Graduating and Leaving School in Style!

School has been out for weeks now. In fact, we are over halfway done with the summer. (Say it ain't so. I am NOT ready to give back any kids yet. Luckily, I still have a month.) But I still have a few posts to wrap up from school. That is how we roll around here. Get to the posts when you can. And at least I got CA on here right away.

A while back I put a lot of school posts all together. At the very end, I mentioned that Pearl had a kindergarten program, but I didn't have any pictures. I sure thought that was weird. As a mom, it is your designated roll to take videos/photos of your child at school. I know this because have you ever seen the gym lined with parents and their phones, recording away. Who is even going to look at those pictures again? But they dutifully take them. Me too. (Well, I put mine on the blog so I feel they are seen again, and I'm sure many make it to FB, but there are a ton that just sink into the archives of forgotten photos.) So, I found it strange that an event like a program would go by without any pictures.

The Kindergarten program is one of the most well-attended events. It is CRAZY TOWN in there. The teachers know this and they specifically ask you to leave other children at home. We dutifully left our brood back at our place and took Pearl in all her Kindergarten glory. I planned on meeting Tyler at the school, and I knew he would have his phone, so I left MINE with the kids. It wasn't until later that I realized that all the pictures from that night were on Tyler's phone. (He actually has lots of fun photos that aren't on the blog because I forget about them. Look forward to a post on dumping Raging Stallion's phone.) In the meantime, I was psyched to find that I am not a complete failure as a mother. I mean, I was glad we got some pictures.

However, you probably won't be very impressed. See, we were sitting farther back and it is hard to take pictures between people. This was the best we got of Pearl. (She is still super cute.)

Then we resorted to taking weird selfies to entertain ourselves. (We never claimed to be very mature.)

Jonny was kind enough to save us some seats in the madness. We rewarded him by taking pictures of him without his knowing. (We are such great friends.)

So, you weren't missing much. The program was fun, but I was glad to get outside at the end. Many kids had their Kindergarten graduations the same evening, but not Pearl. Her teacher wanted everyone to come in again the next day. (As if it is super easy for dads to take off work whenever they want.) I did get a picture of Pearl in her cute patriotic colors.

The next day, we were back. I was there anyway, since it happened to be the day Robyn graduated. I went right from a rowdy group of sixth graders to an exuberant group of littles. They are so cute in their caps and gowns.

They practiced for a minute or two and then it was go time. They all left and then came walking back into the room. (This is an important process so you can see that they all learned to walk in a line during the year.) I caught a picture of Pearl as she was coming in.

They sang songs which was a little weird since they had done all of this the night before. But you just go with it and smile. At the end, they each received their diploma and they stood for pictures. Congrats Pearl. As your reward you now have to go to school the whole day for 12 more years.

There was a cute slideshow at the end and we each received a copy to take home. (I was going to put some pictures on here, but I have no idea where I put it. Typical.) It was fun to share Pearl's big day.

And then school ended. Kindergartners got out a day earlier than the rest. Last year I took pictures of the kids with their teachers (and blogged about it promptly) and I really liked that, so I tried again this year. This year was the weirdest for teachers, so I did the best I could. Let's start with the oldest.

JUNE: She was in Jr. High, so she had a lot of teachers. I told her to choose her favorite and get a picture with him. Hands down it was Mr. Hansen, her math teacher. He was a fantastic, dedicated teacher. I heard about him all year. June made him a birthday gift, and every time I ran into him, he only had glowing reports about June. (Well duh...she is amazing. I know.) I even saw him at all the track meets. He really cares for all those kids. (And his beard is exceptional.)

ROBYN: Sorry, I just don't have a picture of Robyn with her teacher. Mrs. Spadafora was great, but she was missing for the last month. The sub was a nice guy, but the last four weeks of school were a total joke. (I may have mentioned this before.) It was all I could do to get the guy to sign her graduation paper. We'll leave it at that. (I still want the lipsync video, but I fear I will never get that.)

IVORY: Ivory's teacher was also gone by the end of the year. She left for health reasons. You can see a picture of Mrs. Boyer at the crack off. (Ooh, actually, you can see Mrs. Spadafora too.) Miss Nelson was their sub. I have nothing against Mrs. Boyer. She has a very fun, eclectic style of teaching, but I feel like Miss Nelson was just the right touch for the end of the year. She was very organized and I think the kids thrived under her short tutelage.

DAISY: Miss Thomas who was actually Mrs. Bingham by the end of the year. She was great. She was well organized and super fun. I couldn't help putting in this silly picture of her with Daisy.

PEARL: Kindergarten is such a chaotic, crazy year. I have to take off my hat to any teacher or aid who takes on the challenge of teaching these young spirits. (It is not for the faint of heart.) Mrs. Brown has been teaching for so many years. She is excellent at what she does. She was always trying to keep the parents happy and informed. I think she did a phenomenal job with Pearl.

It was a strange year to be honest, and next year will be different too as we all transition to a new school. Always an adventure.

The last day of school, I went to collect the kids. Pearl was already with me in the car so we took bets at who would be out first. First out the door was Daisy. I think this kid is ready for summer.

Next out was Ivory. This is a totally fake smile she has on. I don't think she was very happy to leave. She is really going to miss her old school and the friends she made there.

Finally, Robyn was out. She brought Saphira and they went home and played for the afternoon with Abby. She has no regrets as she leaves Elementary Behind.

I of course, was ecstatic to have the kids home from summer. We obviously have been playing hard and having lots of fun. Summer has not been what I expected. Some things have worked well, others have been failures. (Ask me about stations some time. Complete bust this year.) But it is always great to be together as a family.

I know that it will be nice when everyone is back in school. I will have more time than I have ever had before (supposedly) but at the moment, I am just happy to be with my kids. They are my life.

CA EX - S'more of These Kinds of Vacation

Sadly, our time in CA was rapidly drawing to a close. Tuesday was another kick back day of games and family time.

Tyler had been eyeing this classic car in the neighborhood, so he finally got a picture of that.

Tim took Pearl back to the fish store, where they were able to buy four fish. Two similar looking fish that could someday have babies. (Pearl named the girl Lily, and I named the boy Luke.) Also two little glowy fish. They were yellow and orange. (Robyn named the yellow one Butter and Tim named the orange one Dakota.) Here is Tim by the fish tank.

Sidenote: When we got home from CA, Tim sent me a text to tell Pearl that the fish were doing fine. She asked me if he sent a picture. I said, "No...no picture." Pearl said, "Tim said he would send me a picture of the babies when the fish had babies, so if he didn't send a picture, I guess they didn't have babies yet." Haha. I'm not sure what the gestation time is for a fish, but I think one day is a bit fast. And who knows if those fish even like each other.

We went swimming again, for the last time. We made good use of the pool at our hotel. Many fun jail games and although it took three of us to push Ethan into the water, it was worth it. Erin came, and although she never got in, we gave her high fives from the pool.

We played many of the usual games, but we tried out some new ones as well. We played some BS, and that sparked my memory of SCUM. We played a lot of SCUM, and we had many respectable rulers like Mr. Rockefeller the Third Esquire, and Madame President. The scum...well, they were just scum. (Just kidding, we love you too scum.) We also played some Liar's Dice. (Jeannie is a pretty good liar.)

And of course, we played more Scotch Bridge. But that is serious business. No time for pictures. June won Scotch Bridge at one point. Jeannie won the last night. (And truthfully, we aren't all that serious. I have images of us chanting 'Jeannie doesn't want one' with crazy grins on our faces. We are a strange group.)

It was getting late, but we made time for s'mores. Luckily, Ethan had a dozen hoodies that we could borrow. It was a tad chilly, but we dressed warm and stayed close to the fire.

We sang happy birthday to Erin, who had a birthday recently, and then Daisy and Tim, who have birthdays coming up. (It's never too early or too late to sing happy birthday.)

And then it was time to go. We were leaving very early the next morning, so we said most of our goodbyes in the evening. One last group photo. (This picture was really tricky to take.)

(Picture to be inserted when I get it.)

Early and not so bright, it was go time. Tyler woke up the sleeping beauties at the hotel. I got the ones at the Kelly's ready to go.

A few more hugs and goodbyes. Then we were in the car and on the road around 5. Tyler was the only one awake when the sun came up.

If we are headed home, I usually want to drive straight through with no stops, but Tyler insisted we make our usual interesting detour. So, we stopped in Nevada at the California Trail Interpretive Center. It was pretty cool, and the perfect stop to stretch legs and explore.

There is a wagon just as you walk in with different period toys and items inside and everything is touch friendly.

There were plenty of places to dress up and feel more authentic.

I think Pearl was more interested in checking out herself than the exhibits.

There is a phrase called 'Seeing the Elephant'. It is one thing to have an elephant described to you, but a whole nother thing to see one in person. That is how it was for those on the trail. No one could quite describe how it was to travel along the trails and see the tragedy along the way. One had to go 'see the elephant' for himself.

The girls almost left on a ferry. I told them to catch the next one.

Ivory packed her wagon well. I don't think there was any room for people. That doesn't matter as long as you have food.

One exhibit showed the trail of death and carnage across the desert. Bones were littered along with wagon pieces and discarded items. It was moving. There was even a box that you could open to smell what the pioneers smelled. (I do NOT recommend opening the box. The scene should be sufficient.)

We listened to a vignette about the Donner/Reed party. There were so many unfortunate events that ended up in a tragic winter for that group. We have been to see the monument before. There were stories about that group all around the Interpretive Center.

Okay Robyn...hurry up and finish your log cabin. I hear the salt flats calling and home is not far away.

We finished up our audio book on the last leg of our trip. Thanks Harvey, for your gambling tendencies. They kept us well entertained. I would recommend Help! I'm a Classroom Gambler by Pete Johnson. Paul Chequer was the narrator and we thought he was brilliant with his British accent. Tyler decided he needs to use the word 'Daft' more often.

And then we were home again! Granted, the house was trashed because we left in the middle of summer room changes, but that is okay. We just picked up where we left off. But a trip to see the Kelly's in CA was just what the doctor ordered. We can't thank you enough Tim and Jeannie. You kept us well fed (no small feat) and we adore your family. All the activities were great. The fireworks were amazing. The beach was peachy. Let's get together again soon!


p.s. I thought of two things I wanted to add in here. One was that Pearl was always calling Jeannie, Jami by mistake. I'm sure it is because of her aunt Jami, but we spent a lot of time repeating "JEANNIE" to Pearl.

Also, you know how you always seem to forget something when you leave? Well, like champs, we didn't forget one thing...we forgot seven. Seven swimsuits to be specific. They were still damp from the last day swimming, so I put them all in a plastic bag. Tyler put them by the door, so they could air out a bit, but somehow they got pushed behind the door, and subsequently left. Boo. The Kelly's were kind enough to mail them out to us. Luckily, Robyn, who uses a suit daily had an extra at home. We others have just done without, although Ivory improvised one day and used a leotard when she was invited to a friend's house.

CA EX - 4th of July Celebration

Tim had a surprise scheduled for us on the 4th of July. The only thing we knew about it was that it would involve fireworks. We are all down with fireworks. The morning was spent packing up a feast of deliciousness to take to the outing. Tim even made more Tri-tip, so you know it was going to be amazing.

We ended up at Sonoma State University for their Independence Day Production. They have an amazing theater there, modeled after the Tanglewood setup in Massachusettes, where the Boston Symphony spends its summers. This area was amazing. The theater opened in the back so those outside could listen and participate. Here is a picture of the grounds. You can get tickets for a table, or you can choose lawn seating. I think the lawn is the better way to go anyway with a group our size. Tables would be too rigid.

Jeannie was actually very smart about the whole thing. She snagged us a table in the shade where we set up all our food and feasted.

But we also got an area out on the lawn where we would better be able to see the fireworks. It was a bit hot in the late afternoon, but we knew it was going to get chilly by the time the evening finished up and the trees by the table would be hard to see through.

We got there kind of early, which is a good idea. Look how the lawn filled in above us. So many people.

The theater didn't open until later in the evening. It was beautiful, all done in wood. We went for a peek because you couldn't see it from where we were sitting, although there was a large screen outside throughout the performance.

A Magician came up to our table right after we arrived. I thought he was kind of cheesy at first. His coin tricks were not bad, but a bit obvious, but he followed those with some card and rope tricks that were quite impressive. He was funny and got some good laughs. At one point, he handed Tim a rope and asked if it looked like a normal rope or if there was anything tricky about it. Tim answered, "As far as I can ascertain, it looks normal." The magician said, "Watch your language in front of the kids." I thought that was kind of clever, but it wasn't until later in the car that Ivory was telling Tyler (who missed the magician) about what happened. She said, "And Uncle Tim said a 'bad' word." That really made me laugh, and I had to explain what 'ascertain' meant. Kids...always good for a laugh.

The feast was better than I could have expected. Tyler and I missed the beginning since we went to the car to get a sharpie and had to wait in a huge line to get back in. But there was so much good stuff. The Tri-tip was heavenly. Every time I reached for something, I seemed to come up with Tri-tip as well. I think it was magnetic.

The show didn't start for an hour or so. We kept busy eating and then hanging out. Gotta love this cast. Check us out. (You may not recognize Alex. She is one of the people that works closely with Erin. She was really fun and it was nice that she could come hang out with us.)

I'm so sorry Robyn. How did I not end up with a picture of you by yourself? You look pretty good there behind Alex's hand.

We kept busy in many ways. June and Alex played cards until the light gave out on them. And they had some fantastic patriotic hair.

Since it was Sunday, everyone needed a heart. We managed to tattoo everyone in our group.

The performance was interesting to say the least. Jeannie was expecting that it was just the symphony, but there was also Steve Tyrell. I would categorize him as an upper class lounge singer. He sang all the oldies but goodies in his suave way. His cheesy mannerisms screamed Frank-Sinatra-wannabe. He wasn't actually that bad a singer, but his name dropping was over the top. All his stories included some famous person or venue. He seemed to go on forever. The symphony played solo for a bit which was excellent, but then they invited Steve back to the stage. Let's just say we were all ready for fireworks by the time it was dark.

I think they have different performances each year. This is the first time the Kelly's have gone and certainly the first time for us. And despite the gilded theatrics, it was nice to sit in the beautiful evening and listen to the music.

We did some faux face paint. Daisy had a flag staff that lost its flag, so she turned it into a 'brush'. And we "painted" faces. She gave me fireworks on my cheek and Jeannie a butterfly. I did a tiger on Robyn and a cow on Ethan. Some of my best faux work, if you ask me. I'm not sure what Daisy did for Ivory. I was too far away to ask.

The progression of the evening was amusing to watch. We all started sprawled out on the blankets here and there.

But as it got cooler, we started to huddle together for warmth. Notice that there is still some space between me and Jeannie here.

It wasn't long before we became a dogpile of warmth. Everyone was practically sitting on someone else to maintain heat. It wasn't always the most comfortable, but I'll tell you this...I wasn't cold all night.

We played Peeky, Fausty, Flatty, Cutty, Claw. We listened to music. We made fun of the singer. We chatted and tickled each other since it was impossible to resist in close quarters. And finally it was time for fireworks. The show was amazing! I have seen many firework displays, and this one started off like many others, but it was supremely awesome. I saw some fireworks at the end that I have never seen before. I would rate it amongst the best I have seen. (Neil Diamond...thanks for making that song Coming to America. I don't think it is really the fourth unless you hear that song.)

We don't really have a family tradition for the 4th of July. We seem to be in a different place every year, but this will be one of my most favorite memories. Everyone piled on each other, watching fireworks.

Thanks Tim and Jeannie. You sure create the best memories!