Extracurricular Activities

Over the summer while Emily and Addison were doing their once a week morning fun class at Little Lights, I did my first mommy and me class with Elizabeth. We went to a Music Together class in Longmont for six weeks. It was SO fun to have the special one-on-one time with Elizabeth, and because music and dancing really do seem to be her thing (she wiggles to the beat almost any time she hears music) so the music class was just perfect. I didn't get to take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, but I have lots of wonderful memories. She got to play instruments during each class, and really seemed to gravitate towards the bells and drums. (The bells were on little circles of webbing, and she liked to wear them as bracelets.) We also did an activity with scarves or ribbons in every class, and she really enjoyed waving these around. Here's a little video of a ball activity to music. Elizabeth really loves balls, and "bah!" was one of her first words.


I'm hoping that next summer we'll be able to get a similar schedule going so that Elizabeth and I can do another mommy and me type class.

The big girls have recently started a ballet class at the Thornton Community Center. They were very excited to pick out their tutus at a fun dance store in Fort Collins with Wendy and Rose, and were super excited to put their ballet outfits on for their first class last Monday. This class will last through December and ends with a recital. Oh what fun!

The class is 40 minutes long and is a drop off class, but parents get to observe for the last 5 minutes of each class. Elizabeth and I had a great time while the girls were dancing (there is a walking path and a couple playgrounds right outside the building) and then watching the girls dance for a few minutes at the end was so fun!

This video makes me giggle. I think both the girls were so focused on standing on their assigned number and they were distracted by me and my camera (notice Emily smiling at me). I showed them this video and showed them how the other girls were doing what the teacher was doing...hopefully they'll be doing that next time! :)

Drummin'

When we were in Ghana in 2008, I was amazed by the huge selection of hand-died batik fabrics. There were tons of fabric booths in the outdoor markets, and many of them had a seamstress on site. I had these little outfits made for our future children, and the girls are just the right size to fit into them now. 

These drums are also from Ghana, and after seeing how much fun the girls had playing bongos over at DeeDee's house, we brought our drums up from the basement for some drum fun!

 

 

 

 

Orchard Town Center Fridays

Last summer, the Sebrings raved to us about how wonderful Friday nights were at the Orchard Town Center, just minutes from our house. There's live music, splash fountain fun, and lots and lots of families with picnics. We never made it last summer, but actually did make it to one so far this summer.

The music was a Sting cover band, the kids were rowdy and happy, and the ice cream was cold and delicious! We're hoping to make it to another Friday night family night out before the end of the summer. (Maybe we'll even make it out to see Under a Blood Red Sky, Chris's all time favorite U2 cover band, playing August 3rd. Too bad I can't type with heavy sarcasm.)

Splash!

Addie was on the move, and whatever was in that green sippy cup on that stroller must have been pretty amazing, cause she kept running to it and trying to steal it.

Claire enjoyed her first ice cream cone ever! (I think she liked it. Vivian was just a little jealous.)

Emily, showing off her new walking skills

Addison, leading Dad towards the band