Must be summer!

https://youtu.be/9Xsz1_v41UY

Them playing together nicely has been the most positive start to the summer that I could ask for. Their relationship needs a little growth after the school year.

Shade garden in the spring

Minutes after I took this picture, the dogs were running around crazy and broke the stems on two of the alliums (tall purple rocket flowers ).

Laura's last orchestra concert

https://youtu.be/yMIayJnrlpY

I'm sad to say this was Laura's last cello performance. She has chosen to quit in favor of band next year.  Our school district doesn't have any orchestras in any school except out current elementary, so any cello lessons and orchestra activity would have to take place outside of school. There just isn't enough time in the day for all she wants to do! It's a mature decision, but clearly sad for me too. :)

And what kind of school district doesn't have an orchestra???

My Day

I met three other moms for coffee at 9:30. We chatted till 12:45!

Then spontaneous lunch next to the coffee shop with one of the moms.

Then an hour helping in the school library.

Then home for just a squirt of time till the kids returned.

What a way to get ready for summer!

Sketch pads

This was the first year for the kids to have sketch pads that they use all year long in any of their classes. Here's some of my favorite pages from each of them. The first four are Laura's, the rest Adam's.

Cracked pot 

Terracotta warrior

Different scenes from her life.

Practicing proportions on each other.

Seattle

He draws comics and video games ALL the time. Lots of geometry dash and Minecraft pics

Lights

Experimenting with outdoor lighting for my book club in two weeks. We are NOT seasoned entertainers and don't have that figured out yet after 10 years in this house. I like these!

Date night at the gas station

Jim has been raving about this deli for years, and I finally got to try their magic Italian sandwich tonight. The best part, it is inside a gas station, which is also an espresso bar. That's right folks! Also, if you know the secret entrance, there's a speakeasy too. For dessert, we choose Twinkies and an ice cream drumstick. And have you ever hear of a pickle juice ice pop. Yeah...I wouldn't recommend it.

It turns out, I'm a cheap date!

Track part 3

And then there's this morning. Adam had his name announced as best overall long jump, won the fast heat of the 100 by like 5 feet, and found out he got 4th overall in the baseball throw last week. I think we've found a sport to replace spring baseball for him!

Track part 2

Sitting here at Laura's meet. Don't know if I've ever been prouder of her. She just ran the 800. Two weeks ago, the 400 left her gasping and in tears. Since then, she has been practicing and learning how to breathe and pace herself. And today she zipped around the track and kept pace the whole way. I love the fact that she is so proud of her 8th place finish because she sees her improvement. She was so happy and pleased with herself when she finished.
Oh, and she got 3 overall on the high jump, even though she belly flops over the bar. :) Can't believe I didn't get a video!

Track

The kids have entered the world of track and field!


Theres a lot of downtime at the meets, so you never know what these goofballs will come up with.

Somehow, Laura was lucky enough to be put on a team with her best friend Cherry. So far, she's raced hurdles, some sprints, the 400m (once around the track) and the high jump. She had 2 really close sprints where she came in 2nd and is a rock star on the long jump in practices. The longer races are more challenging, but her coaches focused on that this week, so she's feeling confidant about her 800m this Friday night. Her meets last a whopping 4 hours on Friday nights and it has been COLD! But everyone still leaves with a smile.


Adam's meets are on Saturday morning for 3 hours. He's blown them away in broad jump, baseball throw and the 100m. His down time is mostly unsupervised while Jim takes Laura to karate and I help with the meet and he's been handling it so well. It feels good to trust your kid!

https://youtu.be/ozYfBNi_y_8

This is his team's shuttle relay. They'll start regular relays when they get older. That's my back and ponytail at the finish line, I get to call out the order of finishers! With a microphone! Oh the power...