Tae Kwon Do Green Belt!

The Tae Kwon Do gym where Anja takes classes does belt testing every month, so students can test for the next level of belt whenever they are ready.  Anja has been dedicated and very focused, has been learning her forms and self-defense moves pretty quickly, and has been testing and advancing belt ranks every couple of months.  In January she tested for her next level belt -- green!

Ready to test for a green belt!

Testing on her form...

she performed it perfectly!

She never met a board...

she couldn't break.

Hello Miss Green Belt!

 

Girl Scouts Winter Awards

Both Elise and Anja have been really enjoying Girl Scouts this year and have been very busy with Girl Scout activities.  This week their troops had an awards dinner where they received badges they have earned since the Fall.  They were very excited!

Elise and Anja waiting to be called up to accept their badges.
These two girls love each other and sometimes
they even show it, like this night, when Anja sat
 in Elise's lap and Elise let her.

Anja and her very first Girl Scout badges!  These were
for learning about animals and how to care for animals.

Elise earned quite a few badges and she was pretty
pleased!  Her troop earned badges for learning how to
care for themselves and be healthy, and a dance badge.

Girl Scouts

I was in Girl Scouts as a kid and was pretty excited when Elise wanted to join as a 1st grader.  This year, Elise is in her second year of being a Brownie (2nd and 3rd graders are Brownies) and Anja is a first-year Daisy (Daisies are Kindergarten and 1st graders).  The Girl Scouts at their school are organized a little differently than we are used to, in that all levels (Daisies, Brownies and Juniors) meet at the same time and do part of the meeting together (the opening and closing).  They also plan their large events together.  Having the girls meet at the same time is a huge help for me, as it means I only have to worry about one meeting and one day, rather than getting them to separate meetings and separate events.

Elise and Anja ready for their first Girl Scout
meeting of the year.

Anja with her Daisy troop, making a treat
to put outside for the birds and squirrels.

That was a very fun, very messy project.

Their troops are actively working on badges and have done several fun events already this year (Snead's Farm and horseback riding). On Monday the Girl Scouts will do part of the Veteran's Day presentation at their school, and Elise has a speaking part in the presentation.  She volunteered for the part and I am so proud of her!  I never would have had the self-confidence to do that at her age.  The girls really love being in Girl Scouts!

Goolrick's

A person I was working with recently called Fredericksburg "the most historical city in the United States."  While some other people would disagree with him, there is plenty of support for his opinion.  The history here goes back to some of the earliest colonial settlements, it was the home to some key revolutionary figures (including George Washington), and was fought over in the Civil War.  You cannot walk or drive in Fredericksburg without going past a historical marker. 

There are also some places that remind me of more recent historical times, like Goolrick's Pharmacy. 

The sign outside looks like it dates to the 1950's, and the inside looks like it hasn't changed much since then, either. 

Until I'd been inside Goolrick's I thought it would be a tourist stop, a place to get something to drink and some souveniers, but I was mistaken.  The building is narrow and long, with a real pharmacy in the back and a lunch counter in the front.  In between are a few aisles of typical over-the-counter items you would expect to find at a pharmacy (antacids, pain relievers, bandaids, and cough medicine). 

The lunch counter has a traditional lunch-time menu, with simple sandwiches like BLT, egg salad and chicken salad on regular sliced bread. 

What drew me in was their malts.  What could be more fun that getting a malt at a place like this?  All the food prep is done behind the lunch counter, so we could watch as ice cream was scooped into the metal cup, milk and malted were added, and it was all mixed with a traditional malt/shake mixer.  The girls weren't sure that they would like a malt, but very quickly decided they were fans.

Swimming Lessons at the YMCA

Both Elise and Anja love to swim and this summer they really enjoyed the pool at our apartment complex.  Now that Labor Day has passed the complex pool is closed for the season.  No fear, Elise and Anja's desire to swim will be fulfilled!  Through September they are both taking swimming lessons at the YMCA.  I wasn't sure what level to put them in, as the class divisions here are different than what we were used to in Thief River.  Based on what the YMCA person said, I put both girls in the same class.  Elise is a pretty good swimmer already but can't do any "real" strokes yet, and Anja is extremely comfortable in the water, so they are both in the second level class.  The number of kids in each class is capped at 6, which is great, and there are 2 teachers for each class.  It is really fun to have both girls in the same class, and they really seemed to enjoy it, too.  Anja has a challenge in that the class is held in the 4-foot area of the pool, which means she can't touch the bottom without her head going under. 

Sisters and friends, so fun to watch!

The first night of lessons they practiced the front crawl, dove for rings on the bottom of the pool, practiced their kicking, and jumped into the deep end off the edge of the pool.  Both girls did great, and have tons of enthusiasm!

Elise practices her form

First Day of School: Then and Now

First Day of school 2012, Elise
headed to 2nd grade,
Anja to preschool.

First day of school 2013, Elise
headed to 3rd grade,
Anja to Kindergarten.
I think Anja is starting
to make up the height difference!

The first day of school makes me a little sentimental, and this morning I went back to find some pictures of the girls on the first day of school in previous years. 

For Anja, this means going back to last year, her first year of preschool, and comparing it to this year, her first year of Kindergarten.  She looks so small standing next to Elise last year!  And Elise is definitely starting to look like a young lady, less and less of the little girl there!
 I found a picture of Elise going into Kindergarten three years ago.  I can't believe how much she has grown!


Elise's first day of Kindergarten,
2010.

First Day of School!

After prepping last week with Kindergarten Orientation for Anja and Open House for Elise, I think we all felt ready for the first day of school today.  It relieves a lot of anxiety (including mine!) to find the classroom, meet teachers, visit the cafeteria, and wander around school in advance of the first day.

I didn't get a picture of it, but as Elise and Anja walked from the car into the school building, they held hands.  So sweet!

Prepping For the First Day of School

Our fun-filled Friday continued with a trip to the mall for haircuts.  Up to this point, the girls had gotten haircuts from a friend in Thief River, so this was their first full-on salon experience, complete with shampoo, cut and blow-dry.  I think they felt a bit like rock stars.

Hard to tell in this picture because they are so serious,
but they were pretty tickled at this experience.

YMCA

I've never belonged to a YMCA or really even visited one.  But here in Fredericksburg, we have a YMCA close to where we live and they have summer day camp that a lot of kids in our area attend.  Anja has been there several days this summer, and this week Elise had her first days there.  Both girls love it, and have met lots of kids who go to their school.  Elise's age group does crafts, swims in the Y pool, goes on hikes, learns songs, and goes on field trips (this week they went to the water park in town).  Anja's age group operates much like a preschool class, with reading time, activities, and some "motion" time (either on the playground or in the gym).  Once a week, Anja's group has a splash day, which she has LOVED.

Splash day at YMCA day camp!

The day I went school shopping with Elise, Jason spent the day with Anja and one of the things they did was to attend the YMCA anniversary party, where there were some special activities.

Anja loves the playground at the YMCA and we love the static it creates!

She insisted on sitting in the baby swing, silly kid!

The fire fighters were at the YMCA anniversary party...

and Anja got up close!

Drumming on exercise balls = awesome!  Anja is still talking about this.

We are going to take advantage of the swimming lessons at the YMCA in September, I am looking forward to seeing how they operate.