OUR GOLDFISH SWIM SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

For the last few years swimming at Goldfish Swim School has been part of my family's regular weekly routine. After struggling to learn to swim through programs offered by our local parks and recreations department, my daughter excelled at Goldfish Swim School. It has been a golden experience!

She has consistently been in the pool at Goldfish Swim School every week for the last four years. Moving up from basic swimming lessons to participating in the Swim Force team my daughter loves swimming at Goldfish Swim School. So with the coronavirus pandemic closing our local Goldfish Swim School and reversing our summer travel plans turning this time into a staycation we decided to invest in putting a pool in our own backyard.

In addition to providing instruction on swimming skills, Goldfish Swim School always put an emphasis on kids learning about water safety too. As a parent that makes it nice to know that in addition to being able to swim, my daughter is also smart about being safe in the water. It provided us with confidence in getting our own pool for the family to enjoy at home.

Having graduated through all the programs at Goldfish Swim School, we didn't want my daughter to just stop swimming. As Dory says in Finding Nemo, "When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming." That seems like a good mantra during these tough coronavirus times!

So we've been having her recreate Swim Force practices, competing against her brother in races plus been having lots of fun family time swimming in our new pool. After a few months break from diving into the pool at Goldfish Swim School, jumping back into the water has brought a lot of joy to our family. Swimming is wonderful for adding exercise and entertainment into your day. Also a great way to destress from tension that may be in your life. So true with all the troubles caused by this virus that is impacting us all!

Thank you Goldfish Swim School for making swimming a cherished part of my daughter's life. We are keeping her enthusiasm for swimming alive! Hoping these tough times will pass quickly and kids will soon be back in the pool at Goldfish Swim School. We are putting our Goldfish experience to good use this summer!

SUPER HERO TRAINING

WARNER BROS HOME ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTION

We were visited by Batman for the first week of our Camp Warner Bros activities. This week's Camp Warner Bros. theme was SUPER HERO TRAINING. So we spent a day having some super fun with some of our favorite DC Comics heroes and villains.

First off my kids had a virtual encounter with Batman, who interacted with them via video. He led them through an amusing super hero training routine that included some fun games for our campers including, “Batman Says,” “Super Hero Freeze,” “Flash Memory Challenges” and more! Batman showed them what it takes to be a super hero!



Next the kids spent some time on xbox playing WB Games' LEGO DC Super Villains which actually lets your favorite comic book bad guys save the planet and rescue the heroes instead of being the troublemakers themselves. Sometimes it can be good to be bad! My son and daughter actually spent most of their time playing this game though as heroes utilizing the SHAZAM! DLC add-on level.

The SHAZAM! Movie Level Pack to LEGO DC Super Villains gives players the chance to master the powers of favorite characters based on the live action SHAZAM! film. The add-on lets you play as Billy Batson and transform into Super Hero Shazam, using his powerful abilities of flight, strength, projectiles, electric beam and more. You can also transform some of Billy's friends from kids to super heroes as well just like in the movie!

Now it was time for lunch. So we had a camp out inspired meal. I lit up the backyard fire pit and we cooked hot dogs stuck on sticks over the flames. Then we enjoyed popping a pan of Jiffy Pop over the fire. Yes they still make Jiffy Pop and you can find it at Walmart!

After lunch the campers chilled out for awhile doing some DC Comics coloring pages. Then they dove into our pool pretending to be Aquaman and Mera as they played around in the water. I joined in to be the villain squirting them with a water blaster. After drying off the campers wrapped up their Camp Warner Bros day of super hero training by watching the new animated movie LEGO DC! SHAZAM MAGIC AND MONSTERS. They were excited to watch this movie after having just played the Shazam! character in a LEGO themed video game.



In LEGO DC: SHAZAM MAGIC AND MONSTERS, 10-year-old Billy Batson shouts a single word and, with lightning bolts flashing, he transforms into Shazam!, a full-fledged adult Super Hero. It doesn’t take long for Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and the rest of the Justice League to take notice and invite the earnest do-gooder to join the team. But to become a member, Billy must reveal his true identity. While fighting off the evil Mr. Mind and Black Adam, Billy learns that he must trust others – and that nothing creates trust like helping those in need. Join the good fight with this giant-sized LEGO DC adventure!



LEGO DC: SHAZAM MAGIC AND MONSTERS is now available on digital, blu-ray and dvd. If you purchase the BLU-RAY or DVD of the movie from Best Buy using an affiliate link in this post ageekdaddy.com will receive a small commission at no additional expense to you. This dad blogger appreciates your support!

The campers had a super first week of Camp Warner Bros activities! Come back for more updates throughout the summer as our campers participate in more staycation activities and watch family friendly movies courtesy of Warner Bros Home Entertainment. Hope your family is having a super summer too!

Cranbrook Institute of Science

We didn't make any plans to go out of town for my kids Spring Break from school this year so as part of our family's stay-cation we spent some time exploring the Cranbrook Institute of Science. Located within the National Historic Landmark recognized campus of the Cranbrook Educational Community along Woodward Avenue in the suburban Detroit city of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan this science center and museum houses a collection of more than 150,000 historically and scientifically relevant items ranging from meteoroids to mastodon tusks.  It features a state-of-the-art planetarium, a space observatory, and over a dozen galleries that cover topics including archeology, anthropology, astronomy, biology, geology, and physics.

Three of the most popular displays at the Cranbook Institute of Science are a fossil cast of the "Black Beauty" T-Rex, its "Hezy" mastodon recreation & the "Steggy" statue that welcomes visitors near the entrance of the museum.

During prehistoric times following the extinction of the dinosaurs, Michigan was home to pachyderms known as Mastodons.  Compared to the more popularly known Woolly Mammoths, mastodons had shorter legs, longer bodies and were more muscular.  They had bodies similar to today's Asian elephants but with huge tusks. The remains of 300 mastodons have been found in Michigan, including 17 in Oakland County where the Cranbrook Institute of Science is located.  The facility has developed a reputation as a source of expertise on mastodons from its experience studying many of the locally discovered remnants and has several bones and tusks on display at the museum.  From examining these mastodon remains they have created a life size replica nicknamed Hezy; in tribute to Professor Jeheskel "Hezy" Shoshani, an evolutionary biologist and one of the world's leading elephant experts, who was killed by a terrorist incident while in Ethiopia in 2008. 

Walking up to this huge reproduction is impressive and makes you wonder if at some point in history may one of these beasts tromped through where your backyard is now. Hezy catches the attention of every visitor to the Cranbrook Institute of Science but it especially puts smiles on all the kids faces.  Check out the display cases surrounding Hezy which contain locally found mastodon bones and tusks which provide additional insight into these prehistoric creatures.

One of the most well preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils ever found called Black Beauty is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada near where it was excavated in 1980.  It was given this name because during fossilisation the minerals in the ground where it was found transformed the dinosaur's bones a shiny dark color.  Black Beauty is considered one of the most complete T Rex skeletons ever found.  From castings made of the original Black Beauty fossils, visitors to Cranbrook Institute of Science can get a close up view of an accurate replica of this amazing dinosaur skeleton rather than having to venture to Canada to get a peek at it.

Knowing that a multitude of local school districts were going to be off for Spring Break the same week as our visit, the museum brought in a variety of partners to provide interactive, informational activities for kids that were provided at no additional  charge to the Cranbrook Institute of Science's regular admission price.  Activities taking place during this "Spring Into Science" special event ranged from learning about bird watching to checking out a Chevy Volt.  My kids really enjoyed making some jewelry from recycled materials and learning how to paddle a kayak during our visit.

They also got a close up look at a live Sea Lamprey, called the vampire of the Great Lakes, which feeds by attaching a mouth full of teeth to a fish and draining it of its blood.  As part of this presentation by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, my kids learned how invasive plants and animals are damaging our local environment.

Additionally, Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services had a nice setup that let kids pretend to fish with a pole that had a magnet at the end of its line.  Kids could compare the laminated cardboard fish they caught to a chart listing species found in local lakes and rivers.  Plus they provided information on which fish were the safest to eat and how often it is appropriate for people to consume local fish based upon the pollution of our waterways.

Before leaving we also toured the museum's traveling exhibit gallery that is currently featuring, TUTANKHAMUN: "Wonderful Things" from the Pharaoh's Tomb, which will be on display through September 3, 2017.  It features more than 100 detailed replicas of items that archeologist Howard Carter found during his 1922 discovery and exploration of Egyptian Pharaoh King Tut's tomb.  The exhibition provided my kids with an eye opening look at how life was before way before the technological conveniences they enjoy today.  They were also spooked out a bit by some of the mummies and statues being exhibited so you may want to be conscious about the "scary factor" when considering taking children to this special exhibit.  The TUTANKHAMUN display will be replaced by one focused on CHOCOLATE in September. It promises to explore the plant, products, history, and culture of chocolate through the lenses of botany, ecology, anthropology, economics, conservation, and popular culture.

The Cranbrook Institute of Science is open Tuesday - Thursday (10 am - 5 pm) Friday/Saturday (10 am - 10 pm) and Sunday (Noon - 4 pm).  Admission until 5 pm is $13 adults/teens and children/seniors $9.50.  Friday/Saturday admission after 5 pm is $6.50 teens/adults and $5.50 seniors/children.  There is an additional charge to visit the traveling exhibit gallery (TUTANKAMUN / CHOCOLATE) and to take in a planetarium show.

My kids and I really enjoyed our visit to the Cranbrook Institute of Science. For more information about planning your own visit, please visit science.cranbrook.edu.