End of School Events

The end of the school year was busier than ever! 

Elliot was George Washington Carver in a 5th Grade Living Museum. The mustache was really perfect. 

Naturally, his presentation had a mini-game. He hid 8 tiny smiley faces in his informational poster. People who found them all won a single peanut from his prop peanut jar. 

Just like that, he's done with Elementary School! They had an advancement assembly. His class was the third to go. The first two classes were all given yellow certificates. Elliot was first up alphabetically in his class, and was handed a blue certificate. I was quite baffled by this, especially when the next kid got a yellow one. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Elliot's class and the class after gave every other kid a blue certificate. Perhaps there were yellow paper shortages?

I have very photogenic sons. 

Annie's 2nd Grade Musical was soccer themed. Who knew that there were so many songs about soccer? Hits included "It's Not if You Win," "El Juego Bonito," and "Goal."

Annie had a great year in Ballet/Jazz. She says that Gymnastics is her true passion, but she still loves everything to do with performing on the stage. She would be sad to miss out on the outfit, hair, and whole general vibe of recital day. 

Her dance this year was to Meghan Trainor's "Better When I'm Dancin'." The highlight is around 1:40 when she lifts another girl (she's strong!) then gets to show off her side extension. 

At the gymnastics open house, she got to show off her skills on floor, vault, bar, and beam. Then they wrapped it up with a group floor routine. 

She has come SO FAR this past year due to some seriously hard work. This is the move she probably worked the hardest on- her backbend kickover. 

The splits are also a new development this year! It's so great that Annie gets to be with her BFF and neighbor for gymnastics and dance. They really support each other and have a great time. 

Here's their performance to "Determinate." 

Isaac nailed his line in the Kindergarten musical. He had a fun time singing on the stage. The music teacher does an impressive job of managing 5 classes of kindergarteners in one performance! Every kid who wants to say a line gets to, and I thought that the participation rate of kids doing the dance moves that go along with the songs was impressively high.

Isaac had an adorable Kindergarten celebration. They dressed up in fancy clothes and sang their favorite songs from the year. Hits included "Rise and Shine and Welcome to School Today," "Herman the Worm," and a parody of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off." The kids were so earnest and you can tell that they just love Mrs. Chittum. There have been times this year when Isaac struggled with all the rules and expectations of school, so it was extra sweet to see him so happy for the last few weeks of school. 

They shine bright with their sunglasses!

Each kid took home a very robust portfolio of all the crafts they did this year that hadn't already been sent home. Mrs. Chittum is impressively skilled with graphic design, and had a lot of crafts that incorporated pictures of the kids into them. Our favorite was a bat with Isaac's face on it that we have been taping in random locations throughout the house. 

We celebrated the last day of school with the traditional water fight at the park! 

Zicko was the master of the punctured balloon squirt

Elliot grabbed a shirt full of balloons then sprinted to the top of the playground to claim the high ground. It was very effective. 

Annie had stayed to play at the playground with friends for a couple hours before the water fight. She ran home, changed into her swim suit in record time, and then stayed for another couple of hours at the park. That's the dream!

Felix was very content with a cup and a cooler of water from popped balloons. 

Welcome to summer fun!

An Aaron in Paris

Aaron took an unexpected trip to Paris! A few days before his work's biannual in-person meetup in Chicago, his co-worker called him up and asked if he could travel to Paris to do an important vendor evaluation. We were a little nervous because I was 35 weeks pregnant, but it ended up being fine for us at home and a cool trip for Aaron.

 

On the second day in Chicago, the trip was finalized and tickets to leave that evening were purchased. His work got him a nice business class ticket! He had one of those pod seats that reclined all the way so he could try to sleep. It was in-flight luxury the likes of which we have never before experienced. He caught his last minute international flight with only the backpack he had packed for the Chicago trip and a suitcase full of testing equipment that is now in our bedroom. 

Here's the view out his hotel window. All the buildings are gorgeous! The location was amazing, too- he could see the Eiffel Tower from the roof of the hotel, and the office he was working at was just a few buildings away. 

This was a short trip. With the jet lag and red eye flight, he didn't have much time to calibrate before his big meeting. Then, his equipment testing took much longer than anticipated because one piece of equipment didn't make it into the hastily packed suitcase. His co-worker woke up at 3am US time to figure out some work-arounds with Aaron. 

He had some free hours before and after the long work day. ChatGPT was a huge help in figuring out the best sites to visit that were open and close by. We are usually planners, and everything about this trip was forcing Aaron to just wing it. He managed to soak up a good taste of the city in the short amount of time he had there.

The Arc de Triomphe looks like a giant game of frogger! There are cars driving about with no lane markings, and pedestrians dodging the cars to get close to the monument. Aaron says this was the closest he could get without risking life and limb. 

Aaron is more of an architecture guy than an art museum guy, so ChatGPT sent him walking to Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot. 

A few blocks away was another soaring cathedral! This one is the American Cathedral in Paris. Even though it was May, it was cold at night, and he only had his light jacket. 

Aaron indulgently took pictures of the food for me. He said they have smaller serving sizes but really high quality. He tried the Creme Brulé, which was incredibly delicious.

Salmon with yummy veggies? An Aaron dream come true!

This was an unexpected adventure, and I'm glad it worked out that Aaron was able to take advantage of such a cool opportunity to see a new part of the world!