Leo's School Talent Show

Leo's school held a talent show today.  There were 22 acts and about half of them were piano players.  There was some cute kids telling knock-knock jokes and an interesting yoga/dance/gymnastics performance.  Most of the acts went on a little too long.  Leo wanted to do something for the talent show and decided he would lip sync to one of his favorite songs with his classmate Leale.  The song is a hip-hop country mash-up called Old Town Road and only the first 55 seconds are appropriate for a school talent show.  Leo was expressive and awesome.  It was one of the best acts.  It was the second performance in the show and it got big cheers.  You won't hear the cheers on the video because I stopped recording as soon as it ended so I could put my phone down and cheer too.

3rd Grade Park Day

Today I joined the third graders for their end-of-year trip to the park. Every year I sign up to help and every year I'm exhausted and bored.  I'll never learn.  At least I always have a friend or two to chat with while I'm there.  

Speaking of friends, Serafina and Sunny were excited to spend the day together at the park.  

 They were attached at the hip.  Cleo and Rashad joined them for lunch.  The teacher told me later that Rashad is painfully shy and a selective mute.  It was nice that he was comfortable with the girls and spent time with them.

 Though Sunny and Serafina seem to only have eyes for each other, they are very inclusive at the same time.  Here they are walking with little Sadie.  Sadie is their teacher's daughter.  Their teacher is also Sunny's aunt so Sadie is her cousin.  Serafina has known Sadie since she was a baby.  Liam was also hanging out with them.  Liam was in the same kindergarten class as Sunny and Serafina.

 Serafina and Sunny walked back to school with Sadie.  It was adorable.

Memorial Day bowling

The weather wasn't great so we didn't host people at our pool.  Instead we went bowling with some friends and it was super fun.

Here's a silly video of Serafina.

And a picture of Leo and his epic bedhead in front of the bowling alley's orange doors.

Contact lenses for Leo

Having a kid in glasses isn't great.  We've had tons of lost nose pieces, broken frames, prescription changes and misplaced glasses.  

I've had about enough of it so I called the eye doctor and got Leo an appointment to be fitted for contact lenses.  I wasn't sure if it would be the best choice for him because he has a pretty severe astigmatism and contacts require a high level of responsibility that he hasn't quite developed yet.  But it seemed worth a try, especially if it gave him the freedom to switch back and forth between the glasses and contacts as needed.  

First Leo had to let the doctor put the lenses in and he handled that extremely well.  

 Once the doctor found a pair that were good for Leo, he had to put them in and take them out on his own with the guidance of the office assistant.  He did amazingly well.  

 Bam!  He's in contacts.  He won't wear them every day but he's been liking them so far.  I'm not quite used to seeing him without them since he's been in glasses for half his life.

Leo's concert - A Salute to Musical Theater

Because it isn't enough for Serafina to have three recorder performances in one day, Leo had his school's big musical performance yesterday too.  While Tom and my mom watched the second daytime instrument concert at Serafina's school, I went to Leo's school early to get good seats.  I was the first one there and was in the front row.  Boom!  

The show started with the 6th - 12th grade show choir performing.  The kindergarten/first grade class were next and did two songs from 101 Dalmatians. 

Leo's class came out next and performed two songs from The Music Man.  

Then the K - 5 kids did some songs from The Jungle Book.  Leo came out dressed like this and it was the best thing I've seen in a long time.  

Leo had a few speaking parts.  Here's one below.  He had a longer one during an Alice in Wonderland scene that was absolute comedy gold.  He's very good at inflection and timing.  I didn't record that one, just enjoyed it in person.

The show closed with You Can't Stop the Beat from Hairspray.  Leo grooved and bopped long the whole time.

Serafina's recorder concert

All third graders in the public school district learn to play recorders.  This year, the music teacher decided to include the third graders in the end of year musical performance that typically only included the 4th and 5th graders that elected to learn an instrument.  He chose to do this the year that the third grade has more students than any other grade - over 100 kids spread over six classes.  They sat on the cafeteria floor and took up half the room, leaving very little audience space.  They performed three times yesterday, two day time performances for their fellow students and one evening performance for parents.  I knew the evening would be ridiculously crowded so I attended the first performance so I could actually see my kid and take a video or two.  My mom and Tom attended the second day time performance while I hurried to Leo's school to save some seats for his afternoon concert.  

Here's my view from the back of the cafeteria.  I attended with the kindergarten, first and second grade kids.  They were a squirmy bunch but easy to see over.  

They opened the concert with the theme from the Muppet Show.  It was awesome but I'm not sure if anyone performing has ever seen the show.  

Most of the numbers included a backing track which made the music sound more rich.  It was a smart choice by the music teacher.  Here's an incredibly jazzy version of recorder standard Hot Cross Buns. 

The closing number was a combination of instrument playing and singing.  They did a great job. Here's Lean On Me.   

 

I took Serafina back for the evening performance.  I knew it was going to be way too crowded to see anything and it was.  Before the concert could start, the principal spent five minutes on the microphone yelling at parents to clear the fire exits and move to the back.  It was bonkers.  I snapped this picture before she headed into the cafeteria and I didn't see her again until she came back out.  I was very glad I had gone earlier in the day.  

Happy Mother's Day

It's mother's day and I wanted to go for a bike ride.  Not sure if anyone else did, but it didn't matter since it's mother's day and I got to choose.  There was a fair amount of whining, but there were also beautiful views and sunny weather.  

This evening we went out for a delicious dinner.

 And my mom joined us.  It was a great way to celebrate mother's day.

Cinco de Mayo party

My dad used to complain that Cinco de Mayo was an American holiday and wasn't a big deal in Mexico.  But we embraced it today and had friends over to eat tacos and drink margaritas.  

Serafina dressed up for the occasion in the dress she got during our trip to Mexico last summer.  

 I put out all the salt and pepper shakers I have purchased in Mexico over the years.  I bought all of these while traveling with my dad.

 Fred got dressed up for the occasion.

 The pool wasn't super warm but the kids didn't care.  Here's Serafina and Sunny.

 Millie and Lane.

 I forced the big kids to look at me for at least one picture.  They all walked to Starbucks together after dinner.

 Here's all the kids crammed around the outside table.

Pajama day in room 20

Serafina's class earned another special class party and they decided to make it a pajama theme.  It was way too hot to wear these long pajamas but Sunny and Serafina insisted on matching.  

Last Tahoe trip of the season

Last weekend we wrapped up our ski season with a lovely trip to Tahoe.  Of course, there is enough snow on the mountain that the resort will stay open for a while longer.  Tom and Leo may be back for more spring skiing, but this was the end for me at least.  

On Saturday, I took a lovely walk to yoga.  The snow is melting in the valley but there was still good coverage on the mountain.  

On Saturday, Tom's college friend Trent was in Squaw with his son Skyler.  They were all able to ski together that day.  

 The kids got to have some post skiing Starbucks.

 I waited all season to have my favorite nachos and it was worth it.

 They weren't excited to pose for me in the big chair, but I made them do it anyway.