Swim Lessons

Camden is taking swim lessons at Wabash College.  The swim team does this as a fund-raiser.  She is having one-on-one instruction for 8 days.  We asked that they focus on her learning freestyle.  She has had two lessons and the improvement is remarkable.  Her instructor walked over to us last night and said she was "killing it today."

She and her instructor are in the third lane from the top.

This is the first night and her kicks were huge and her arms were doing the motions, but wildly.  She would take about 4 strokes and then stop.  By the second night she had flutter kicks, smoother strokes, and went 1/2 length without stopping.

But her absolute favorite part is the last 5 minutes they get to "play."  The swing is pretty impressive.

She probably gets 2 or 3 turns a night and then spends the rest of the time jumping off the diving board.

 

She is working up the courage to jump off the high dive.  Both nights she has gone up,

walked out to the end, contemplated jumping, 

then turned around and climbed down.  

She believes she will do it tonight!  We told her to only do it if she feels up to it...no pressure.  We are very thankful for this experience and the progress she is making.

National Dog Day

On National Dog Day, Mr. Chadd brought the family pet in to spend the entire school day with his students.  He seemed to relax and enjoy the time they were on the computer.  Camden said every hour someone got to take him for a short walk and potty break outside. 

Taste of Montgomery County

One of our favorite events was this Saturday.  Despite how hot and sweat it was, there was good shade and lots of good food.  Gramma Pat came over for the evening and we enjoyed eating and sharing various offerings.  Kevin, Gramma and I shared everything, while Camden had her own tickets and had a personal feast.  Our favorites were the lamb adobo tamales, grilled veggie tamales, and Thai lime cheesecake from The Juniper Spoon, as well as the cheeseburger egg roll from Barefoot Burger.  The shrimp with fresh tomato and savoy cabbage with bacon from Valentino Italian Cuisine was delicious as well.

Camden had the China Inn Sushi Roll (crab...first for her!), hand cut fries with queso from Barefoot Burger, and a coney dog from K&K Cafe.

She also drew a rubber duck from a bowl at the China Inn booth and won a free t-shirt.  She couldn't contain her excitement!

She actually did share bites of all of her food with us, but this is the first year we had to buy enough tickets for her to get things on her own.  She is growing!

Cowboy Camp

The last week of summer before school started, Camden attended Cowboy Camp.  She has gone for the past few years and really enjoys it.  She actually only went the last 3 days since we were still on vacation.  She loved the horses, the games, and this mascot.

Rhianah's Birthday

Camden attended the birthday of one of her favorite friends.  They had a great time doing games/play around Waveland and then I meet up with her again at the Lake for some rescheduled fireworks (due to bad weather on July 4).

Forgotten Pictures

I haven't been blogging since all our pictures of late are on Kevin's phone and we keep forgetting to get them to me.  However, I just looked at my phone and see I have a few to share.

On our way home from Cincinnati, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Greensburg, IN.  It was a great choice!  Since it was the week of Camden and Gramma Pat's birthday, we had a celebration after our meal.

 

Loveland Castle

Our final stop in Cincinnati was the Loveland Castle just east of the city.  This small structure was built by one man hauling stones from the nearby river one-by-one to this location.  It is modeled after European castles he saw while serving in WWII.

The small sign in front of this garden says, "Keep out of the garden".  One of the caretakers said this sea dragon got in the garden one to many times...

Camden enjoyed posing from this small turret in the garden.

Sir Picklelot (notice the pickle bow in her right hand).

The inside was small, dark, and hot.  This castle is taken care of by the Knights of the Golden Trail.  It has the potential to be fantastic, but is just a little rundown.

There was even a small dungeon to explore.

The gardens, again, had potential to be beautiful, but were a little under-cared for.

Our wee knight really liked exploring this place, especially once she had her own sword.

Findlay Market

Back to older happenings...our adventures in Cincinnati.

After lunch and bridge crossing, we headed to a market.  It is more bustling on the weekend with many vendors lining the streets.  However, we enjoyed walking through the aisles and even getting some yummy treats.

Camden got a huge deli kosher pickle and it was in her hand the rest of the day.  She would occasionally suck on it or bite another piece off.  Even between bites of sweet cheesecake.  Oh my!

She loved climbing up into the giant chairs with Aunt Carole.  Getting out was even more "fun"!

First Day

This girl amazes me!  She was so ready to go to school. 

I figured out the bus transportation from Ladoga Elementary to New Market Elementary.  She was to get on a certain bus at Ladoga then transfer at the high school to a second bus that would take her and about 10 other elementary kids to NM.  When I talked to the first bus driver, she explained that it was her husband that drove the second bus and she walks the kids to that bus.  Camden was clear on her bus numbers and ready to go.

We stepped outside and saw a few high school boys waiting at our stop sign.  We went over and discovered there was a bus that left from our apartment to Ladoga.  It was the second to last stop, but meant I didn't have to drive her at all.  So she transfers twice...each way!  But goes door step to door step. 

I followed the bus to Ladoga this first morning to make sure it went there (and not directly to the high school) and to make sure she was able to find her second bus.  Turns out there are only 4 buses and the principal was right there to make sure she got on the right one.  However, as I watched her, she was as confident as confident could be and just made her way through the "crowd" and onto the correct bus.  Little Miss Independent!

 

 

I also went up to Ladoga at the end of the day, because we hadn't completely discussed that she would be taking the bus home from there (because we didn't know about it until the last minute).  However, she never came out to the cars and when I went the few blocks home, parked, and got out, she bounded off the bus and ran to me.  She was super, super excited about the first day and I was super, super proud of her confidence and ability to handle two bus transfers.

She has decided she will do this every day and get breakfast at school (it's free!).  It's a great plan and I hope it lasts the year.  It actually is only about 5 minutes longer in travel than if I took her myself and she can still sleep in since she doesn't catch the bus in front of our apartment until 7:35.

All reports about her class and teacher were extremely positive as well.  She has lots of her friends in her class.