June 2014

Marcus finished kindergarten (K2). He had a great year. His last day on the bus, the fifth-grade girl from across the street hugged him and bought him Cheetohs as a present.

His class sang "Heal the World" at a Diversity Day assembly a few weeks before school ended. He's second from the left in the front, dancing with Emma. And yes, a child at the right is dressed as a Redcoat. For Diversity Day.

 

Marcus also had his first concert with the orchestra at school. His group of kids (who have only been playing their instruments for two months) played some simple little songs, and then all the kids (the oldest were 10, and no one had been playing for more than three years since the orchestra was just created in September 2011) played "Ode to Joy" together.

 

 

Before school ended, we went to the Museum of Science with Grandma and Pop-pop. Marcus saw the panda IMAX movie with Pop-pop and Samantha loved the Discovery room.

With Robert away on a business trip in California, we went strawberry picking and to a strawberry festival with Grandma, Pop-pop, Aunt Mary, Sarah, and Sean. Between pulled pork sandwiches, strawberry shortcakes, pony rides (Samantha was too scared so Marcus took her ride too), crafts, a pretty awful marionette show, and the strawberry picking itself, we had a great day.

Later that same night I took the kids to a party at Declan and Noah's house--there was a bouncy house, a ball pit, slides, a swing, a large kiddie pool, bubble machines, water guns, a baseball game, lots of food, and even more dessert. Marcus had a fun time playing with Declan, Oliver, Asher, Giancarlo, Nahum, and other kids from his former daycare/preschool, while Samantha played with the baby brothers and sisters: Rephael, Nikkah, Gio, and Aura.

Robert came home the next morning and met us at the MFA for a family art day with Sarah and Sean and Garrison and Clarinda. We made cardboard dragons in a dragon room, took a kids' tour of the museum focusing on mythological creatures, made Greek-style vases in a Medusa room, and had a great time.

We went straight from the museum to the b.good "family" barbeque at SOWA market, where we ran into Howard and later met up with Rebecca. We ate burgers, salads, and green smoothies; watched the talent show and the dunk tank, and walked around the market having free samples and talking to the knife-sharpening guy before heading home to eat strawberries.

Even when we haven't had exciting days filled with outings, we've had fun. Samantha loves to "read" books, lined up on the couch with her bears and dolls, or cuddled up next to Marcus on the steps.

 

She can also play by herself for an hour or more at a time, telling long stories to her animals and herself.

 

My friend Annie has been staying with us from Korea for a couple weeks, and she managed to impress both kids with her origami skills.

 

We had a few nice barbeques on our roof, one with just a nice couple from church and their little baby (adored and petted by both Marcus and Samantha alike) and another the next day with eleven kids and eleven grown ups. It was great fun, and beyond a small bump on Marcus's head, we all made it through unscathed.

Samantha is in her last two weeks of "Baby School" until September, and Marcus is doing two weeks of daycamp with his old preschool buddies. We all ride the shuttle in the morning with Oliver and Nahum, and then Oliver's dad walks the boys over to the camp while I drop off Samantha. The kids have great fun, and I don't think they want these days to end.

 

 

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Created: 7/2/14. Last Modified: 7/2/14.