Sophie becomes an avid basketball fan, the girls head out to the Mother / Daughter Tea and Gracie, Dominick and I solve a problem with a broken tree branch!
Basketball
Gracie and Dominick both had games this week. Both played well and are getting more comfortable out there!
However, what was really notable this week was that I had a companion at the games! Sophie came with me to both Dominick & Gracie’s game! She was really good and a lot of fun! We even sat high up on the unopened bleachers the one time.
Sophie especially liked how I was showing her (by controlling her arms) how to rebound, line up the shot and shoot. Funny to hear he say “grab the rebound, line it up and shoot the ball!” I do the whole goose-neck follow through when I say “Shoot the ball” and it really makes her giggle!
Mother Daughter Tea
The girls (Melani, Gracie and Annie) had some time together at the Mother / Daughter Tea this weekend. I really like that the school hosts these events and am very grateful for those involved in planning and putting the whole thing together (but I do wish they were a little more traditional and conducive to conversations). They all seemed to have an enjoyable time getting dressed up and participating in all the activities.
Storm Damage
One of the trees that is actually in the neighbors backyard – but with branches overhanging into our yard – sustained some serious damage during a storm we had last month. So we had a bunch of branches fall right next to the kids’ playground area.
What was more troublesome, however, was that fact that there was a large branch that had broken off the tree and was tangled up in some of the other branches. I was worried that it would eventually fall – and might do so when the kids were playing back there in the playground area.
So Gracie, Dominick and I set out to solve the problem. We got some rope, spring-links, threaded quick-links and metal rings to weight the one end of the rope and proceeded to try to throw it up there in hopes of getting it to snag on the branch so we could pull it down. Easier said than done – seeing how the branch was a good 25 – 30 feet up there and there were plenty of other branches in the way (both on the ground and up in the tree).
It was a beautiful day to be outside (over 60 degrees) and a great opportunity to teach the kids some problem solving skills and about persistence! We experimented with using a lacrosse stick to launch the weighted end up there, winding rope around the metal weights – so it would come back down and we would have both ends to pull on, and swinging it up and over the branches.
Eventually we started to meet with some success in getting clean shots at the broken branch. Finally, we got our weighted end to catch on the branch, we yanked hard, and suddenly the branch slipped free and came crashing down to the ground!
We all had a good time working together to solve the problem – and I’m glad it took some changes in strategy and persistence. One of the two is a little too accustomed to things coming easily to her…um I mean THEM, and definitely needs to develop a little more persistence and determination in the face of frustration and failure. I really hope she, er I mean THEY, learned that a little the other day!
Miscellaneous
Yes – the gratuitous Sophie shot!
It’s fascinating what goes through this little girl’s mind and the things she does. She is DEFINITELY blazing her own path through life!
I was so proud of Gracie for putting the following video montage together – with no help from me! (It’s only 1 minute – so please give it a watch and some love!) She is really gaining a lot of computer skills & proficiency – and I’m sure she will be helping me even more in near future with my blogging and YouTube endeavors! She even took all the pictures herself! Way to go Gracie! Very artistic!
Sincerely,
