3rd Grade (and Looking Back at a Lot of Months)

Rosalie's blog presence disappeared this summer and fall. My apologies for the long wait; it's been a hard time, losing my Dad. He was an avid fan of this blog, and would always write to me after reading a post, making appreciative and beautifully, uniquely "Dad"comments in response to what I'd written. I will miss those responses, just as I miss him now. But in his memory, and in continued celebration of our awesome daughter (and her wonderful cozy fan club who continues to read this blog), it's time to press on and continue to write all about the RNK highlights. I wonder if some day soon she will write these highlights herself!

I'm going to try to write this thing in chronological-ish order. Please wish me luck and excuse any typos. I wish you luck in reading all of this in one sitting! It covers about 5 months.

JUNE

Last Spring, the Musical Theater club put on a spin of the story Rapunzel. Rosalie was one of the three witches. She was quite excited about assembling the costume. She was a wonderful witch.




Adams hosts book fairs as PTA fundraisers, which allows for some fun books we might not usually get our hands on, such as this 3-D kitty book.

It's a temporary change of pace from the chapter books she reads. (As of this date, she is deep in the Warriors series--each of these books averages 450- 500 pages. She's really gone down the reading rabbit-hole; I'm thrilled beyond words for her.)

We saw some other REALLY 3-D kitties, too: at Meowtropolitan, Seattle's first and only CAT CAFE. As you can see, it was a wonderland for those kitties, with all kinds of places to climb and lounge. We had a lovely time. I thought about Dad quite a bit on this trip, thinking to take a couple of shots that he might appreciate.

 While we were there I even ran into some former 6th grade students (now college students). Small world--and also, time flies.


In other animal news, at the end of school year carnival, Rosalie befriended a sweet little hen at the petting zoo.

Rosalie's last day of 2nd grade was a sad goodbye to her favorite teacher, who was highly skilled considering that this was her first full-time year. I was so, so impressed with this woman! Obviously Rosalie was, too.

We hung out with a buddy after that last day of school, which sweetened things: we picked up some slurpees from 7-11, bought special rocks from the the local gem store, and did art in the park, a program that the city had going for the summer.

They also played in the fountains by the library. This never gets old. How could it?

I took this pic because Rosalie and I were at the Locks early in the summer, and on the way back from the fish ladder/locks, I looked over and saw a grassy field, the very one on which we had a PEPS meeting many summers ago. It was the babies' first summer, actually, so that would be 7 years ago. Anyway, I remember us sitting on a spread-out blanket, watching Owain eating leaves and grass off of the ground, and trying to work out our lives as new parents. Although my baby was the most adorable baby in the world, I must say that I love spending time with this "baby" now that she's 8!

We went to Northwest Trek with Grandmama and Papa Stan, and while we saw many forms of wildlife (including an invisible wildcat inside a hollow log that Papa Stan insisted that he could see, which messed with our heads for a good 10 minutes), this was the only shot I got that was blog post-able.

Always a fun time with Grandmama and Papa!

No summer is complete without an in-depth tour of the Downtown Public Library. We explore each and every floor, with all the quirks this building has to offer. Sometime we'll go back there and take pictures of all of our personal landmarks there.

Rosalie's inventive spirit manifests everywhere. Here, she's demonstrating something cool she's done with a cherry. Right about now I wish she were here to remind me what we were doing. The stem is growing out of the side of the cherry! Miraculous! 

What I can't remember is if this was supposed to be a food sculpture representing something else, or if it was just a food prank. Yep, it might be soon time for Ro to contribute to the blog.

Possibly from practicing dropping from the tall unicycle (called "The Giraffe"), Rosalie started developing ankle pain in the spring/early summer. So, I took her to the physical therapist, and she diligently worked on stretching and strengthening every night. One calf stretch needs a wedge (I do the same stretch using that kind of wedge). This physical therapist understands and likes kids, so she suggested that Rosalie decorate her wedge with puff paints. That's exactly what she did. 

It's a very ritzy wedge, gilded along the edges with fine gold puff paint.

Speaking of regular training, starting in June Rosalie worked hard on her swimming this summer in preparation for her sleep-away experience at Camp Orkila. She's taken group swim lessons many times over the years, but this year it was time to get serious. We did some private lessons with coaches in order to get the crawl really nailed down, as well as some good water-treading. She really enjoyed these lessons. We'll probably continue them in the future.

Although Raya had a long trip to Europe this summer (which led to an awesome correspondence between the two of them via Rachel's and my phones, using liberal quantities of emojis), they still had time to hang out, both before Raya's departure,

And after her return, the two of them had several camps together.


Rosalie also got some great quality time with Antonia (and this is Aiden, her twin brother).

It's safe to say that Raya and Antonia are still her fave friends.They are taking Antonia's bunnies for a walk here. This is a pause for a banana break, I believe.

JULY

As has become our annual tradition, we went on our neighbor's parents' houseboat for the 4th. It was a wonderful time as usual--swimming, visiting Barb's nearby pea patch, sharing a delicious potluck,  and staying 'til dark to watch the fireworks over the lake from the docks.

Sometimes there are more lovely things to watch than the fireworks themselves.

Swimming in Lake Washington off of the dock is a big highlight of 4th of July-ing at the houseboat! Rosalie spent a huge amount of time in the water. Having a life vest and pool noodles really help marathon swimming sessions. 

 This was the kid crew this year.

There is no way to fully describe or photograph the charm of this houseboat "neighborhood" along the dock. It feels like each of these houseboats has its own personal flair, even more so than a land-bound block of houses. This is someone's "porch light." I wonder if they keep them up all year.

Here's another charming "porch"

That week following the 4th, Rosalie went to SPART camp at school--Sports and Art camp, run by two of Rosalie's favorite teachers. It was nice to be able to walk to camp that week. 

 It was just a morning camp, so we had the afternoons to play, goof off, and have down time.

There was also time to prepare for...Camp Orkila! 

Although I assisted and gave advice, Rosalie did most of the packing for Camp Orkila herself. That way she could know where to find each item when unpacking at camp. It was fun shopping together for the various needed items, including the new backpack and duffel. Both can be used again next year at camp (and other camping trips). She's now using the back pack as her school pack, too. Notice she still has a Berry Patch shirt that fits! Wish we had a lifetime supply in different sizes. I'd wear them too. Long live the spirit of Berry Patch! 

She had a great time at camp, and even wrote us a couple of letters. She made friends, experienced real independence from parental units for the first time, and she came back older and wiser. We are so proud of her for being brave and trying this new adventure all on her own! She says she wants to go back again next year.

This was also the summer for painting and carpeting our basement, after that Big Dig (oil tank) in the spring. Thanks to the amazing work of Papa Stan and Michael, and the assistance of this important helper (I helped on the walls too), it looks just amazing down there. Michael also improved the lighting situation. So, the once-dim dungeon is now a bright and cheerful place for the family to watch the tube. We love it!

Look at that good looking floor and walls!

And this cozy carpet, installed by Papa Stan! This project was like a life remodel. We do a lot of exercising and show-watching down here (and it's still the home of Michael's Robot Studio, as Rosalie dubbed it)

Rosalie likes to send us on elaborate scavenger hunts around the house, and in this one, we landed at the destination: this rainbow paper cake! It was nobody's bday, just a fun, flat confection.

Dogwoods in the summer

 Moonpaper Tent camp ("Potion Mastery School" was the theme) in July meant a week of various face paint designs. Rosalie's character was a tiger. Each day was slightly different, but beautiful work every time.

AUGUST

The first week of August was Campfire Boys & Girls day camp, a personal favorite of Rosalie's. Here, she's modeling her look for Wacky Hat Day. Functional and funky!

I didn't get a shot of Rosalie with the fam, but Uncle Kenny & Cousins Mason & Madison came into town this summer. Kenny now has a wonderful wife, Amy, and she has two great kids herself, Cadin and Wyatt. I drove the family around the city with Grandmama and Papa Stan, and it was a blast.

We picked up Rosalie from her dance camp at the Century Ballroom in the middle of this tour, and the most exciting part for her just might have been sitting in that mini-van squashed in with the whole family. Turning around and looking at her, I saw one happy kid (and a bunch of other happy people too).

Right after that visit with the George kids & grand-kids, we took a camping trip to Winthrop with some other families from the Berry Patch days, and had a lovely trip going to and from the site. 

One of our stops was Lake Diablo. This lake is the most unreal green color. 

I think that means that this glacier-formed lake is both very deep and very clean. Even if this is not the real reason, I think it sounds pretty legitimate. I do not have time to check during this marathon blog posting session. We will just have to wonder.

Our group campsite was situated near a creek, so we had this beautiful white noise when going to sleep. Between that feature, the blow up air pad, and a tee-shirt over my eyes to block the rising sun's light, I had the very best night of camping sleep of my life, and that's not an exaggeration. I have lifelong memories of troubled sleep while camping. So this was a miracle.

Rosalie also experienced a miracle: a car nap on the way home! When's the last time she's had one of those? Footage was necessary.

She was probably tired from staying up so late both nights: there were meteor showers to watch, and we needed to watch 'em. It was so nice to sit in a camp chair snuggled with Rosalie in my lap, looking up at the sky together as a family, and also with other people we've known since our kids were tiny tots. Everyone looking up toward the night for elusive wonders (and seeing them). Very magical and cozy moments. 

When Grandmama visits, it's always wonderful. This particular time, though, she and I went to Swansons and found this adorable hedgehog-potted succulent when Rosalie was at camp. When she came home, Grandmama gifted her this little cutie. Definite love at first sight. 

For Michael's 40th birthday, we spent the night at a hotel near a hot-air-balloon company, with the reservations to take a hot air balloon trip early the next morning. Sadly, the low clouds that morning caused the trip to be cancelled. We even have tried to take this trip again, with a second cancellation due to low clouds. Where are we--Seattle?!?  Geez. Anyway, we might need to wait until spring or accidentally stumble upon an unusually sunny fall or winter day at this point. WE WILL BALLOON, though. This is not over, clouds. We will reign victorious eventually.



We were a pretty cheerful group in spite of the cancellation. It was a fun night, anyway! We played in the pool, went out to eat, then came back to the hotel to eat the homemade cupcakes and open gifts: we gave him some gifts that surprised, and I daresay delighted him.: A handmade hot air balloon game (Rosalie's idea, which she found in High 5 Magazine; we made it together), some dri-fit workout shirts, and his very own blow-up mat like that one I mentioned from the camping trip. You know, the one that delivered me the best camp sleep of my life? Anyway, good stuff.

We hosted a playdate with Molly, a friend and the daughter of Rosalie's soccer coach. Molly's family are spending this year in Mexico! So this was a farewell playdate. We made it special by going to the Pacific Science Center, and we even went on the monorail. 

A couple days later I went down to visit Grandpa Livingston at the memory care facility a couple of weeks before he passed away. Rosalie made him a card so that I could give it to him. Here's the inside: 

and the outside.

I took a couple of photos of Rosalie with the card so that Dad could see pictures of the artist as well. 

The day after I returned from visiting my dad, we headed out to visit Grandma and Grandpa's house at Port Hadlock, we found a wild area full of blackberry bushes by the park beyond their back yard.

We were also able to fit in a family hike that weekend on a trail by where Michael used to do camps as a kid. 

I also saw this incredible-looking building on one of our drives in the area. It's like a crazy elf house, or something Salvador Dali would imagine. I wonder how old it is, and how long it's been...wavy like that.


Waiting for the ferry to take us back home, we explored the beach next to the loading dock. Rosalie demonstrated one way to make a portable crab zoo. As you might be able to see, this shell is housing 3 tiny crabs. She made lots of crab zoos this summer, especially at the Campfire Boys and Girls camp at Carkeek Park. I appreciate the gentleness and confidence with which she handles the little crabs when she collects them. I feel like the little critters are safe in her hands.

SEPTEMBER

First day of school, at new desk. A little trepidation at that moment, but WOW what a great school year it's been so far. Her teacher, Ms. Windus, is so wonderful and inspiring. More on that to come.

The back-to-school block party was another hit. Look at these rascals. Lots of boys, as you can see. Ro can hang with the dudes, though. The hide-and-seek in the dark continues to be the all-time favorite activity for all the kids. I imagine when she's an adult, she'll look back on those block-wide games with great fondness.

Walking to school with Grandmama

Every year, the students at Adams have a day in which each person draws a self-portrait. I have the other years' portraits in our collection, and cannot remember if I shared them here or not. Anyway, here's the 3rd grade self-portrait. It's fascinating to see the development of skills as the grades progress. All along the hall are the self-portraits, from Kindergarten through 5th Grade. It's like watching time pass all at once, beholding these works of art.

Rosalie loves her teacher and finds different ways now to express her excitement about learning. They recently went on a field trip to the zoo, and they had a scavenger hunt/zoo journal to complete. Here's a page that I thought was cool from the journal: 

The zoo has a few peacocks that saunter around the grounds, and occasionally they shed their feathers for observant children to collect.

OCTOBER

Visiting Uncle Nick and Aunt Amy, Rosalie had a chance to do a baking project with Cousin Sydney. They were completely autonomous with this project. It was quite exciting for all involved (and also for those who didn't need to be involved). They made Ethan a surprise birthday cupcake, too!

Ms. Windus had a way-cool science unit this fall. Rosalie was so enthusiastic about the whole process. They created an "Unusual Seed Museum," with seeds curated by the students (bringing them in from home). 

They planted "Wisconsin Fast Plant" seeds, which is like the fruit fly of seeds--they are bred to go through their cycle quickly so that scientists and students can study the whole plant growth cycle. So, with the aid of a powerful indoor light and an effective watering system, the students could plant the seeds, observe and document the (rapid) growth using calipers, and then watch the buds turn to blooms, turn to pods. They dried out the pods and then had the option to replant the seeds all over again! So much fun. 

To celebrate the end of the unit, they had a "Botanical Bonanza." All the students brought in "plant parts." Leaves, stems, flowers, roots, fruits. Whatever they brought in, they piled in the correct category. THEN, they made "Stone Soup" (after reading the book), and then each student created a piece of food art. 

I came in to help with the food art, and to photograph the art and the students. They also had a separate project that day making hats. All of this was happening on Halloween, did I mention that? The school had just canceled the traditional Halloween parade to make things fair for students of different cultures who weren't allowed to celebrate Halloween. I must say, though, that this class was so joyful with all of the projects of the day, that they didn't seem to mind that they were not wearing costumes or eating candy. In fact, they seemed pretty happy to eat their Stone Soup and self-made fruit tarts. 

Here is Rosalie's food art, entitled, "Weiner Dog" (and her fruit tart)
 

Here's the hat she made.

Good times!

This yearly art project, zoo trip, and Botanical Bonanza are just some of the many wonderful things about Adams. In fact, I love the school so much that I started subbing there. It's been interesting being back in the classroom, and thinking like a teacher again. I've even subbed for Rosalie's dance class a couple of times! Obviously we give each other a hug when we see each other, but then somehow we just get right into the zone of our roles, and it's surprisingly not distracting for either one of us.

Monday was Halloween, and our raccoon had her usual fun: go to downtown Ballard for trick-or-treating, followed by a brief dinner intermission, then a jaunt around the neighborhood. We always seem to run into neighbor friends and join their posse, and this year was no different. After our neighborhood excursion there was a distinct sorting/organization of candies. I appreciated the sorting/organization, and I thought Grandmama would appreciate this as well. It made me think of all the times we sorted coins--and also buttons.

Rosalie the Raccoon and Raya the Cat, fully in character:

Tomorrow is Rosalie's last day of soccer. 

 The Electrons had a good season. They are definitely growing as players; it's a pleasure to watch them learning how to be a good team who knows how to pass, work together, and cheer each other on. Rosalie's become a goalie quite often. She likes the role, and has sometimes been dubbed the "Goalie Queen" by teammates.

One other tidbit from the fall: Rosalie took an etiquette class ("Etiquette for Modern Kids"). She learned how to give a really great handshake, good manners at parties and when meeting people, how to eat at a nice dinner, and lots of other important skills, including thank you notes. Even more great, she loved it! Here's a place mat the kids were able to take home--this is laminated, so her notes can be erased and this place mat can be a guide for where to set the different utensils when setting the table for fine dining.




This fall she's also signed up for another round of the after-school Musical Theater Club. They will be putting on a performance of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Guess who Ro will be playing? If you guessed, "Willy Wonka," then you get a golden ticket. Anyway, here's what impressed the heck out of me: How quickly she memorized all of her lines! When I first saw that script, my heart sank on her behalf, because it used to take me what felt like eternity to memorize lots of lines if I had a big part. For her, it seemed quick and effortless. I was very excited for her. What a cool skill to have! Will come in quite handy when she has more in-depth tests to study for. Made me think that she inherited this ability--or, should I say, superpower--from her grandparents.

Another creative outlet for her is the Adams Choir. The music teacher runs it, and it's a wildly popular program. 3rd-5th graders can join, and there are currently 97 students in the choir! They had to move the group to the gym to accommodate everyone.  Rosalie comes home singing the most beautiful songs. On the days I'm working, I get to pass by in the hall and hear the gorgeous music wafting out of the gym.

And then, of course, there is always Rosalie's favorite mode of transportation...

Unicycling

Unicycling has taught Rosalie in so many important ways, including: 

Responsibility,

     teamwork,

Safe choices,

Independence,

We are adding new responsibilities to Rosalie's docket. She has an alarm clock that necessitates her getting up and turning it off herself, and starting her morning routine on her own (getting dressed, making bed, feeding fish). Then, downstairs, she's in charge of either making her own breakfast or packing her own lunch (I do the other one), and now that I'm subbing, she walks to class by herself on the days I'm working at school. She's also responsible for remembering which class I'm working in, so she can come meet me after school. She's handling all of this new grown-up expectations like a champ.

As always, we are beyond proud of our wonderful kid. She's growing, learning, reading, learning, inventing, creating, spending time with good friends, and becoming more and more self-sufficient.

This post is dedicated to Grandpa Livingston. I imagine when I post from here on out, I'll be imagining the responses he might have written after each entry. I already can imagine him emailing me something like, "Other posts have come close, but this was by far the highest caliber of them all. I heartily approve of the cat cafe excursion, by the way. Rosalie has excellent taste in animals."  Dang it, I can't do his emails justice, but hopefully that captures a flavor of his voice anyway. 

I miss you, Dad.