Great America Amusement Park

As the school year was wrapping up, Leo asked if we could get season passes to our local amusement park.  We have only been there once, many years ago with our friends.  I remember the trip vividly because I overestimated what rides I could handle and made myself severely motion sick trying to be the "cool mom" going on the big roller coasters.  I'm more aware of my limits now.  Anyway, I thought about this request and decided that it would actually be a pretty fun activity this summer that is also quite safe because it is entirely outdoors.  Another big draw is the freshly remodeled waterpark.  Since it's our first summer without the pool, it seemed like a good idea to have access to a water destination.   We would only have to visit the park three times this summer to make it worth the cost.  We've already been twice in less than a week.  Last Friday afternoon we went and took Tom along.  It was more crowded than we expected, so we didn't do too many attractions, but there wasn't a desperation or pressure to do everything all at once because we knew we would be coming back again and again.  Today we went back.  It also happens to be the worst day in the middle of a three-day heat wave.  We got there right when the park opened, and after just one regular ride, headed to the waterpark.  We found some lounge chairs in the shade and proceeded to have a really fun time going on water slides and hanging out in the wave pool.  We were hoping to float along their lazy river, but it's currently only open on weekends.  By 1:30 the crowds were arriving and the temps were rising, so we headed out.  It worked out really nicely and I'm looking forward to more water days this summer.  Every time we go, we get a little more savvy on how to handle the place too.  

I was too busy having fun in the water to take any pictures, but here's one of the kids and a creepy bear statue before we went into the water area. 

 

Leo's second covid shot and the end of Sierra School

Leo got his second covid shot yesterday.  

He wasn't too thrilled that I made him take this picture, but I told him this is a big deal. I'm very happy he is now protected from covid.  Now we just have to wait for September to get Serafina vaccinated. 

It was Leo's last day of school today.  They just played some games and chatted over Zoom.  He went a little late because I let him sleep in and he wasn't feeling too great after his shot.  He took some Tylenol with breakfast and that helped a lot.  The graduation was Monday via Zoom and I watched it with him. I cried (hard) through the whole thing.  I knew I was be equally upset if I was around for the final day today, so I ran an errand and went to the gym instead.  I'm just so sad that the school is closing.  It was a wonderful community with amazing teachers.  I feel very lucky that we found it and Leo got to spend three years there, but I'm heartbroken that it has ended. Leo is mainly feeling relief that the school year is over. It's been an extremely challenging year over Zoom.  
 

Last competition of the season

We were up early Saturday morning (5:45am) to drive to South San Francisco for the last dance competition of the season. Tom was a very good sport and came with us so he could see her dance in person. It was a block schedule again, so the whole morning was dedicated to Dance Academy dances. We watched pretty much all of them, and it felt very similar to a recital, which we didn't have this year or last year because of covid. 

Here she is waiting to go inside. 

In between her routines, I made her pose with a couple of friends. 

At the end of all the performances, they brought all the dancers on stage to present some awards. 

After this ceremony, the group went into a large dressing room so honor the seniors that are headed to college next year.  

The studio owner made all the dancers lollypops.  Serafina said it was delicious. 

 The studio is moving locations this summer, so there are no summer camps. She'll be back at it again in August with eight hours a week of classes. It's intense but she's very happy doing it, and fortunately, the new studio is a bit closer to our house so it will be easier to shuttle her back and forth. 

School year wrap up

 This school year is coming to a close.  It's kind of fizzling out in a very uneventful way that makes me sad.  Serafina has no fifth grade promotion or parties or celebrations.  Even if she had been enrolled in the elementary school, they didn't hold any event to send off the fifth graders to middle school.  Leo's school has no in-person events either. Today they had a virtual magic show for the school.  On Monday, they will have a graduation ceremony over Zoom.  He's not actually graduating, but we will attend to see his teachers one last time.  It's heartbreaking that this school is closing permanently.  It feels extra sad that they will bid their final farewells over Zoom.  Oh well, we are trying to look forward to summer, and find some fun things to do.  The kids' new school is hosting some get-to-know-you events over the next couple weeks, which will not be easy for us since we are so out of practice of socializing, but I'll make sure we go so we can possibly start making some connections.  

Leo's final science project was a life-size anatomy drawing.  The class started it back in April and finished it this week. 

Serafina has been seeing her friend Sunny in person more and more, and it's really good for her.  It's fun to see this girls together and I have a feeling they will be spending a ton of time together this summer.  This makes me very happy.  

Yesterday they were putting making on each other while blindfolded.  It was about as successful as you would expect. 

Today they went to the park and then took a swim in Sunny's pool. 

Room 15 Reunion

 Serafina's fourth grade teacher has been hosting virtual reunions for her former students all year long. Even after Serafin was no longer enrolled in the school, she would send me the link directly so Serafina could participate.  They would chat over Google Meet and play virtual games.  The teacher, Mrs. Chang, would check in with the kids and it was really great for the kids to still connect with each other.  Today she hosted one final reunion before the kids move on to middle school. She had it in person at the school playground.  I think a lot of people were traveling or busy because she only had a handful of kids participate ,but it was still nice for them to get together.  It was hot out, but the kids didn't seem to care. 

When it was time to pick her up, Leo came too so he could say hi to Mrs. Chang who was also his fourth grade teacher several years ago. 

Hollywood Connection Dance Convention

 Last weekend, Serafina had another dance convention.  Since we are more experienced at this point, it was a much smoother experience than last convention.  We were back at the Hyatt where the first convention took place. 

The competition part of the convention happened Friday afternoon.  All the Dance Academy routines went back-to-back.  Leo went with us to see his sister compete.  Here he is in the hotel waiting for her performance. 

Once she had finished her first routine, he thought we were able to go home.  Oh no no no, son.  There was still another dance and plenty of waiting to do. We passed the time with a walk, a little homework and watching some of the other routines.  

Once she was done, we crept home in Friday night traffic.  

The convention shared the downloads of her two performances. 

The first dance has improved significantly since the first time they performed it for their video submission to a prior competition.  This routine won third place in their category.  Woo hoo!

The large production number was missing the male dancer that is a stand-out in the routine.  Even without Mateo, they placed second in their category. 

Here a a couple of still shots that the convention photographer took. 

At noon on Saturday we drove back up to Burlingame so she could participate in five hours of workshops.  We made the excellent choice to get a hotel room for Saturday night, so when she was done that night, we enjoyed dinner and watched a movie.  Then we streamed the award ceremony that was happening in the ballroom downstairs. 

Here she is enjoying the hotel life. 

 The next morning she had a 7:30am check in for more workshops so it was very nice to just have to roll out of bed and head down in the elevator. She danced until noon on Sunday.  It was a long, exhausting weekend, but we executed it better this time and that helped a ton. 

I'm very proud of her.  Next weekend is her final competition of the season. It's been an unusual experience because of covid, but she's had a chance to bond with her teammates and she's learned a lot. She auditioned for next year and made it onto four teams - two jazz, one contemporary and one hip hop.  

Super Flower Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

One of the benefits of homeschooling this year is the flexibility to really explore a topic of interest for Serafina. She's still very interested in space, so she was willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning to see a special moon.  The Super Flower Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse, to be exact.  Super because it's the closest to the Earth during its elliptical orbit. Flower because it's May, the month of flowers. Blood from the red-orange light refracting through Earth's atmosphere as the moon aligns with the sun and Earth and passes fully in Earth's shadow. The west coast had a great view, but the kicker is that the best time to see it was right before dawn at 4:11am to be exact.  Serafina and I set alarms for 4am and were up.  I peaked outside to make sure it was worth it. It totally was, so I got Leo up and Tom was already getting it too.  And a few minutes later, we were all outside taking in the very cool view of the amazing moon. 

Of course, I couldn't get a good picture with my phone so here's a picture from the internet.  It was extremely cool to see in person. 

I was worried that everyone would suffer the next day from being up at such an odd hour, but the kids fell back asleep just find and did well all day.  I was really tired though.  Still worth it.