Project 52-Week 26: Zoo Camp

Nik is attending camp at the Brookfield Zoo this week. This is his third year at Zoo Camp.

69th Layout of 2010-Around the Park

Disney's Hollywood Studio

68th Layout of 2010-Fantasmic!

67th Layout of 2010-Block Party Bash

Parade at Disney's Hollywood Studios

66th Layout of 2010-Streets of America

Project 52-Week 25: Sycamore Speedway

64th & 65th Layouts of 2010-Magic of Animation

63rd Layout of 2010-Fantasmic Flowers

62nd Layout of 2010-For the Biggest Thirst

60th & 61st Layout of 2010-MuppetVision 3D

59th Layout of 2010-Lights, Motors, Action!

The extreme stunt show and Disney's Hollywood Studios

56th, 57th and 58th Layouts of 2010

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Pixar Place


Toy Story Mania queue


Toy Story Mania

55th Layout of 2010-Great Movie Ride

54th Layout of 2010-Droids

Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios

52nd & 53rd Layout of 2010-Backlot Tour

Project 52-Week 24: Trip to the Zoo

More zoo pictures coming soon.

51st Layout of 2010-Starring In

Posing in front of Mickey's hat at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

50th Layout of 2010-Where Action Takes Center Stage

Around the entrance to Disney's Hollywood Studios

49th Layout of 2010-Downtown Disney

48th Layout of 2010-Lots and Lots of Ketchup

Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe in Wilderness Lodge

47th Layout of 2010-Beaches & Cream

Lunch at Beaches and Cream

46th Layout of 2010-Prehistoric Friends

It was great to meet up with friends at the T-Rex cafe in Downtown Disney.

44th & 45th Layout of 2009 Winter Summerland Mini Golf

Winter side

Summer side

43rd Layout of 2010-Simple Pleasures

Epcot area resorts

42nd Layout of 2010-Getting There

Pictures from the airplane and Orlando airport

41st Layout of 2010-Flavors of Epcot

Summertime and the livin' easy-NOT

Today starts the beginning of summer bridge work for Nik. For the past couple of months I have been bombarded with articles and commercials telling me that children can lose up to 40% of what they have learned in school over the summer. Thanks for the guilt, Sylvin.

So I gear up for the challenge--bridge workbook, spelling word lists, lots of book options for 300 minutes of reading each month. Hoping that come the first day of school, he will be ready. Knowing that it will be a fight every week to get him to do these tasks.

Here are the two major issues I have with it all:

First, as we review and read all summer, I know that not every parent in Nik's school will be called to action. So when school starts in the fall there will still be a great need for review. A friend with adult children recently told me that she paid her kids $1 a page for each workbook page they did over the summer. She saw it as a great investment because she rarely had to help them with the homework during the school year.

Second, if educators have all this scientific data about knowledge lost over the summer, why isn't there a bigger push for year-round school? I'm not scientist, but it seems obvious that if you lessen the duration of the break time, you lessen the percentage of loss.

The current school calendar is antiquated, created at a time when there were a lot more farmers and children were needed in the summer to help out on the family farm. If rural areas want to keep this calendar, that is fine, but here in the suburbs where employment for parents is the norm, a year-round school year seems more practical. My husband reminds me that we live in a time of yearly budget cuts for schools, where school staff don't know at the end of the year whether or not they will be returning in the fall.

I, for one, would be in full support of a tax increase for schools if it meant year-round school and a more efficient education for our children.

40th Layout of 2010-IllumiNations at Epcot

39th Layout of 2010-Mexico Pavilion at Epcot

38th Layout of 2009-Norway Pavilion in Epcot

37th Layout of 2010-China Pavilion at Epcot

Project 52-Week 22: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Each year the library kicks off their summer reading program with a play based on a popular children's book.

36th Layout of 2010-Germay Pavilion at Epcot

35th Layout of 2010-Italy Pavilion at Epcot

34th Layout of 2010-Japan Pavilion at Epcot