First Full Week at Bright Horizons

Selling goodies at the Bake Sale - fundraiser for Relay for Life

To say that Ellie has adjusted to her new Summer Program would be an understatement.  She has had a full week of activities and new friends.  I shared on Monday they decorated aprons in a week-long restaurant project and on Tuesday she attended State Farm Camp for incoming Second Graders only.  On Wednesday she asked me if she could be in the 'other' school-ager room at Bright Horizons (BH) because that's where the 2nd graders were ... so to understand more I asked at drop-off about the room differences.

Miss Amy, the Assistant Director told me that they placed Ellie in the younger, smaller group to acclimate her (incoming kindergardener's and incoming first grader's).  I asked Miss Amy if Ellie could try to the other room as she'd asked me the night before.  "Of course she can," she said, "it is larger with 20 kids and two team teachers."  So we gave it a shot.

Wednesday they had a Cupcake Decorating Contest at BH in the morning and a field trip to a local restaurant, Baxter's where they had a tour of the kitchen, in their new 'chef-in-training' shirt and white chef hat provided by Baxter's where they made pizzas for lunch!  This is the restaurant we took Papa and Grammy to on their visit to Bloomington last fall.

Thursday we confirmed that Ellie would prefer to stay in this larger room at BH.  She'd shared with us that she loved the new class where she had made LOTS of new friends.  And when Bill shared her preference with Miss Amy, she said, "We didn't want to overwhelm her with a large group of kids at once, but she's not shy at all.  She fit right in!"

The field trip on Thursday was to the local Martial Arts studio where they learned a couple moves and watched the instructors break wood with their hands.  They also assisted with baking treats for a Bake Sale on Friday.

Finally Friday.  Whew!  The activity was the Iron Stomach Challenge.  I was somewhat fearful what this might entail.  Fear no more.  Ellie shared that the challenge was just trying new foods - she loved it!  They tried hummus, avocado, mushrooms, ugly fruit and sauerkraut!  What a great idea - and she loved everything but the sauerkraut!  Go figure!

The day ended with us picking her up together so we could attend the Bake Sale.  As we walked in guess who was behind the table selling the goodies?  She sat with her new friends, Reagan and Caleb.  We bought wonderful snickerdoodles, rice crispie treats and a glass jar layered with all the ingredients for brownies!  The best part was Ellie making change.  When Bill handed her $6 for a $5.50 total, she knew without being told to give him two quarters back.  Just for a moment it reminded me of my bakery days - packaging sweet treats and making change behind the counter.

It was a sweet end to a wonderful week!