Summertime

There is a study out that says kids lose a certain percentage of the things they learned during the school year over the summer. I believe that's partially true. After all, if you aren't using the Pythagorean Theory every day, well it could become a moot point. Not that we are at that level yet. That comes next year. We are, however, unofficially doing just a bit of school. Not much, and most of it has to do more with reading and PE, but school is school after all.

We are involved once again in the summer reading program at our local library. There are several branches around us, but I choose to go to the one that we are most familiar with. We walk in and they know us. Love that. The kids must check out at least 5 things to read every week. They can be books, magazines, audio books, whatever. They turn in their receipt and they are entered into a drawing for a prize. I have a teacher friend that believes audio books shouldn't count as reading. I think it does. Reading out loud, reading silently to yourself, and having books read to you all stimulate different parts of your brain. But there I go again-soapbox. Five books a week isn't a big deal for my girls, but the boy could use some help. To help him, I am setting aside 30 minutes a day for reading. Check off reading.

We are also doing the free month of membership at the Y. June has cost us nothing and we have been there so much, they know our names. Love that, too. We have done Zumba, Yoga, Tai Chi, swimming, and the exercise equipment. I would like to do the shallow water fitness or water aerobics, but that will come. We are going to join for the summer. It's actually cheaper than dancing, so we are even saving a little. We have gotten to spend time with friends that we normally wouldn't see very much during the summer. We are getting fit. And my tan is rocking. There's a bonus.

And last, but not least, we are going to some of the $1 movies at the local theater. There is another chain doing free movies, but by the time we got to the closest one, it would cost me $10 in gas. We saw Shrek the Third and are going to get to see Monsters v. Aliens if I'm really good. And since we get free refills on large drinks and large popcorns, if anyone wants to split a package, I'm up for that. The package of one large popcorn and two large drinks is $17.50. But with refills, that's like getting two large popcorns and four large drinks. That breaks down to $8.75 for half of the pack. Just throwing that out there. We aren't going to see all the movies. Some I have no desire to see again. Some we never got to see in the first place, and this is a much cheaper way to do it.

There's our plans for the summer. We are reading, exercising, and getting our popcorn on. That seems like it should be enough to keep me out of trouble. We'll see anyway.

Have a great day!