A few endings and new beginnings..

A busy week (honestly, what week isn't busy for anyone, but it is true nonetheless) here as there were several notable events this week.

First, of course was Sara's delivery to Ronald McDonald House on Tuesday.

Grandma and Grandpa D. arrived Thursday afternoon, and any grandparent related activity is notable in its own right around here.


Abby and Grandpa D. Picnic'ing

Fortunately, their arrival coincided with.... preschool graduation. Admittedly, an event I don't quite recall being common in my youth, but hey graduation is fun. Sara did the cap and gown thing, lead her buddies (er, fellow graduates) in, and they all proudly represented their school. Each kid received an award that exemplified some memorable attribute of that child in school. Sara received the Isaac Newton Award for "her great love of and skill in science." Each kid also, with the help of their teachers had a picture taken in front of their favorite thing at the preschool... for Sara it was in front of the display of model dinosaurs (dinosaurs were a relatively recent subject in Tuesday Science class). There was of course the diploma, and the ritual snacks. They all did a great job, a really great group of kids. Fortunately, for Sara she will have two of them going to the same school as her next year... relatively unheard of given the diverse communities that feed this preschool. Friday was her last day of preschool. On Monday she moves to the Summer Camp Program room until school starts in August...

In fact, Abby moves up to the pre-preschool room (Leap Frogs) the following week.


Sara and her Isaac Newton award

Today was also the end of gymnastics for Abby (for the summer at least) and soccer for Sara (possibly for more than just the summer). They both played hard today, and were very excited to receive their medal for a season well-done.

Abby has made amazing progress in the last 6 months. She is as fearless as ever (last week she did the high balance beam by herself for the first time!), but she is doing somersaults all over the place, monkey jumps (pre-roundoffs), jumping in general and as since day one, she is all about the uneven bars, especially the high one. She is also far more independent (always was, but more so), doing the group activities without my help as much and paying following the teacher's lead rather than looking to me first.

Sara had a good season of soccer, even got some excellent shots on goal earlier in the season. She did a good job of showing some aggressiveness (in a good way at times). This was all balanced by chasing butterflies while the game raged around her at others. She loves being with the other kids (and the snacks), but the action seems a little outside her at times. All perfectly appropriate for her age... we give a lot of credit to her Coach (the father of one of her preschool buddies) who has made the last two season a lot of fun for them.

We are taking a summer off of scheduled Saturday morning activities... we are hoping to travel a little, and maybe just saunter through the Farmer's market sometimes.



The all important reminder of the rules #1 Have Fun, #2 No Hands




Taking a break from the tall uneven bars, to just monkey out for a minute or five

One of those moments

So, Sara turned 5 a week ago. Had the big party, dinosaur cake carved and decorated by Mom, the she-bang. There are lots of those pictures, and I should probably post some soon. But these are my favorites, not because I didn't look at my settings and completely over-exposed them, but for what they represent.

Before we planned Sara's party we asked her if she would like to help other people (or animals) rather than receive gifts for herself. Sara's birthday is at the end of a very long and dense cycle of birthdays in her group of classmates, and a couple of other friends and their families decided to pay-it-forward. To Sara's credit, we barely had raised the question, and she said yes. A few hours later, as I was putting her to bed, Sara looked up at me and asked "Could we donate my presents to the Ronald McDonald House?" We had not even discussed and detailed possibilities yet, we were just proud she entertained the idea so easily, not that we were surprised, just proud. So, Sara came up with Ronald McDonald House on her own. She had asked questions about the place after leaving some money in the donation boxes at McDonald's and it clearly stuck with her.

For her birthday, rather than accept gifts from her friends, we merely let it be known that Sara would be making donations of books, toys, snacks to RMCD. And her friends and their families helped her out on her birthday. (lest you worry about the joy of being a 5-yr old, her type A parents, grandparents, and godparents took very good care of her, as usual) So, this afternoon, we picked Sara up from preschool early and went down to the local RMCD to make her donation. Two large boxes and a little extra to boot. While we were there they asked if she would like a tour (Yes), and the short or long one (Long). She (and her parents tag along parents) got to see the various rooms for activities, outdoor gardens (apparently among all the RMCD's the local one is referred to as the Garden House, and with very good reason), the double kitchens, a guest room, and even a handicap accessible treehouse. She was very curious and excited to see everything.

We aren't quite ready for her to be growing up so fast like this, but watching her be herself and trying to take care of others (and have fun at the same time) makes it easier to handle. As an aside: at her birthday party, a couple of her buddies had post-nap shyness/grumpiness and didn't feel up to participating that much, but Sara did her best (unprompted) to try to make them comfortable and to get them involved...

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from today.