S.K.I.P. To A Great Start...

I mentioned this in my last entry, but wanted to explain it a bit. The S.K.I.P. program is the BEST thing ever!!!!!!!! I seriously can't emphasize enough how much we all LOVE it!! Are you feeling my excitement and sincerity? I heard about it from another mom during story time at our local library. SKIP is a city funded program for any child not yet in school, 0-5 years old. Once you have joined, they mail you a monthly schedule of events and information packet. There are about 2-3 activities a week, and at least one is 'playgroup'. Anna refers to playgroup as her "school" because it meets in a classroom in an early elementary school building. They have sensory stations and crafts set up, and many educational toys. Even with all the different, new toys, Anna plays with the doll house almost the ENTIRE time. It is a rare occurrence for me to get her to do one of the stations, or play with anything else. So, it's an hour long from 10-11am, with two supervising teachers, and they end it with a clean up song, a story, and a song/dance. Short and sweet. And there is a very good turn out every time, so we're meeting lots of new people. Yay!

Benjamin doesn't normally go places in his pajamas (he has standards people :), but this was an evening play group. We hadn't ever attended one of SKIP's evening events, but Ethan was busy studying for finals and I thought it'd be a fun end to an incredibly long day. It was from 6:30 - 7:30 pm, and in case you weren't aware of what great sleepers I have, Ben goes to bed at 7pm - hence the pajamas. He zonked out on the short drive home. I had to include the first picture of him so you could get a good view of Ben-Ben in all of his triple chinned glory. Seriously, we make the chubbiest, squishiest, cheekiest babies ever. I know, I know, we're blessed. :-) And don't worry, we do not take it for granted. We squeeze and smooch them often.

So in addition to the usual playgroups, SKIP plans other fun activities...and all for FREE. (That makes the program even better.) For example: the Tree Farm adventure, detailed in my previous post. Also, about once a month we go to the local gymnastics building. Not surprising, Anna loves it! There was a pumpkin patch trip in October, and tomorrow we're going to the Family Fun Center up in Birch Run. I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds fun. This has just been perfect for us - a few little activities a week to supplement our normal outings: children's museum, library, errands. I just really like having one place we go each day (it makes all the difference to me...especially during the winter months) and this program has really helped. Also, it's a good step for Anna in preparing for some sort of pre-school next year (YIKES...she's just a baby!). Anyway, hooray for fun, educational activities for my sweet little kiddies!!!