Rebekah's Summer Plans

Rebekah is growing up! This summer, Rebekah will be taking ballet, gymnastics and swim lessons! I hesitate to admit my cheating here, but I'll be honest. Judge me if you want, I think my reasoning is justified. : p

So, the ballet class is ages 3-5, and the swimming flyer says "about 4 years" for the youngest age group that takes lessons without a parent in the pool. Gymnastics without a parent participating is 4 years old. I can't participate unless I get a babysitter for Josiah, and I don't like getting a babysitter pretty much ever. That being said, Rebekah will be among the younger children of her school year. Her birthday is such that children who are already 4 will be in the same class as her when she starts school - so, kids in these "age 4" classes during the summer are Rebekah's peer group. Her friend Heather who lives down the street had a birthday just 3 weeks ago. Rebekah is definitely just as mature and physically able as Heather, and Heather is old enough for these classes, so I decided that Rebekah is also old enough for these classes. That being said: I fudged her birthday on the papers so that I could get her into these classes.

The city has Swim Lessons set up like this: Daily lessons M-F for 2 week sessions at various pools across the city. Thanks to Tucson Police Department, The Red Cross is offering lessons at city pools for only $2/session! When I registered Rebekah for her classes, though, it was a little late and I could only sign her up for sessions 3 and 4. For sessions 1 and 2 I'm on the "wait list." The tricky part is that none of the sessions are set up by pool; the sign up is for the entire city, and you have to later go to the pool of your choice and sign up directly with them, listing your top 3 pools for where you'd LIKE to have your lessons. I can see how they're trying to share the lessons across the city, but it's also annoying to think I might be asked to go to a pool not near my home. :/ So, since I'm on the wait list for the first two sessions, I just need to go to the pool I want to have lessons at during their walk-in sign up days and get in that way, since there's no promise for who gets what pool. If I can't get her into lessons at the pool I want for the first 2 sessions, I might just take her to the other pool nearby, which is a county pool.

The county pool is offering lessons in 2 week sessions that run M-R, and charging $20. But, it's so close that I feel like I will not actually lose too much money, considering if I don't get in the city pool I want, I'd have to drive pretty far to get to another city pool for lessons!

So, Rebekah's summer schedule will basically be swim M-F (time TBD), and Ballet and Gymnastics on Wednesdays.

Originally, I didn't want to put Ballet and Gym on the same day, but the closest building that offers the classes is pretty far from us. I wanted to cut back on gas, so I needed to only make the drive out there once a week. Ballet is at 10am, and Gym is at 2pm. I wish they were closer together, but I figured that the building is on the same property as a very large park and the Tucson Zoo, so we can have a picnic lunch every Wednesday!

... Yeah, I know it's going to be disgustingly hot. : / This week I'm going to scope out spots and see if there's somewhere indoors we can hang out and eat our lunch. If not, we do have a friend who lives relatively nearby, so we're going to drop in and visit them each week, I think. We'll see how it goes!

Also, I know that Rebekah might be exhausted, so I need to make sure I remember to have the stroller with me so that she can nap in the stroller if need be. It's going to be interesting!

Which brings me to the shopping I talked about in the other post: We bought Rebekah some leotards - short sleeve, one pink and one black. And some footless tights - black and white, I think. I wasn't going to get the tights (it says barefoot or ballet slippers only for Ballet) but decided on the footless ones because I didn't know if she'd be allowed to wear shorts with her leotard - Daryn mentioned that in ballet they need to see their hips pretty well, though that's probably not as crucial for 4 year olds. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to dance. I probably should have called my friend Ashley before I bought anything! She has 2 of her little girls in dance, and she's a dancer herself. Come to think of it, I have a ton of friends who danced growing up and I totally should have given someone a call. Ah well. I still have a receipt and we'll find out on Wednesday if I made a good decision! :P

I will say, though: We were at Wal-mart and it was clear that the display was specifically for dance classes: They had the leotards (short sleeve, long sleeve and sleeveless), footless and footed tights, simple skirts with a little rosette on the front, slippers... all of it in pink, black and white. I was VERY tempted to get Bekah a skirt, but figured it was unnecessary and shouldn't waste the money - yet. ;)

Rebekah overheard me talking on the phone to get her registered for ballet, and when I got off the phone she asked if it was time to go to her ballet class. So cute! I hope she stays as excited as she is for this summer. I hope it all goes well. She's such a bright girl and I love the joy on her face when she learns new things. I'm looking forward to a fun summer!

Oh, in addition to Rebekah's classes, my friend and I split the cost of purchasing a Zoo Pass for the summer. Since Daryn now has Fridays off, we went to the Zoo as just our family for the first time ever this last month! (Yes I have pictures... to come another night) Anyway, I look forward to planning some fun outings for us on Fridays with Daddy. In fact, I think I need to make a list! Do you have suggestions for us - fun things to do in the Tucson area (or Phoenix area) with toddlers? We will definitely be headed to Brandi Fenton more than once, and Jacob's Park pool is open this summer, I hear that one is fun! Daryn's already talked about going up Mt Lemmon for some picnics. What else shall we do?

This fall: My baby's first soccer season! Daryn and I have talked about this day since before I was ever pregnant. <3