Is It Still a Picnic If We Don't Eat Anything?

Todd and I attended our third and final end-of-school-year picnic today.  For some reason, the third graders had their "picnic" two hours after they typically go to lunch, so they didn't actually eat anything.  Is it still a picnic if there's no food?

Basically, we showed up to give Daniel a big hug, watch him play tennis . . . 

. . . and cheer him on when he sank a basket.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, even if there was no pizza involved.

Anna's First Grade Picnic

Todd and I arrived at the big kids' school this afternoon to visit Anna at her end-of-year picnic.  As we approached the crowd assembled on the school lawn, a small figure dressed in pink suddenly came running towards me with outstretched arms calling, "Mama! Mama!"  If Tinkerbell ever sprinkles me with pixie dust, that will be one of the happy memories I use to fly.

Todd and I brought pizza to share with Anna, who had gotten a heart and rainbow painted on her face earlier in the day.  One of her classmates kept dropping hints about how much she LOVES pizza, so we shared an extra slice with her too. :)

What's Blooming and Barking?

Todd and I were getting cabin fever . . .

. . . so we decided to take a stroll around our neighborhood.

We saw a little dog . . .

. . . a big dog . . .

. . . and lots of lovely spring flowers blooming.

In our own yard, the sheet mulching experiment hasn't produced stellar results (perhaps it needed more soil, more sun, and fewer rabbits), but we may at least get a few fresh peas . . .

. . . but it looks like we'll have a nice crop of tomatoes in our raised bed. :)

Joy's Fifth Grade Picnic

Joy's fifth grade class had their end-of-year picnic at a nearby park today.

I arrived to find Joy playing basketball (of course) with her social studies teacher (AKA the cool guy who played a patriotic saxophone solo at a school assembly last month).

I signed up to chaperone the playground, not because I worried that a bunch of eleven year olds needed a mom to keep them safe on the jungle gyms (they didn't), but because it was a way I could help out in an area where my four-year-old sidekick would be entertained.

After my shifted ended, I left to pick up pizza while Joy played chess with Maria.  Friends, pizza, and chess--sounds like a nice afternoon to me. :)

Champ Ball at the Park

The big kids don't have much homework as the school year winds down . . .

. . . so this afternoon we headed to a local park to play.

Joy brought along her birthday basketballs so she could practice shooting free throws.

Her newfound interest in basketball is rubbing off on the rest of the family too.  Daniel practiced shooting a few hoops of his own . . .

. . . then he went over to the playground while the girls and I played Champ Ball, a popular game at their school.  Two contestants start out at the free throw line, each holding a basketball.  They tap their balls together three times, then shoot and try to make a basket.  If neither player makes their first shot, they rush to retrieve their balls and repeatedly shoot from any place they want to until one of them makes a basket.  Whoever makes a basket first gets to keep playing against the next person in line.  It's a fun game, and Joy and I are pretty evenly matched.  Anna rarely made a basket, but we always cheered for her when she did.

After many rounds of Champ Ball, we headed over to the playground to make sure gravity was still working before we drove home.

It's Never Too Late to Party!

A couple years ago, I sat all my kids down and had a talk with them.  No, not THAT talk.  I spoke to them about the fact that all parents have strengths and weaknesses.  Specifically, their mother bakes great bread, makes sure we study scriptures each night, gives lots of hugs, and deals with bugs and spiders without freaking out.  However, she's lousy at planning parties, and they really stress her out.  Consequently, I would continue preparing birthday dinners and desserts of their choice each year, but I wasn't going to plan any more birthday parties with themed games and decorations.

They took that sobering news in stride (bless them), but earlier this year when Joy went to a friend's birthday party, she came home with a look of longing on her face.  She told me that they had simply eaten pizza and cake and played around a lot, and she asked if I could handle hosting a low-key party like that.  I said that sounded manageable, and we agreed to plan a no-frills birthday party, even though her actual birthday was months ago.

It took me weeks to actually set a date (I don't know why party planning is so intimidating for me), but today we finally hosted several of Joy's friends for a six-month-late birthday party.  The girls played Balderdash . . .

. . . ate pizza (note to self, order more cheese pizza next time) . . .

. . . scooted around our hard floor in their socks . . .

. . . smashed open a donut pinata full of raffle tickets to win some prizes . . .

. . . ate ice cream cones (with Anna's approval) . . .

. . . then played with the two basketballs Joy received as birthday gifts (at her request).  Did you know she liked basketball?  I didn't.  When did that happen???

A few of the girls then played some songs they learned while taking Suzuki piano lessons.  Joy played one of her favorite songs from Book 1 and was pretty pleased with herself until one of the other girls sat down and played a minuet from Book 3.  It was impressive to hear someone Joy's age play something so complex and beautiful.  After everyone left, Joy commented that she'd like to start taking music lessons again.  Maybe it's time to start looking for a piano teacher.

End of School Year Picnic 2018

It's June!  That means summer is almost upon us, and it's time for the end-of-school-year picnic.

We ate pizza on our waterproof blanket (which we spilled soda on twice--apparently it's only waterproof on the bottom side) . . .

. . . then the kids enjoyed Popsicles and Ring Pops courtesy of the PTA . . .

. . . and played on the school playground until the sun started setting and it was time to head home (and wash all the sticky stuff off our hands).