The show must go on

Kate has been taking an acro dance class all year.  They have one recital at the end of the school year--and Kate was so excited!

Here she is before the show with a couple of friends.

It was a cool performance with lots of amazing tumbling.  During the show, the girls each had a chance to do a tumbling pass.  Kate had been practicing hard for her front walker combination.  However, when the time came, the other girls that went in front of her had gone too slow, and she didn't have any time for her tumbling pass.  I watched her get all set and ready to go, and then hear the music cue for her to get to her next position.  She hurried on, skipping over her tumbling pass so she wouldn't hold up the rest of the performance.

Afterward, she was very sad.  She had worked so hard, and didn't get to have her moment in the spot light.   My heart ached for her, but I was (and am!) so proud of her for realizing that the whole performance was more important than her one part.  She truly understood what it means to be a part of the team.  And I think she learned some valuable lessons about sacrifice, teamwork, and professionalism.  Because, after all, the show must go on.  

Here is a picture of the finale, with all of the acro classes.

Field Day

Field day at the elementary school is awesome!  This is the only elementary school I know of where they let the kids free roam between stations all day.  They have all morning to go to stations, roaming and playing with all the freedom they want.  Then after lunch and a longish recess, it is time for group games--most important of which is Peel the Snake and Tug-o-war.  The kids practice for these in PE and the excitement reaches a fevered pitch, with some amazing cheering and school spirit.

This year I helped at the arts and crafts table.  Easy peasy.

I also love it that they let William join in the fun for the day.  He ran off with Kate and I didn't see him for most of the morning.  He really thought he was one of the big kids.  

 Kate and her teacher.  She was a great teacher and Kate had an excellent year!

Good bye 3rd grade!

Talent Show and Piano Recital

Kate participated in the talent show at school.  She played a piano solo, Russian Dance.

Then all of the kids performed at the spring piano recital.  Lots of practicing and hard work went into these performances and it paid off.

Keep up the good work!

Chicago

A few weeks back Rachel got to go to Chicago with David.  He had a conference to attend and thought it would be fun to take Rachel along.  

She had a grand time.  She got to stay in a nice hotel, sleep in as long as she wanted, and order room service when she woke up.  Later, David walked her a couple of blocks from the hotel to the Chicago Art Institute, where she spent a few hours.   She got to see amazing stuff like this:

and this:

Rachel shopped for shoes at a big DSW Shoe Warehouse (I love that store!) and laid in bed and read. They ate in fabulous restaurants and even went to see The Sound of Music at the theater.  Sounds pretty fabulous to me!

May Sports

This spring Ben played Little League.  Then, for six weeks during April and May, he ran track through the middle school.  He has wanted to run track for years, and this was the first time that he was eligible to participate.  However, he also loves baseball and didn't want to give up the three plus months of baseball for the six weeks of track.  So he decided to do both.

It was pretty crazy.  Most every day he would stay after school for track practice, and then go straight to another activity--either a baseball game, orchestra practice, piano lessons, or baseball practice.  Then after a few weeks of practice, the track meets started.  One week he had two track meets and four baseball games!  But, Ben loved it!  He is happiest when he is busy, and especially busy with sports.  Other than the times that his events conflicted, he thought it was a great schedule.

This was Ben's last season of baseball--age 12 is the limit to play Little League--and we aren't willing to commit to a club traveling team.  He has had a great team, and really enjoyed playing this season.  His team took 4th place in his league.

In track, Ben ran the 200 and the 4x200 relay in each of the meets.  He also tried out the 800 and the discus and ran as part of the 4x100 relay team.  He really wanted to do the hurdles, but the coaches wanted him in to concentrate on his other events.  

Ben's 4x200 relay team was awesome!  They took first in every meet, and then took first at district's as well, breaking the 6th grade school record in the process.  They ran it in 2:02.24.  Ben ran the second leg of the relay.  I love this picture because he is so far in the lead already that you can't even see the competition behind him. 

A little blurry on the handoff, but I still love the looks on both the boys faces in this photo!

These guys helped me cheer for Ben.  The lighting was so beautiful so I snapped a few pictures.

William is a very snugly boy!

I love these cute kids!

Great season Ben!