Swimming Graduation

Last night, Jasmine graduated from beginner to intermediate at the USA Swim Kids Child Development Center in Mesa. At this center, they only focus on "safety", not so much on regular swimming. To graduate from beginner to intermediate, they have to be able to jump in the water and immediately turn onto their back and float for 10 seconds, then swim to the side of the pool and climb out completely on their own. When they graduate, the child gets to go ring a bell and an announcement is made. Then they have their picture taken while "olympic theme music" is being played.

At her other swim lessons, Jazzy can swim thru a hula hoop under water as well as swim with the overhand stroke for part of the width of the pool. She doesn't keep up with the other kids in her class since they are twice her size, but she is doing amazingly well. I was watching the Mommy and Me baby class, which is where we were last year at this time and thinking that she has made amazing progress. I am so proud of her. She has turned out to be a great swimmer.

Here she is ringing the bell.
Getting her picture taken while the music is playing. People clapping.

Swimming lessons at the Tempe Kiwanis Parks and Recreation

July 4th Celebration at the Zoo....

For the 4th of July, we went to the Phoenix Zoo party. They had a picnic dinner, bouncy house, face painting and games for the kids, as well as the regular Safari things to do. The event was limited to 450 people. It was so nice to have the entire place with only 450 people! Not crowded at all. They bussed us to the back of the zoo on a hill to see the Tempe Town Lake fireworks which are supposedly the best in the Southwest. They lasted over an hour. Every time I thought it was the big finale, they just went on and on. The fireworks were a little far away, across the lake, etc, and not very high in the sky.. but still very good. Jasmine was more interested in the laser light stick toys that I bought for extra needed entertainment at the Dollar Store. It was a really fun night until we tried to leave and got caught in the firework traffic from the Town Lake. Every street and highway was at a standstill. It took 15 minutes to drive from our house to the Zoo, and over an hour to get home. We didn't get home until 11:30. Still alot of fun though.

On the Safari ride
Enjoying the picnic
Dancing to the music
Looking a little apprehensive on the cheetah
Bouncy house

Ready for a night out on the town....

Soccer Camp almost over....

Tonight is the last night of soccer camp. Last night we had the game between kids and parents. Jazzy spent the entire time crying and holding onto my leg. One other little girl did also. It was a rather aggressive game with a bunch of the little bratty boys body slamming the other kids when the instructor was not watching. Of course, the parent(s) did nothing. Tonight, it's back to the regular fun stuff.

Here is a picture of Jazzy when she and I kicked the ball back and forth.

Soccer Camp

Tonight was Jasmine's first night of Soccer Camp with the Chandler Parks and Recreation. The coaches are from a company called Sportball. They have camps for all age kids and all types of sports. Each of the camps are called "Sportball", but each has a specialty, for example... Sportball-Soccer, Sportball-Baseball, Sportball-Golf. At each camp, they work with all kinds of balls, but focus on one type of ball over the week's time. Tonight they used tennis balls, slightly larger balls, a tether ball to practice running and jumping over and around it, and of course most of the time was spent on playing soccer. They learned to properly kick the ball, stop it with their foot, and dribble.... and they were never allowed to touch it with their hands:).

There are 5 boys and 4 girls in the class. The soccer class apparently is the most popular thanks to Dora the Explorer, who apparently plays soccer. I am sure if Dora starts playing golf or some other sport, those camps will be more crowded too!

Parents were not invited:(, which I hadn't anticipated, so I didn't bring anything to read or do. I *was* able to peek thru the windows and take a couple of photos which turned out very dark. At the end of the camp, there will be a soccer game between parents and kids. Ha.....

Swimming and Gymnastics.....

We switched our swimming lessons to a new location called USA Swim Kids in Mesa. It is a smaller facility geared more towards kids 5 and under. They also do "brain development" at the same time as the physical development. For example, in swimming lessons, they practice counting with floating blocks while they are swimming. They also have a big play area for when we are waiting in between classes. The other facility will be better for gymnastics as Jasmine gets older. We also changed it to a Friday night so that Saturday mornings can be more free to do other things. Last night after swimming, we went to Wildflower Bread Company for dinner, then Changing Hands bookstore right next door. They have all kinds of toys for kids. I told Jazzy that we were looking for a birthday present for Justin and Jade... which is true... but we are also looking for her birthday present too. She went crazy in there and didn't want to leave!!

Today, I got to go to a Pilates/Dance class taught by an extremely funny instructor. An "older" lady, maybe 60 or so who is a dance instructor somewhere in Scottsdale. The whole class was done to Michael Jackson music and his dance steps. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow!

It's been 110-112 degrees this entire week!!!


Swimming
Waiting for gymnastics
Gymnastics