Thursday, March 29, 2012

We heard back!

Back during week three of our Mermaid season, the girls put together care packages to send off to sailors who were out to sea.  Heather (Samantha and McKenna's Mom) was very helpful, and was able to get our goodies and cards sent of to the USS Sterrett ship which is currently deployed.  She got in touch with me a yesterday to let me know they sent back a package!  Here is a look at what they sent...

A nice note thanking the girls for their packages:


A signed picture of the ship:


Pictures of the sailors who received our packages (with the cards the girls made):


A patch and sticker for each girl...I'll make sure to get these to all of you:

And, a ship hat and coin...very cool!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Wow!

What an amazing group of girls!  They far succeeded my expectations at the race yesterday.  Every single girl was enthused and ready to run.  And, they just kept on going until they completed the 5k! 

Go Dashing Dolphins!

Here they are just after the race:


And, it was so sweet that they all wanted to include their sisters!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Week 6, Day 2 - Last Meeting

Today was our last Mini Mermaid lesson for 2012.  We will miss these awesome girls!!


Today the girls did 20 minutes of running.  After they ran we sat down as a group and talked through how the race is going to work, and answered all of the girls questions.  They all seem very excited about race day!

We also had some time to play a couple of games.  Their favorite game over the season was the "name game", so of course we had to play that once more.  The girls take turns calling out their name, and then they do any move they like.  All the other girls then call out the same name, and then copy the move that was done. 

There is Sydney!


Katie!


McKenna!


Eden!


Samantha!


Esha!


Coach Karin!  (You see there is a benefit to being the one behind the camera, hee hee)


 Sanjana!


And Emma!


This one was to honor Zoe who is sick today...poor Zoe!  We hope she's well for Saturday!


Thanks girls for a super fun 6 week season!  We look forward to completing the 5K with you on Saturday!!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Week 6, Day 1

Today we talked about goals for race day...which is just 6 days away!  We talked about how we really shouldn't focus on "winning" the race, but rather doing our best to finish the entire 5k, eating right on race morning, drinking lots of water, feeling strong, etc. 

We also did some running today!  The girls ran 8 laps, or as many as they could until we needed to get working on journals. 

We did some journal work about race day...what their goals are, and the steps they will take to achieve those goals, as well as some of the things they are excited and nervous about.

We have just one more meeting before race day...exciting!!

Great running today, girls!







Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Week 5, Day 2 - Scavenger Hunt!

We took a break from running today...kind of.  Most of the girls still ran in between stores, but today wasn't about running, it was about having fun while re-inforcing some of our lessons.

The girls set out on a scavenger hunt in our Vons shopping center.  Here they are, ready to go...


The girls went into Vons to locate fruits & vegetables in all of the 5 various colors. 

They got a bag of goodies for their teeth at a dentist's office.  Thanks Mod Squad Dental for the goodies!

They stopped by a Chiropractor's office, and waited patiently for some stretching tips...



Then they all went in the back and learned some great stretches. 


Thanks Dr. Anderson for the great tips!

The girls discussed the menu at Sammy's, and picked out healthy meal options.

They also got to swing by Wahine Kai Shave Ice for a treasure hunt and yummy treat.


And, to complete our hunt, we all met at Laces Running Store.  They got to find some goodies hidden in the shoes, and then enjoyed a game of Foos ball.  Thanks Mike & Mike for setting us up, the girls had a great time.  And, if anyone needs any running supplies, just mention the Mini Mermaid Running Club to get 10% off at Laces. 

I hope the girls had fun today.  Now we begin our final week, and prep for the big race!  See you Sunday!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Week 5, Day 1 - The legs

Today we discussed the topic of personal strengths and how everyone has different things that they are good at.  We had a small group of just 4 girls today.  These girls were good at many things! 

Esha can twirl a hula hoop on her arm twice as many times in 30 seconds as she thought she could.


She also showed us how she can hop on one foot, and hula hoop.

Sanjana can jump rope backwards!


She also can twirl the hula hoop on her arm, and hula hoop.

Katie hopped on one foot for an entire 30 seconds...


She can also do jumping jacks and push ups.

And, Bailey zipped around the tree 8 1/2 times in 30 seconds!



She also showed us her hoop twirling skills and did sit ups. 

The girls had fun choosing activities they were good at, and estimating how many of that thing they could do in 30 seconds.  I think everyone beat their estimate every time.  We talked about all of the other things that they are good at, whether it be reading, doing math problems, etc.  They all have so many strengths.

After our estimating game the girls did a bit of work in their journal.  They wrote about 3 things that surprised them about themselves today, and 3 things that they learned about their team.  We didn't do much running today, the estimating game was their workout for today other than one warm up jog. 

Wednesday we have something fun in store...see you then!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Week 4, Day 2

Today we reviewed our nutrition talk.  We talked about how fruits and veggies provide vitamins and minerals that keep our body running and help our brains develop.  It sounds like a lot of the girls really put some effort into eating 5 fruits & vegetables each day!  We reviewed our MyPlate for those who missed Sunday, and went into more discussion about the benefits of fruits and vegetables, and the importance of eating many diferent colors of these foods.  The different colors have different functions:
  • Red - Healthy Heart
  • Orange/Yellow - Healthy Eyes
  • Green - Healthy Tummy
  • Blue/Pruple - Healthy Brain
  • White - Healthy immune system
The girls drew their own food rainbows in their journals, showing all the fruits & veggies of various colors that they like.  I was impressed with how many fruits/veggies they wanted to draw, and how in demand the only two green pencils were! 


After journals we played a short game to reinforce the various colors of the foods and their benefits.  The discs represented the various fruits, and when I yelled out a function such as "Healthy Eyes" the girls ran to grab the appropriate colored disc until each team had a full collection of healthy food choices.


After the game, it was time to run!  The goal for today was 8 laps, or two miles.  I can't believe our race is just two weeks away, this has gone by so fast!