A Winning Olympics Children's Book

Olympics Kid's Book

My children are finally big enough to understand and enjoy the Olympic Games so we are a tad Olympics-crazy at our house, as you'll see from posts over the next few weeks.

As with all our family activities, I first searched for an Olympics children's book to read with my children and learn about the Games.

Truth be told, I emailed Sleeping Bear Press and begged politely requested to review any Olympics related books they've published.

A week later G is for Gold Medal: An Olympic Alphabet arrived at my door. And boy, are we glad it did!!

G is for Gold Medal is formatted in classic Sleeping Bear Press alphabet book style: all of the letters are represented in rhyming couplet, each page has a side bar with further information related to the poem, while the illustrations contain bright colors and active scenes.

"U" is one of my favorite pages. The text says,

"U is for an underdog,
so unbelievably bold,
and an unexpected upset
to win Olympic gold."

The sidebar tells the miracle story of 1980 when a group of college-aged amateurs went up against the Soviet team, who had beaten National Hockey League all-stars the year before. Amazingly the American underdogs won the gold medal!

One of the things I love about the Olympics is that you never know what will happen! You never know which athlete's story of hard work and perseverance will shine as bright as the the gold medal he or she wins. 

G is for Gold Medal does an outstanding job of highlighting those personal stories and teaching kids (and parents, too!) Olympic history.

Another of my favorite pages is "L." The poem states,

"A long run starts letter L, 

then a launch, a leap, a landing.

A little gymnast with a large heart.

A gold medal! Outstanding!"

The sidebar tells of Mary Lou Retton who scored a perfect 10 in the 1984 Olympics. In 1984, a 9 year old little girl watched Mary Lou cartwheel her way into the history books. To me, that grow-up little girl, her name is synonymous with the Olympics!

So when I turned the page to "L" and saw Mary Lou on the balance beam wearing the quintessential American leotard I couldn't help smiling. And something deep in my heart longed to join my 5 year old daughter in the gym doing cartwheels and balance beam routines.

Ellie works with Coach Hanna (an Olympic gymnast!) at RISE gymnastics.

I'm sure we will read G is for Gold Medal several times between now and the Olympic closing ceremonies in August. I HIGHLY recommend you read the book also!

What is your favorite Olympic event? Did you dream of going to the Olympics as an athlete?

Disclosure: Thanks to Sleeping Bear Press for providing a copy of G is for Gold Medal for my review! All opinions regarding the book are my own and were not influenced by receiving a review copy.

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Menu Plan Monday :: July 16, 2012

I'm sitting at my table with my calendar, my menu plan, and my computer. I think this Summer O' Fun just might kill me from exhaustion! Seriously.

Sunday to Saturday my calendar tells me I will: attend to blogger events, drive my kids to gymnastics twice, enjoy a date with my husband, and attend 2 kids' birthday parties.

If ever there was a week for take-out it's gonna be THIS one! But, the eating out budget has run dry for this month so I've gotta make the best of things.

This week we'll be eating:

Lemon Pepper Salmon, Broccoli and Carrots, Rice

Ham and Vegetable Stir-fry, Rice

Balsamic Vegetable Stir-fry with Grilled Chicken, Rice

Homemade Pizza and Fruit

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

What are you eating this week?

Recent menu plans:

• July 9, 2012
• June 25, 2012
• June 18, 2012
• June 11, 2012

 

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Our Visit to Stone Zoo for Free Fun Friday

It's summer time and we are all about having fun! Whether we're at home, with friends, or on an outing our family is determined to make 2012 the best summer EVER!

To help families in New England maximize their summer fun Highland Street Foundation gave a BUNCH of organizations grants to participate in their Free Fun Fridays program.

These Free Fun Fridays register high on our summer fun checklist. So high, in fact, that my husband scheduled vacation days for most of the Fridays in July and August!

Out of 5 participating kid friendly organizations on the Fun Friday list, we chose to visit Stone Zoo on July 6. Our family LOVES zoos! Even before having children we had a membership at our local RI zoo; that's how much we love them.

Ellie was excited to take a day trip to Stone Zoo!

So Friday morning we packed our picnic lunch, water bottles, and sunscreen and drove to Stone Zoo. For us in Rhode Island the trip took about 1.5 hours. Parking was insane! We ended up parked on the side of the very busy road that leads to the zoo.

The bear entertained us.

The crowd inside the zoo was also insane! Stone Zoo is a very small zoo so the volume of people taking advantage of free admission completely overwhelmed the space. So many groups of kids (day camps and day cares) made viewing the animals difficult.

Even though it was crazy and packed with people I'm glad we attended Free Fun Friday at Stone Zoo. We made a fun family memory and we learned that Stone Zoo is too small to be worth the drive for us.

Don't get me wrong! It's not a bad zoo. We enjoyed watching 2 bears, a leopard, and a panther. But, it is quite a distance from our home compared to the zoo that's 15 minutes from our house.

We're looking forward to attending other Free Fun Friday events this summer. If you're in New England during July or August, you should check the events list! Maybe we'll see you at one of them.


What is your favorite zoo to visit?

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