remarkably, this survived intact until we got home to show Mommy! But it was there that Madison correctly identified each phase, and that's when her parents were quite impressed. And then... the cookies were gone. Daddy helped eat them!
We had a little time to spare after this, but we also needed a little rest time as well - that's why we popped in a DVD we picked up at the library. Can you believe we hadn't seen the Marvel crossover with Phineas and Ferb? Well, this afternoon, we did. The three of us sprawled out on the couch and had just enough time to rest a bit, and watch the Marvel heroes team up with Perry the Platypus and fight the bad guys.
Madison wasn't quite ready to rest after that, and we had a little time - so we tried some drawing after that. It went well, sort of. We're trying to draw Queen Elsa, and Madison is in a bit of a hurry. We'll take our time on that with our next attempt! Daddy's version came out well, but Madison's version resembled something more along the lines of a Picasso. Which could get hung in an art gallery when you think about it, so that's not entirely a bad thing, right?
We rested a bit, but were soon up once more, this time to go out for our grand finale of the day: "Tarzan." We climbed in the car, and went through a few sun showers on our way over to Cumming. Madison noted that this is the perfect kind of weather for rainbows, because of the sun and the rain together. And sure enough, right around halfway there, we saw a very bright rainbow hanging in the sky - such a beautiful sight. It stayed there as we drove all the way to our destination, a wonderful thing to see today.
But soon it was time to climb out of the car and visit the Cumming Playhouse once more. Last year, Madison was here to see "Treasure Island." The year before, we saw"It's a Wonderful Life" and "Big River." And this year - tonight - we saw "Tarzan."
This production was going on at the Cumming Playhouse, not far from here - so we got ourselves a few tickets as a treat for the family. It was a great decision - Madison had an excellent time, laughing out loud many occasions (mostly when Tarzan was imitating the other actors on stage). The set design was well done, and the performances were pretty good too. We've been singing the songs from this one all day and night, even now one of the songs is stuck in my head as I type.
It's a shame that the cost of going to see things in Atlanta has skyrocketed over the last few years. The jump has been sudden and steep. Remember the days when $30 was a good ticket? I know that was a long time ago, but so were the days when $60 was a good ticket. Now, for "The Little Mermaid," we'd easily be spending upwards $300 for our family to go see that production. That same money could be spent for three of us at a Disney amusement park all day, right? Or, there's always the local theater, which is about eighteen percent of the cost of going to see a play in Atlanta. That's a huge difference in cost, and what we've discovered is that these smaller productions have a heck of a lot of heart behind them. Tonight's performance had great singers, good choreography, fun costuming, and a great set. We really enjoyed it, and we've been to all kinds of plays in "the big city" as well. But more importantly, Madison is enjoying these quite a bit. We'll get her downtown to see the big shows from time to time. But for now, these smaller productions are just fine with all of us. Tonight's show was proof of that.
Madison is a little under the weather again, a persistent cough making itself known during the play. She's in bed now, with vapor rub on her chest and cough medication to help the coughing go down. Tomorrow we'll take it easy with her - we had a full day today. Actually, this whole week has been a pretty active one. Tomorrow, we'll tone that down quite a bit and try to keep her here at the house for the entire day. There's plenty to do at home, that's for sure, and hopefully she'll be doing much better by day's end.
The moon was full tonight, not quite like an Oreo, but still nice to look at. It was a beautiful night, and the end of a beautiful day. Time to turn in, thankful for all we're so blessed with. And still singing those songs in our heads...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment