A Long Week...

Week 7:  This week was a bit different from past weeks at summer school.  We signed Trent up for Camp Invention, which is a company that provides their curriculum to schools and the teachers of the schools implement the program. He was excited and a bit nervous on Monday morning.  Here is a typical day of activities for the camp: 

9:00 am Children are signed in by their parents and join their counselor and age-appropriate group at the Base Camp area. During this gathering period each morning, they might build a newspaper tower or learn the Camp Invention cheer.

9:15 am Children move to their first module, WILD Wondrous Innovations and Living Designs. The children learn that cuttlefish use camouflage to hunt and hide in the ocean. They then create their own camouflaged fish and discover how every color in the rainbow can be created using just three basic colors.

10:20 am Children enjoy a morning snack.

10:30 am Children move to their second module, The Curious Cypher Club.  They learn mysterious coded messages that are being left and they try to decipher the the messages. Trent loved trying to break the code.

11:40 am Half of the children gathers in the common area for lunch, while the other half indulges in high-energy games and activities in the gymnasium or outdoors.

12:10 pm Children who ate lunch earlier now work off that energy by switching with the other group, who now gather in the common area for lunch.

1:05 pm Children move to their next module of the day, Bounce! An Atomic Journey.  The children engage in a high-bouncing activity, a scientific bouncing investigation and a flat-edged bouncy ball challenge.

2:10 pm Children move to their final module of the day, I Can Invent: Edison's Workshop.  Each child was asked to bring a sort of appliance that could be taken apart and with the parts they built something.  Trent used an old DVD player, which he had so much fun taking apart and building a maze with.

3:15 pm Children gather in the Base Camp area with their counselor, where they might create a marshmallow sculpture or create soda pop fountains until their parents arrive.

3:30 pm The fun comes to an end, and children are signed out by their parents.

During the week at Camp there was a theme each day.  Tuesday was wacky hat day. Trent wears his sun hat everyday, so I am not sure it's that wacky.  He really wanted to wear his hat with the spinner on top, but I had to say no because it doesn't shade his face and neck. Boo Mom!  Wednesday was wild and wacky hair.  Thursday was mix and match your clothes and Friday was wear your Camp Invention t-shirt.  Trent loved the wild and wacky hair.  He thought he was so cool with his slicked back hair.

Mix and Match your clothes!

T-Shirt Friday!

The Inventions and Creations!

Trent's team was the Green Inventors.  They built a fort to hide out in and Trent built the spy cameras on the outside.

Another creation by Trent's team.

Trent's invention...The Flying Trashcan.  

It comes to you when you want to throw something away.

Trent's team built a ramp for a bouncy ball to slide down through a cup and make its way to the other end of the box.  Very cool!

Trent was so happy to show me all the inventions and creations.

We went to the Dodger game on Wednesday night.  We brought John along with us and we all had a great time.  Trent even talked John into playing Battleship with him.  The Dodger game was not too exciting, so the boys had to pass the time playing games.

Eating a lollipop and playing Battleship...not a bad life.

We ended the week with Diving Board Friday and a play date with a friend from school.  It was a long week, but next week we will be relaxing poolside at a resort.  Woo hoo!

One more week until vacation.

Week 6: Another pretty mellow week for us. This week in summer school Trent took science and drawing.  I wasn't surprised he had picked science because he loves science, but I was surprised that he picked drawing.  Trent isn't known for writing, coloring or drawing neatly, so I was a bit curious to see what would come out of this drawing class.  In the past few months, Trent has started to show more of a willingness to try new things.  There was a long stretch of time when Trent didn't want to try new things and it was so madden because he wouldn't even listen to reason.  Now, he has realized that if he tries something new he might just like it. I think his confidence has grown over the past few months and that has given him what he needed to try new adventures.  I am pretty sure his confidence has stemmed from hiking.  Not a lot of kids his age can hike 19 miles around Catalina Island or up to the top of Mt. Wilson.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to see Trent's first drawing on Monday.  I have to say I was impressed with it.  For one thing, I could tell what it was and it was done pretty neatly for Trent.  I am so glad he went out of his comfort zone this week and took the drawing class.  I am so proud of him!

Trent's first drawing.

On Tuesday, Trent drew Mr. Crabby.

On Wednesday, he drew a cute Panda.

Then we had the happy clowns.

On Friday, he drew some portraits.

A fun thing that Trent looked forward to all week was his playdate with a friend from school.  He couldn't wait to talk and play the Pokeman DS game with his friend for a few hours.  The days leading up to the playdate Trent was planning what they were going to do and some of the things kept changing, but not playing Pokeman.  They played the DS game for awhile, but also got in some lightsaber fighting.  
Trent also had fun with another friend who we took to the Dodger game on Saturday night. Trent wasn't allowed to bring his DS to the game, so they couldn't play Pokeman, but believe me that did not stop them from talking about it for hours.  I think the first hour they were together that's all they talked about. It's like a foreign language to me and Tim, but Trent and his friends sure know a lot about all the strategies that go into playing Pokeman.  It's great to hear Trent and his friends discuss these things they are so passionate about.
Swimming is still going well.  On the car ride to swim lessons this week Trent asked me about swim team and how many laps I would swim at practice.  He asked if I swam 50 laps and I said no, more laps than that.  He said, then 100 laps and I said nope more than that.  I heard him groan from the backseat and then say I don't want to swim that many laps.  I think I have my work cut out for me if I want to get him on a swim team next summer.

Next week Trent is signed up to be in Camp Invention, went will be a lot of fun.  I am sure there will be a lot of cool experiments happening in camp.  Then we are off on vacation the following week.  We can't wait to be relaxing on the beach.

A bit slower...

Week 5:  This week we didn't have too much planned, other than the usual summer school classes and swim lessons.  This week Trent took Playground Games and Math Adventures in Summer School. 
On Monday morning, he told me he was looking forward to Playground Games, but not playing hide and seek because he said he wasn't that good at it because he is so big and can't hide very well.  I kind of chuckled to myself because it's not that he is big, it's because he doesn't pick very good places to hide and doesn't stay quiet.  He did say he liked playing duck duck goose because he runs as fast as a jack rabbit with his tail on fire...pretty funny because that isn't how I would characterize Trent's running ability, but I am glad he thinks he runs fast.
The rest of the week crept by.  On Thursday, we celebrated Cindy's birthday at Fresh Gourmet.  We had a great time celebrating what a wonderful Mom, Mother in-law and Grandma Cindy is.
Friday was the big day for Trent.  He had been looking forward to going off the driving boards all week and the time had finally come.  Trent kept going over and over the order of jumps he was going to do off the high dive.  He was toying with the idea of doing a dive, but remembered two years back that doing a dive off the high dive didn't end so well.  The belly flop he did didn't traumatize him too much because the following summer he was back on the high dive.  He did learn his lesson and opts not to dive off the high dive.

Showing off his muscles before Friday Fun Day.

 Trent making his way to the end of the board.

 Creeping to the end...

There he goes.  He was a bit nervous, but as soon as he came to the surface he said that was fun and he was doing that again.

 He does one of the best torpedoes/float.

 All smiles!

 Finally a cannonball!

After their time was up on the diving boards they went over to their lane and had a relay. Trent did so great.  It is so amazing that in just two weeks he has improved so much.  On the first day of his lesson I didn't think he was going to make it across the pool.  Each day from then on he got better and better.  Maybe taking off his sunshirt has helped his swimming ability too.  I now just lather him up with sunscreen and he loves not having the drag of his sunshirt.  His side breathing has improved and he can swim two laps of the pool with no problem.  

 Trent did get passed, but that's ok because 

he did a great job with his side breathing.

 Resting on the wall and cheering his team on.

I am so proud of him and can't wait to see all that he can do by the summer's end. 

Camp Reimers

We didn't get a chance to camp in the backyard last summer, but we brought back the tradition on Saturday by having the Cook family over to camp out. Trent was looking forward to sleeping under the moon and stars.  

The kids loved playing in the treehouse, brushing and petting Freddy, helping Tim start the fire, roasting marshmellows and just running around wild. 

The kids having their dinner...hot dogs, watermelon, chips and juice.

Setting up the "house."

 Freddy loving all the attention and love.

 Getting the fire started for roasting marshmellows.

 Abbey and Trent up in the treehouse. 

 Making smores.

 All set up!

 Cutie pie!

The Dads set up the Cook's huge tent...I wouldn't call it a tent because it could be considered a small house.  We all fit in there very comfortably.  I finally gave in and slept in the tent.  I had been on the fence about sleeping in the tent, but Trent really wanted me too, so of course I did.  

Ready for bed.  The kids told stories before finally falling asleep.

We didn't get much sleep because the kids were up by 6:15 a.m., which is way too early for a Sunday morning.

Enjoying chocolate milk and donuts for breakfast.

 Playing in the treehouse at 7 am, not a usual thing.

 Buzz and Abbey playing around.

 Again, giving Freddy lots of attention.  He was so good with the kids.

We had a very busy weekend with a birthday party, camp over and baptism.  I was exhausted by Sunday evening and couldn't wait to climb into my bed.  Even though I was exhausted by the end of the weekend from all our activities, I am so happy that we have the family and friends we do in our lives.  

Keep on going...

Week 4:  This week was a short week for us.  Trent only had 4 days of summer school.  He had fun classes this week, which included learning different games on the Wii and learning about rocks.  Trent was so excited about these classes and had a lot of fun.

Trent started swim lessons this week.  He is now in the Advanced Beginner class and that means he swims the long way across the pool...the full 25 yards.  Trent surprised himself on the first day when he swam the length of the pool without stopping or needing help.  I think he is going to have fun in swim lessons this summer and maybe next summer he can start on the swim team.  We tried out something new today...he didn't wear his sun shirt.  I lathered him up in sunscreen and he loved swimming without his sun shirt.  I think the sun shirt was a little heavy for swimming laps.  Trent had a great swim lesson today and I think during swim lessons he will be shirtless from now on.

We also had a fun week with Madison.  She was with us in the afternoons and Trent always loves playing with his Madison.  
Thursday was a busy day for us.  After school I took Madison and Trent to Jumpin' Jammin'. From Jumpin' Jammin' we went to swim lessons and then onto piano lessons. We left the house at 7:50 a.m. and finally made it back home at 6:30 p.m.

On our way from swim lessons to piano lessons Trent fell asleep in the car, which rarely happens.

We ended the week with a game of bowling at 300 Bowling Alley in Pasadena and then swim lessons.  Another week down and many more weeks of summer break to go and many more fun things planned.