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Monday, May 31, 2010

Preschool Graduate

There was a short ceremony at the preschool to honor the graduates. Teacher Lori read the list of all the items the children listed as their favorites or the tasks they did the best throughout the year. Keeli listed coloring in the lines, eating lunch, singing, counting and writing her name.

The students led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and sang Puff the Magic Dragon.
The school collected the kids' work throughout the year and photographed several activities. A scrapbook was compiled and on display for the preschoolers to share with their families and friends before the ceremony.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Keeli has flourished beyond expectations at preschool this year. She is often described as caring, helpful, considerate and bright by her teachers. She has worked very hard in the classroom and always creates more and more "homework" for herself outside the classroom.

This is a current sample of her handwriting. When the year started her K was a stick with two arms and her es were upside down, almost like 6s. It is still difficult to discern her l from her i, but she's getting there!

She counts to 20, recites her ABCs, and sings many lovely verses of The Wheels on the Bus and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.

She has a graduation ceremony Wednesday evening. Stay tuned for photos.



Sunday, May 23, 2010

Scout Camporee 2010

Despite the chilly wind and pouring rain, we had a great day at the BSA Centennial Camporee. The local event was held at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. It is a huge camping event, drawing Scouts and their families from all over the Inland Northwest.Outside, the rain was pouring and a cold wind was blowing. Thankfully the indoor activities were plentiful. Rikard sat through a discussion of American Flag etiquette and learned to properly and respectfully fold the flag. I am constantly amazed at the level of respect and compassion the older Scouts have for the younger Scouts in teaching and guiding them through large events like these or small weekly den meetings. It is a such a dramatic contrast to what we see in some of our everday contacts with other children.

Another room was filled with old-fashioned (non-electronic) games, including several versions of ring toss and bean bag games, maze putter golf and a magic show. Rikard also enjoyed the law enforcement displays (especially the K-9 officer), building a model rocket, watching model sail boats and airplanes, and a little hands-on whittling. There were over 150 activities to take part in, there was no way we could squeeze them all into one day.

There were several great interactive displays on fish and wildlife, habitat preservation, forestry, fossils and hiking. Here Rikard is using the microscope to view the surface of a dragon fly's eyes.

The family's favorite activity of all was building a mini cooking unit from the base of two aluminum pop cans.
Rick and Rikard worked well together to construct the little stove unit. Once completed it is filled with a clear fuel, like denatured alcohol , set inside a clean tuna can and lit. It burns quite nicely.
Tatum also completed one. We will take them camping next weekend and test them out!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Mother's Day

Sunday morning I got my wish, a scenic drive up Mt. Spokane to see the sights and take a few photos. There wasn't much of note, but the view from (nearly) the top was fantastic.

Upon our return home, we dug right into our weekend project. There were two stumps from former ornamental Japenese Lace Leaf Maple trees. This weekend we removed one of the stumps and replaced it with a new tree.

Moving the decorative rock is just tedious, made worse by screams from Keeli of "don't hurt the roly-poly" and waiting while she relocates the little bugs. Stubby was really into the digging part, she just wasn't very focused on helping.
When it was time to place the tree in the hole, we realized after dropping it in the hole was far too deep for our little tree.
After we got it out of the hole, Rick left me holding it perched on the edge while he filled the bottom of the hole back in.
The little tree looks right at home. You can see the potten hydrangea under the basement windows. Those will be planted in the coming week to replace some small shrubs that didn't survive the winter well.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

New Bloomies

Tatum tagged along to Bloomsday with us this year. We arrived a bit early to the staging area and she was enthralled by all the craziness. The costumes, the beach balls, the team shirts, the posing for photos, the throwing of clothes into the trees... This gentlemen showed up in his themed costume and was posing for photos with everyone who would have him. Tatum tugged on his elbow to ask and without warning he scooped her up, threw her into the air and caught her. Her day was off to a great start!

You may notice our team has changed somewhat from last year. Kelly and Tabitha bailed on us. Because we didn't have the stroller, we started in the lilac staging area. Upon reviewing last year's photos, we may need to purchase a new sweatshirt for Joyce or talk to her about her strange superstition of wearing the same one for athletic competitions.

We were trapped in a sea of people. Thousands crowded ahead of us (above) and thousands poured in behind us (below). There was a solid moving river of people as far as we could see in both directions.

That didn't change for miles.

In fact we struggled against the crowd most of the morning. It was difficult to keep our pace up, when throngs of people in front of us were just plodding along, taking their time. This is the sea of people stretching ahead of us along mile 2 on Government Way, near the cemetery and memorial gardens.

Tatum saw Doomsday Hill from the bridge and thought she could easily conquer it. Oh, the ambition of an 11 year old! But there she was, running up the hill. Again, we wove in and out of the crowd, working to move forward and keep our pace relatively decent. We found breathing room at mile 5, near the top of Doomsday Hill.

As we rounded the corner from the courthouse and Tatum saw the finish line she proclaimed that she wasn't going to let her Nana finish before her and she started running. Nana was up to the challenge and took off after her. They finished together.

363 days until Bloomsday 2011.

How Rude!

Sometimes actions of convenience aren't well considered before they are completed. This is the finisher in a race-themed scultpure dedicated to Bloomsday, the city and all the event's participants. Notice how the garbage cans for the beer garden area are secured to it with a chain?I think it is a bit unsulting to the artist and all that the sculpture represents to treat it in this manner.

The scultpure was created by David Govedare. He is a talented artist and has many publicly displayed pieces that wonderful interpretations and representations of the Pacific Northwest natural and modern history.This is named The Joy of Running Together and is part of the City of Spokane's Sculpture Walk. It was installed and dedicated in 1984/85. Each year race organizers cover the metal runners with run t-shirts from past years. Runners completing each successive race recieve their finisher shirts very near this sculpture.

Today is the 34th running of Bloomsday. Joyce, Tatum and myself will be walking the 12K course this morning. Outside we have beautiful blue skies and lots of sunshine.