Junior Lifeguard Camp

Levi has spent a good part of his summer attending Junior Lifeguard camp through Space Coast Youth Multi-Sports.  It has been a wonderful experience for him, full of learning, friendships, hard-work, and lots of fun on the beach.   

The kids did lots of surfing, beach games, yoga, learned about water saving and recycling, did beach clean ups, learned CPR/First aid/Lifesaving,  running, swimming and paddling.

Beautiful beach where camp takes place

The kids did a lot of surfing, one of Levi's favorite camp activities.  

They learned how to do CPR (good thing, in case Levi ever needs to save my life!)

They played fun games....

Sack race

Beach flags -  I'm not sure I'm clear on how this one is played, but from what I gather, they lay on the beach, heads go up and down and at some point they hop up and run to grab flags.  The cap Levi has on is a lifeguard cap, look a bit silly but he doesn't mind!

Here, the kids learned how to put someone on a backboard while protecting their neck.   They learned lots of rescue skills. 

Practice rescues

And of course, one of the best parts was that Levi got to hang out with a great group of kids. 

Thank you Vanessa for organizing all of this and giving Levi a great summer!

Neilson Surf Camp

Levi really wanted to go to surf camp.  He went last year to a 3 day camp right by our house, but because I had the week off, and a coupon, we chose Neilson Surf Camp instead.   Little farther away, but 5 days.   I decided to go ahead and join in instead of sitting on the beach in the sun all week.    Despite my lack of coordination, I had a great time!   Levi loved it of course, and did a great job improving his skill at paddling and standing up.  He started with a big foam top board and then worked his way down to his little custom 5" purple swirly board. 

Warming up:

On the water:

Catching a wave: 

Me!

I made cookies to bring on the last day, they all got eaten.   Recipe for vegan cut outs here

Levi hangs out with the teen girls as usual.  (they were great about putting up with him!)

We even got trophies to take home, which Levi absolutely loved.

And a fun video, Levi is in it a few times including his tandem surfing! 

Post by Neilson Surf Camp.

We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, didn't get sunburnt and no one made fun of me for being the only "old" one there.   Hope to go back again next summer!     Thanks Neilson Surf Camp! 

May Sewing

Here are some of the things I've been making recently: 

This first tank was a tester pattern, so needed a bit of tweaking with the pattern.  Levi picked out all the fabrics himself and he really likes the results even if its not my favorite!   The shorts have apple orchards on them, its cute fabric I've had forever and never used! 

This is the same tank, but I made some small adjustments to the pattern like straightening the sides and widening the binding.  Almost happy with it now, I just need to drop the neckline a bit and add another inch to the hem.   It fits him very well otherwise and is perfect for gymnastics.  I love the colors on this one too!   The shorts are a pain to make with all the binding, but his favorite type to wear to gymnastics. 

Bridge on the beach!    Levi just finished a 3-day back handspring clinic that he really enjoyed.  Hasn't quite got that handspring down but he is so very close. 

This is my favorite, in fact, I liked the design so much that I made myself a shirt with it as well.   Its from Urban Threads which always has some funky designs. 

See?  So pretty!   I also loved how this picture came out.  I think I need to take more clothing pictures on the beach! 

This was also a test pattern, and will need some small modifications as well, but overall is a good fit and he says they are very comfy for swim team.   The next challenge is to find some black swim knit before his first summer meet in 2 weeks!    (They require black suits for the kids, so I plan on making him some jammer length ones). 

 Last up is another test pattern.   This design is super cute, it has little wings!  I think the intent was for it to be batman or spider man or whatever, but I thought they looked like fins so made an angler fish design.    This pattern obviously has some flaws in the length of the neckline and sleeve ribbing, to the point where I plan on redoing those parts.  I'm not happy with the fit/shape of the shirt either, so will probably just use the wing pattern along with a trusty shirt pattern I already know works (the one I used for the blue sun shirt).   The concept is a lot of fun anyway!
The shorts I stitched up in about 15min with no pattern, they fit as intended, in a weird bubble leg sort of way, a style Levi seems to like. 

When I was making this, I originally attached the "dangly thing" to the fish's mouth only to be told by Levi to move it.  Sure enough google revealed that it does come from the fish's head!  

Sunrise

Levi, Nai Nai and I woke up early one day to see if we could view the eclipse.  Because of the clouds, we didn't really see it, but it was a beautiful sunrise!

We made this shoebox contraption to safely view the sun.

It was a little cold for Levi! 

Quick and Easy Freezer Paper Stencils

I tested a rashguard pattern for Peek-A-Boo pattern shop, and used red fabric to coordinate with the swim shorts that I tested earlier.   It came out really cute!   But after seeing it on him, I decided to add a freezer paper stencil, just to make it more fun.  Scroll down for an easy tutorial!

 

Freezer paper stencil tutorial: 

1. Choose an image to stencil.   I usually google whatever I'm looking for "silhouette" and see what comes up.  "Stencil" is also a good key word!   Or you can use a drawing of your own, or text (use a bold, clear font for easier cutting).   
2. Trace the design onto freezer paper, on the dull side.  Leave plenty of room around the design, this makes it easier later so you don't get paint where you don't want it.

   3.  Cut out the design - you can use small scissors, or an craft knife, depending on how detailed       your design is.   

4.     Line it up on your shirt, and iron it on.  If you image has more than one piece, iron down the biggest one first, then place the small detail bits and iron those too.   Go over it to get everything stuck down tight.     Make sure you use an iron setting suitable for you fabric.  For this shirt, I used a "cool" setting because swim fabric can get damaged from hot heat!   

 



 5.   Put a piece of cardboard or a few layers of paper inside the shirt under where the design is, if you forget to do this, paint can seep to the back of the shirt.

6.  Paint the design using fabric paint or screen print paint.  You can use a brush or a sponge, but I often just use my finger.   Depending on your paint and colors you are using, you may need to do more than one coat.  Its better to do a few thin coats instead of 1 thick coat.    Let this dry completely.

6.     Peel off the freezer paper and check out your design!   If you paint calls for it, iron it again to set the paint using a scrap of fabric over the design to protect it.