Super Food Hero?

We went to the Natural History Museum with Marina's cousin Cameron and Aunt Ann. Marina and Cameron always have a great time together.

In the Health Exhibit, we saw a little show about Super Foods. Anti Oxidant Man selected three kids from the Audience to be new Super Food Heroes. Marina raised her hand. He'd looked over in her direction when he asked for volunteers, so I wasn't surprised when she was the first one picked. She was given a leafy green cape and introduced as Spinachiever. He asked her to spin around to show off the cape. He picked the right girl for that! She was quite pleased to parade around for everyone. Later, she and Cameron had fun creating slides to look at their own cells.

After the Health exhibit, we had lunch. Then Cameron and Marina raced through the mummies and dinosaurs. They were running around so much we took them outside to a playground. Their favorite part there was a flock of "geeses" gathered nearby. The two of them had a ball running after the geese, trying to scare them. I think those poor birds probably saw them as an unnecessary annoyance. At least Marina and Cameron thought it was fun.

Oh, to be five again!

The First Day

Marina has had quite a few firsts and lasts lately.

On Friday, she had her last day at her preschool. I think I was sadder than she was. Both of us have loved that school. She had lots of friends and was loved by her teachers. One of them always called her "Princess Marina." She was the first to do that and now whenever anyone call Marina that, I think of that teacher.

Another teacher called her "Sunshine."

She seemed to be the favorite of many teachers. That got her out of outside time when she didn't want to go. And I'm sure she was the "Line Leader" more often than most.

Now she's done there ...

Monday, she had her first day at her "new school." She's been saying she wants to go there for a month. For those first two days, she had kindergarten enrichment and the after school club.

It's been a little nerve-wracking for me. At her preschool I knew all of her teachers and felt very comfortable with them. Now I'm turning her over to a group of strangers.

But when I picked Marina up she seemed happy. In fact, she asked to "play a little longer."

Today, was her first day of kindergarten classes. By now, she is a pro. She lined up with the other kids in her class and went inside the school. She didn't even look back at me.

I guess my baby is growing up. Sniff, sniff.

Flower Girl

Our friend Bethany got married today. It's such a happy day when people get married.

A few weeks ago, Bethany asked Marina to be her flower girl. She calls Marina "my adopted niece," since her parents have been almost like grandparents to her. Ever since then, Marina has asked nearly every day,"When is the wedding?" She's been so excited. I bought her some petals to practice dropping and she did pretty well at home.

Last night at the rehearsal she had a few things to practice. She looked so nervous as she waited her turn to walk down the aisle. We had to slow her way down since she walked even faster than normal. But she seemed to be having fun. On the second go around Joe, the pianist, decide to have some fun. He played the "Imperial March" from Star Wars as the parents entered. Everyone laughed so hard! When it was Marina's turn, he played "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. It was so perfect for her!

When Marina woke up this morning, I asked her what we were doing today. "Bethany's wedding," she responded with a big smile. She actually let me use a curling iron on her hair, despite being afraid of it. She had a long white dress with pink flowers on it. In her hair was a veil made out of a bow that had been on Bethany's wedding dress. I even applied her Disneyland makeup. She looked beautiful.

Last night we heard the groomsmen saying they were going to McDonald's for breakfast. Marina announced that's what we should do as well. While we were waiting for our food, in came Bethany and her bridesmaids, fresh from having their hair done. So we all had McDonald's together at the church. One of the bridesmaids even pulled out a blanket so Marina could have a little picnic.

Marina was very happy to watch Bethany get her makeup done and put on her dress. I think she just liked being "one of the girls." She took her basket of flower petals everywhere she went. At one point when someone moved it, she came crying to me, "It's gone!" she wailed. Fortunately I knew where it had been placed. She didn't put it down again until after the wedding.

When it came time for the procession, Marina seemed completely confident. She walked down the aisle on cue, she walked slowly and dropped petals on one side, then the other. I suppose the rest of the wedding was boring for her. But it was beautiful. The recession music was from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hilarious, yet fitting for the occasion. The wedding party called for Marina to walk out with them. Funny, that never happened in rehearsal. But Marina answered the call and did just fine with it.

She was a bit restless during pictures, but fortunately, they did hers early. Then we went over for some food at the reception. I got a plate for her and that kept her occupied for a while. From there, she deteriorated quickly. It was apparent to everyone that she was tired. She grumpy and came close to a tantrum (she didn't catch the bouquet when it was tossed). When she didn't want to blow bubbles, I knew it was time to go home, after all, she loves to blow bubbles. Once we were home, I insisted she lie down. Despite claiming she wasn't tired, she slept for nearly three hours.

Who knew being a flower girl was so tiring!

Cleaning up

So, I've been working with Marina on picking up after herself. Not an easy task. But a princess can't be a slob. Lately I've been feeling like a broken record that no one is listening to. Then I opened the refrigerator and saw this:

I don't know if it's my constant nagging or the fact that sometimes her food sits out for too long before she decides to eat it. But this is progress, isn't it?

Little Mermaid

Marina started swimming lessons three years ago. She began in the Tadpole class. Learning to swim and not just playing was a whole new concept, but she did very well and managed to pass the class. She was scheduled to take the Guppy class after that. However the kids in there were all very advanced and they intimidated her. So she was moved back into the Tadpole class. She didn't really learn anything new in that class. Probably because she was able to easily manipulate the teacher into letting her do what she wanted to do. She did have fun.

The next summer, she started in the Guppy class. She learned a lot and came close to passing. But she didn't quite pass. So this summer I optimistically signed Marina up for Guppy in the first session and then Minnow after that. However, it didn't go as I had planned. (Does it ever?) In June she was in the Guppy class. Suddenly she was afraid of putting her face anywhere near the water. She seemed afraid of a lot of things she needed to do to pass the class. So once again, Marina didn't pass Guppy.

She was signed up for Minnow. I tried to get her into a Guppy class, but was not able to do so. On the first day of the second session I let her teacher know the situation. I figured this was a disaster waiting to happen. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Two weeks later, she was doing this:



Her progress in the class was amazing to watch. She'd get excited to go to her swimming lesson and say, "I love to go underwater!" I felt like I watched each one with a stupid grin on my face.

And today, the last class, she proved how far she has come - she passed Minnow! I'm sure her teacher is a huge part of how she accomplished this. I couldn't tell her enough how happy I was with her teaching. I was especially proud of Marina for overcoming her fears and working so hard.

Happy Fourth!

We were invited to my sister's house for the Fourth of July. Marina has been excited all week. Why? She wants to have sparklers! There are always fireworks over at Aunt Ann's house, so I was sure she'd get her wish. She also got to spend some time with her cousin Cameron which always makes her happy. Along with sparkers, she found Snaps and Champagne Poppers are also fun.


And when it came time for fireworks, she loved watching them. My daughter who thinks the toilet flushing is too loud had no problem with the sound of the fireworks. Go figure!


I hope you all had a great holiday as well!

Ballet Recital

I've had Marina enrolled in ballet class for the past two years. This year, she was in Pre Ballet with Miss Shila. She's loved ballet but didn't always participate in rehearsal. However, she has always enjoyed performing for an audience. The girls had the most adorable Southern Belle costumes and they danced to "Georgia On My Mind." Marina was very excited about performing on the "Big Stage." Like last year, having a lot of people watch her didn't phase her at all.

Here's the video of the dress rehearsal, Marina is the farthest dancer on the left in the back row:




I ordered the DVD of the actual performance. Hopefully the quality will be better. :-)