School (and Other) Festivities

A few weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of Gavin’s and Arwen’s school, celebrated by a huge multicultural festival. The kids were especially drawn to the booths sponsored by their own classes. Arwen made a caterpillar that transformed into a butterfly while Gavin constructed elementary flying contraptions. Next Gavin joined some classmates for a game of mancala. We peeked in at some of the other festivities, then jumped in the car bound for the Boston temple where Chad and I met up with members of our congregation while Gavin and Arwen played with some of their church friends. On the way home we stopped in at Five Guys for burgers and fries with some friends.

Friday of the following week was the much-anticipated Field Day at school, what Gavin later referred to as “the best day of this whole school year.” Though still getting her energy back after being sick, Arwen didn’t want to miss the action so I accompanied her class through a couple of activities before we went to the park to watch Gavin in the three-legged race. What a crazy group of kids! We got back to Arwen’s class in time for the parachute activity I remember from my own elementary school days. Back in Gavin’s class I got a lesson of my own in mancala before field day was officially over.

I had some excitement of my own a few weeks ago when I finally put all my excuses aside and went contra dancing for the first time in Connecticut. Way back when we were contemplating the move I had looked up the local contra scene and found to my relief a monthly venue just 20 minutes from our house. While Seattle sports several contra dances each week around town, I feel lucky here to have one so close. And it was just like old times - the people and the music were all the same, just with different names and faces. There’s something so exhilarating about hanging out with all these strangers from different walks of life where nothing matters except your love of dance. I’m so glad to have rediscovered it! (I’m up to go again this Saturday night – let me know if you’d like to go along.)

Earlier this month was the 146th annual Harvard-Yale regatta, once a major area event heralded by spectator trains tracking the races play by play but marked these days by small local gatherings. This year we pulled out the binoculars and portable radio and watched two of the races as a family. Harvard swept the competition as they have the past several years (and historically).

One of the perks of living near the coastline is end-of-the-year field trips to the beach. Arwen's class rode the public bus to the beach a couple of weeks ago, then Gavin's headed to a more remote beach last week. He was coming back from his own bout of sickness, so I joined the class for the first part of the day. It was incredible to see how all 18 kids joined together at one point on a common digging project.

Last Friday Arwen's class celebrated their many writing projects of the year with an author's tea (which she initially dubbed "Arthur's tea" to our amusement). Each of the kids took turns sharing selected Weekend News entries with visiting parents. We're proud of how far Arwen has come with her reading and writing this year and look forward to keeping it up this summer.