Aidan vs. the mountain

Our little winter sports enthusiast can now add downhill skiing to his list of outdoor activities. Last Saturday, James' employer sponsored a family ski outing at Labrador Mountain, a ski area south of Syracuse. James used to ski back in the day and while I tried downhill skiing once, I have no interest in ever trying it again. After all, I am the person who can walk across a completely level surface and still manage to trip/fall. So I went along for moral support only and was armed with a book and two knitting projects to help me while away the time.

Class did not start until noon, so James tried to teach Aidan some preliminary moves. Here he shows Aidan how to fall on his tookus:


Aidan spent a lot of time on his tookus that day.

At noon, James turned Aidan over to Shannon, a very patient and kind ski instructor. She soon had Aidan practicing how to use the tow rope, how to snowplow and how to turn. He did an excellent job of listening to her directions and not getting frustrated. After a quick lunch, he went back out to work with Shannon some more before she took him to the top of the mountain.

Here they are getting on the chair lift:


Shannon had some last minute advice for Aidan:


And here he is skiing, with Shannon leading and James following (and taking photos):


Hooray for Aidan! After thanking Shannon at the bottom of the mountain, he and James went on two more trips up and down. While the 40+ temps made it pleasant to be outdoors, it made for less than ideal conditions but at least I knew the slush would slow him down.

As we drove back home, he asked "Can we go again tomorrow?"

Go bananas for reading

I chaired the PARP program this year at Aidan’s school. PARP stands for Parents As Reading Partners but really includes all adults who play an important role in a child’s life, such as grandparents, guardians, and caregivers. The children are challenged to read with an adult for a specific number of minutes over a three week period and record those minutes.

The principal and I chose the theme of Reading Safari - Go Bananas for Reading! All during the three week program we had special activities that related to the theme, and we had guest readers from the community for each class. The students each received an animal-themed bookmark at the beginning and a treat each week - ice cream, popcorn (we called it "PARPcorn") and bananas.

The overall school goal was 93,000 minutes and I am proud to say that they read 170,000 minutes! Their reward for meeting the goal was a visit from the zoo at Wednesday's morning meeting; they saw two boa constrictors, two skinks and an owl. I had the best time watching the students’ faces as they saw the animals, and the rep from the zoo was amazing in the way she interacted with the students. When the owl pooped as she walked it around, she didn't miss a beat and talked about "what goes in, must come out". I think the owl scat may have been the highlight of the presentation for many of the students!

Prizes were awarded to the two top readers in each class plus one honorable mention chosen by the teacher. After the morning meeting, I distributed the prizes (books bags with lanyards and library card holders) and books for each student, chosen by the teachers but purchased by the PTA.

Several parents told me the next day how much their children liked the zoo presentation and this year's PARP program. Of course there was one woman who made a point to tell me that she didn't like the book her daughter received; there is always one, isn't there? I am relieved that it is now over, but I had fun coordinating it and working with both the principal and the school librarian.