Happy Birthday Kylie! Twelve years sure has gone by quickly! There have been a lot of ups and downs over these years and you have grown and changed and adapted through it all. Now when I look at you I see the beautiful young woman you are becoming, but I still see my little girl too. I am so proud of everything you have accomplished over these last twelve years; academically you have grown and completed half of your primary education, working hard to overcome each obstacle that has come before you; personally you have persisted with ballet and are developing a talent for competing in the pool. I can’t wait to see what the next years have in store for you! I hope that you continue to grow and chase your dreams! Know that no matter where those dreams may lead, that I will always be here for you. I love you Kylie. Happy Birthday!
Category Archives: Kylie
Ballet Recital Night
I look forward to this night every year. I don’t go to many concerts, and I would rather spend money to go see a cultural event such as a play or musical, but no matter how good those shows are, none of them are as great as seeing Kylie up on stage performing her dance. Seeing how much she has learned and improved over the years is very enjoyable. This year was no exception. I am very proud of all the hard work Kylie has put in to learning her routine and getting the moves right. I am already looking forward to seeing what next year will bring. She is already learning pointe, so hopefully next year she will be able to perform that for the recital! The yearly visit to Stroh’s was also, as usual, delicious.
Stomp!
In the early 1990’s I was made aware of a percussion show like no other that I would follow off an on via television performances, and later video clips online, for over twenty years. The infusion of percussion, dance, and even comedy made it an ever-present member of my mental list of theatrical events that I hoped to someday see. That show is Stomp, 
and today that 20+ year-long item has been removed from the list! Today Melissa, Kylie, and I all went out to the Wharton Center and watched an amazing show like none other I have ever seen. The interaction with the audience and the comedy that stemmed from it is something that I completely did not expect, and added to the enjoy-ability of the show immensely. I am overjoyed that I was able to see this show, and even more so that it was so enjoyable for Melissa and Kylie as well. The Wharton Center is rapidly becoming one of my favorite venues as well because there is basically not a bad seat in the house. I highly recommend both the venue and this show to anyone that has the opportunity to partake in either.
Parent-Teacher Conference
Today was the second parent teacher conference of 6th grade (we missed the first one), and on the surface it went really well. Kylie is currently receiving A’s and B’s (in fact she is receiving one B, the rest are all A’s). This includes an A in math, which we are very happy with. However, after a deeper conversation with her math teacher it turns out that Kylie is still struggling with math more than we realized. Her teacher indicated that the only reason she is receiving an A is because she turns in her homework and is allowed re-takes on her tests. He can tell Kylie is trying very hard, but she is not fully grasping the concepts on her first tests, however once she sees where she went wrong she does well enough on the retakes to maintain her grade. As such we are going to boost her tutoring back up to weekly instead of twice a month as it currently sits. We want to make sure she gets as much practice and assistance as she needs to help her be successful. With pre-algebra coming around the corner, we need to get ahead of it as much as possible. All things considered Kylie is doing really well and we are very proud of her. We will continue to work with her, her teachers, and tutor to make sure she has the best support network to help ensure her success.
My First Trip to the DIA
Today we joined our friends Alex and Nicole at the Detroit Institute of Arts to view their Dia De Los Muertos exhibit. Despite living in the area for over 16 years now, this was my first trip to the DIA. In all truthfulness it’s because I am typically not interested in most art museums, if I am going to go to a museum I would rather go to a Natural History museum. That being said, the DIA might have changed that. I really enjoyed the Dia De Los Muertos exhibit and the rest of the exhibits that were on display. Considering we now live in the county and part of our taxes go towards the museum and afford us free access, I think we will try to work in a visit on a more regular basis, meaning more than once every 16 years! Melissa and Kylie also both really enjoyed the visit and, I think, if we were to have gone on our own we would have stayed longer than we actually did. However, we decided to leave when Alex and Nicole did so we could to their house for some lunch and let the kids hang out and do other activities. I am looking forward to when we next have an opportunity to go back to the DIA.
A Grey Company Picnic
Today was the annual Secure-24 Company Picnic, and this year we had it at Heritage Park in Farmington Hills. It was the first time we have had it at this location and it was a nice change. I feel like this location was more family friendly in terms of the playground for the kids. I know Kylie enjoyed this park over the previous ones. Additionally there was more shade available at this location than at the previous sites. Though we didn’t have much need for shade most of the day due to the light rain in the morning and then the general overcast later in the day. Despite the weather not being the greatest it was still a very nice day and as the weather broke the turnout increased, though it was still less than previous years. I have no doubt that if the weather had been nicer there would have been more people in attendance. I think my favorite moment was watching Kylie participate in the watermelon eating contest! I hope they have the picnic here again next year and that the weather is better. Regardless, I think I will be back in the spring to explore more as there are hiking trails and other activities available.
The Start of Middle School
My oh my how time does fly! Today was Kylie’s first day of 6th grade! That means that in just a few short months she will complete her primary education! I am honestly not sure how we got here so fast! It seems like only yesterday I was dropping her off at daycare, and now she is in middle school. I am looking forward to watching her continue her swimming and am hopefully that she will try out for the school team (as it is one of the only sports the 6th graders are allowed to participate in) but know that she will at least continue with the club team if she passes on the school team. Academically, I am hopeful that she continues her progress and, more specifically, I am hoping that math no longer causes her so much trouble. We will continue her tutoring once a month to help ensure this as well. Here’s looking forward to another great year!
More Camping Fun
The summer of camping continued this week as we spent the last few days with our great friends Alex, Nicole, and Kira camping at the Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area. This is the same area that we camped at last year for a short weekend and what spurred all of this years, and hopefully many more years’, camping trips. It was a good five days of canoeing, fishing, swimming, and general camp fun! The weather wasn’t as hot as our time in Jellystone last month, but I contribute the vast amount of trees here to helping with keeping the temperatures much more comfortable. We did have a persistent raccoon visitor this year that made the evenings a little more adventurous. This little guy, on more than one occasion, came right up to our table while we were sitting by the fire. It eventually became a fun little game for us to try to enjoy our adult conversations and still watch for his approach so we could shew him away before he got too near. I think we are all already looking forward to next year’s trip!
I’m smarter than the av-er-age bear!
What a great adventure we have just returned from! This past week we took a camping trip out west and stayed in South Haven at Jellystone Park with our friends Alex, Nicole, and Kira. Overall it was a really good. The camp itself is geared towards families with children, so there were a lot of activities for the kids to participate in (along with the parents too). Some of these activities included fire engine truck rides, breakfast events, swimming pool games, and gem mining. Many of the events included Yogi Bear and his friends. In addition to the campground itself we got to go explore the city of South Haven, and swim in Lake Michigan! Kylie really enjoyed swimming in the Great Lake and has set a goal for herself of swimming in all of them, which I think is an awesome idea and have added that to my bucket list as well! The only down side of the campground was that it is relatively new. Now this doesn’t seem like it would be an issue, however, the area where the camp is constructed used to be open fields, so all of the trees were also recently planted, which means they are still relatively young and short so they didn’t supply much shade. As such the already hot July weather was magnified by the lack of places to find shade and we found ourselves spending a good amount of time in the little restaurant or camp store for no other reason than to enjoy some air conditioning and try to cool down. The heat led to some issues as we were irritable and uncomfortable, but for the most part things went well. While I believe we will visit South Haven again in the future, I do not believe we will revisit Jellystone, as far as camping goes it was expensive compared to other parks due to its commercial appeal, but we wanted the kids to have the experience of the themed park. Next time we will either stay at a hotel or find a state park to camp at. In any event, it was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to our next camping trip which is planned for next month!
Happy Eleventh Birthday
Happy eleventh birthday Kylie! Today is the first birthday in the past few years that you are not spending with me, but that’s because you will be with me next week! Today you will be spending the day with Mommy, and I am sure she has something fun planned for you. You have a busy year coming up, as you enter middle school it will be the first time in your school career that you move to a new building. Though it is just across the parking lot, it’s going to be a big change. As you said yourself you’re going from “being the big kid, to being the youngest in the building again.” We know that you will do great though! Hopefully this next year will be your best one yet!