Practice Makes Perfect

During summer break, Maddy had a few different goals and camps she attended.

One of the skills she really worked hard on was

perfecting her back handspring!

She took a week-long camp on "Master the Back Handspring"

that met daily for an hour and a half.

I think that camp (and the fact that it was

taught by her favorite instructor)

really put her on track to 

reach her goal!

The week before school started, she did achieve her

goal and got the back handspring!

She takes a private lesson weekly or every couple weeks

with Rachel to work on tumbling skills.  

Besides keeping her in good athletic shape -- they do conditioning

in addition to tumbling, she's more confident and walks taller.

Another goal of hers --"grow taller!"

If you follow me on Instagram (janetmboucher), you 

can see the video.  I must say, I watched it

a million times as it amazes me how she can do that -- 

especially since a somersault seems tricky to me!

After a little break so Rachel could

visit family in California, Maddy is anxious to 

get back to the gym!

Goooooo Maddy!  :)

Back to School - 8th Grade!

Oh my word -- how did that happen?

I blinked and it was time to get out the uniforms, round up the

 pens, pencils and notebooks

and get back to school! 

1st grade!

We had such a great summer and so much fun hitting the 

pool nearly every evening!

Bonus -- Maddy took a shower and washed her 

hair there before we headed home, so no 

need to do that at home!

A few other fun activities included visiting and working at our sweet little zoo,

learning how to do a back handspring, shopping at Target, walking the dog

and trying (not always successfully) to declutter.

That's a story for another day!

And all of sudden, Maddy is an 8th grader!

She has been at the same elementary school

with almost all the same kids since 

kindergarten!

Not so sure if she is quite ready to give up the

10 am wake-ups, but the first few mornings have gone very well!

Fingers crossed for a fabulous 8th grade year!

The Super Fair x 2!

Since our State Fair is in another city located 2-3 hours away,

we generally skip it and hit the local County Fair instead.

They call it the Lancaster County SUPER fair!

So, we headed out to it last Friday as it was nearly over and would be leaving 

for some other Super location! :)

Imagine our disappointment to learn upon arrival at 1:30 pm 

that the rides wouldn't be starting until 6 PM!

We made the best of it and saw some inside exhibits,

petting zoo of some incredibly smelly animals 

and basically wilted in the extreme heat and humidity!

No, we didn't last at the fair until 6 PM.

So, on Saturday, we tried again!

This time the rides were up and moving! 

Yay!

But, as rides sometimes get old, crickety and slow, 

they were a bit of a disappointment.

Still, that didn't stop us from 

riding an incredibly teeny teacup ride (I almost could not get out of the teacup),

the Worm rollercoaster,

the Tornado (twice) and the Ferris Wheel!

Since it was another day with seriously high 90 degree temps

with high humidity too, we again wilted and 

didn't manage to stay for a few extra hours to

see the "Magnificent Mutts" dog show.

Game was not running, but we loved that Minion!

Lesson learned -- check the schedule before heading to

the Super Fair!

Zoo Crew Update - Baaad Horseys!

A little Zoo Crew update for you!

Maddy has really been enjoying her 

volunteer gig at the zoo this summer! 

Most of the time, that is!

Looks cute and sweet -- but this horse is one of the biters!

Last Monday, however, a horse (one of the naughty small horses)

bit her on the inside of her arm!

Ouch! 

 While it didn't totally break the skin, it left scratches

and a big bruise.

Then she worked on Wild Wednesday evening

when the zoo is open until 8 pm.

One horse was DONE and ready to head back to the 

stalls when about 5 kids came up and needed rides.

Since the other two horses had already left, Scout (the horse)

was stuck doing all the rides.

Scout was not happy about that.

To show how unhappy he was, he tried to rub Maddy

off on a fence as she led him around on the horse ride

resulting in a huge scrape and sliver on the inside

of her other arm!

Battle scars from the zoo!

She's still enjoying being a part of zoo crew, though it's winding down with

school starting soon.  She has weekend assignments

until the zoo closes in October.

She is definitely watching out for the horses!

Her favorite assignment is the butterfly pavilion -

who doesn't love butterflies! :)

Bonus -- it's right next to the most adorable Wallaby families!

We don't have a huge and fancy zoo like Omaha's, but

we do love our children's zoo!

Back To School Shopping Road Trip!

When you attend a Catholic school, there's

not a whole lot of fun back to school shopping.

The big decision is what color polo to get -- your choices

are Navy, White or Green!  Whoopee!  :)

We did load up on notebooks, pencils, paper, markers etc.

at Target* recently -- now, that is really favorite store!

Baskets and baskets of yummy chocolate goodies!

But, Miss M did need some sports shorts for PE, so

we decided to take a quick road trip to 

the outlet mall and the Under*Armour store.

We had to make a stop along the way

at the Baker's Candies (yummiest Chocolates in the world) outlet store!

Oh my word -- the smell was heavenly!!

The only issue was that we really couldn't purchase any of the yummy

treats because the temps were in the 90s!  If we left our purchases in the car, we would have had chocolate soup and even if we carried it

with us shopping, it would surely melt, and . . .

that would break my heart!

Maddy was interested in the various new chip flavors -

she has always been a chip girl!

Cheese Burger, Fried Dill Pickle, Barbecue Rib chips anyone?

Our shopping road trip did not have a great ending -

no sports shorts in size XS! :(

However, we did find a great hoodie

 (just what you want to

buy on a 95 degree day).

We are hopeful that the UA sports shorts we ordered from the

web will work!  When you don't get to do a lot of 

back to school clothes shopping, it is the little things that count!

And when will it cool off enough for another trip to Baker's Candies???

Soon, I hope!