Ella at 12 (A Late Birthday Interview Post)

Here is a little peek at some of the loves and interests of our sweet pre-teen!

Age: 12

Favorite colors: Light orange and bright blue

Favorite food: Chinese food and baked potatoes

Favorite book: The Wild Robot

Favorite movie: Pirates of the Caribbean

Favorite song: Rhythm of Love

Favorite thing to play: Otrio and Settlers of Catan

Favorite part of school: PE and Science

What I want to be when I grow up: Pediatrician

The perfect day is:"Performing well at school, being with friends, a rollerblading or biking outing, and then reading all night."

My best friends are: Maya, Emily, Ruth, Avery, Marina, Ava, Haley, and Sydney

The best part of this year has been: Awesome teachers!

I am most proud of: My report card

I hope when I'm 12, I will:"Get straight As, be on Student Council again, and run in another race."

Celebrating Our 12 Year Old!

For the first time since 2010 we were actually HOME for Ella's birthday-- not at Disneyland, or Rehoboth, or Chicago, or Monterey!  We tried to make it special by granting Ella her big birthday wishes.

 The #1 thing she wanted this year was a new bike.  She's been a good sport, riding around on the too-small Strawberry Shortcake bike for years now.  We took her shopping and this was the one she fell in love with-- a bright colored beach cruiser, complete with basket.  Our bike shopping trip has revived a new love for bike riding, and the girls and I have been taking wonderful, long bike rides, through both the country and downtown, every day this summer!

Another fun gift Ella got was this cool Chicago LEGO set.  She was cute pointing out how she now technically meets the 12+ age requirement! :)

 On the 31st we took a bike ride, and stopped at Baskin Robbins, and let Ella pick her favorite dinner.  It was pretty low key because...

The #2 thing Ella really wanted this year was a friend sleepover!  This happened over the weekend following her birthday.  She's been asking for a sleepover for a few years and I've been putting it off.  I wanted to really know the families of her friends well before we asked them to trust us with their girls overnight.  With her sweet group of friends really solidifying this year, I feel we parents have become much closer too, so the time was right.  With summer just starting, 5 girls were able to come, and that also proved to be the perfect number.

Ella planned a super fun little party!  She and her friends are such a neat group-- playful, respectful, SO funny.  They had no problem entertaining and cracking themselves up for all those hours with Mad Libs, manicures, sock wresting, Speak Out, Telestrations, Balloon Bop, Basketball Poison, Four Square, and just telling goofy, giggly stories.

After doing her Cake Decorating Badge this year, Ella got into the hobby of cupcake decorating and wanted that to be a big event at her party.  Her party had a "Summer's Here!" theme (thus the leis and palm tree water bottles), so she picked out a bunch of cupcake designs that reflected that theme also.  Each girl also loved making a slumber party cupcake that looked like themselves, and this is what we put the candles in.  The girls intensely decorated cupcakes for over and hour and each took a whole travel pack home with them.

Everyone actually slept too!  Some fell asleep at 10:00...and some not till 2:00, but that's how it goes at a slumber party, I guess!  

After spending over 18 hours with these girls, I am again so proud of Ella for being a part of such a positive and encouraging group of gals.  Middle school years are so formative, I thank God that she is surrounded by people who make each other better. 

Panorama Trail Living Up to Its Name

Because it was the first time in about 3 months where we were all available, and because we've heard that after the winter of high-precipitation we had the waterfalls were phenomenal, we decided to make a day trip to Yosemite!  Now, it just so happened to work out that we're also celebrating our 18 year wedding anniversary this weekend too, so we made this special outing our way of celebrating-- appropriate since I consider being married to Dave a great life adventure and we never know what God has for us right around the next bend. :)

Going to Yosemite on a Memorial Day Saturday, we knew it would be nuts,  We tried to find a way to get off the beaten path, and we did with this new trail called the Panorama Trail.  This hike was SO gorgeous and SO full of scenery, it may have become our new favorite.  You catch the trail head way up on Glacier Point and start the hike by hiking DOWN.  Though you can take the path all the way into the Valley, we just ventured about 4 miles on it.  Much of the hike has the above and below view-- magnificent Half Dome and Nevada and Vernal Falls flowing the most robustly we've ever seen them.

There were also tons of baby waterfalls and trickling creeks to cross.  We did lots of balancing on logs as we traversered these ankle-deep, bubbling rivers.

Also, there were those glorious snow-capped mountains in our view the whole time!

One section of this hike was through a jungle of wildflowers, and as we walked through, we disturbed hundreds of butterflies who took flight all around us.  You guys, this hike was amazing.

Our destination was the footbridge over the top of this new-to-us Illilouette Fall.  This is a waterfall that can only be seen in the spring/early summer because it dries up quickly.  The water powerfully pounded over the top of this sheer cliff and it left us all in wonder.

At the top we ate our picnic lunch to the soundtrack of the fiercly rushing water that fed the falls.

There was an elevation change of 1,300 feet on this hike.  We called it "The Backwards Hike" because you started by going down, which meant the way back up was brutal and not done without a good amount of complaining.  Spotting these super-up-close mule deer perked our little hikers up.  As did the promise of some ice cream back at Glacier Point.

At the higher elevation, we also enjoyed seeing a good amount of snow!  It's always funny to have a snowball fight in your summer clothes!

As we made our way down into the valley, traffic brought us to a complete stop (which is where I snapped the above picture of Bridalveil Falls).  Flashing signs on the loop that took you to all the tourist stuff indicated that we should expect a 2 hour delay for lack of parking!  We swung around and exited the park instead, feeling perfectly content with the incredible sights we saw on this day.

As we flew down the twisty mountain roads that take you out of Yosemite without hitting the gas pedal for an hour, we laughed about our amazing gas mileage.  Did you know the Honda got 200 miles to the gallon!?!

Thankful and Sad on This Last Day

It's not Thanksgiving, but I feel the end of May is always another appropriate time to pause and give thanks for all the ways we've been blessed throughout the school year.

Thankful for a dream team of teachers who made every day in my classroom a fun, joy-filled one-- even the hard days where the student challenges were considerable or the news about our futures discouraging.  I will not be working with this team again, as our preschool program grows and I've been assigned to partner with and mentor a new teacher.  I am sad, but so so so thankful for the years I've had with my current team and the million things I've learned from my partner and dear friend Liz these past 4 years.

Thankful for an excellent 6th grade year for Ella with highlights that included getting elected to Student Council, playing on the basketball team, singing in the choir, maintaining a straight A average, having her first boy like her, and really bonding with a solid group of kind girlfriends whose positive influence I just praise God for.  I remember middle school being full of drama and anxiety, but Ella has blossomed and flourished in this awkward stage.  Tonight I had teachers find me at graduation to tell me what a great representative she is of our school and our family.  I couldn't be more proud.

   

Thankful that Delia was near tears telling her beloved teacher goodbye today.  Miss S. has rocketed to the top of our "Favorite Teachers" list with all her humor, creativity, encouragement, and unconventional ways of making learning fun.  At her end of the year awards ceremony, Delia was presented with the Purity Award, for being innocent, playful and pure of heart.  The verse 2 Timothy 2:22 ("Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.") was read over her.

Some years we almost physically feel the burden of the school schedule and are more than ready to say goodbye to it all and jump into summer's relaxation and fun activities.  This year it definitely feels more bittersweet.  We all had our best something-- my best class of students and my best team of co-workers, Ella's best year of social growth and extra-curricular exploration, and Delia's best teacher since kindergarten.  Thankful for all these "bests" and all the ways we've each learned and grown this school year!

Time to Sparkle!

We're so proud of our tiny dancer!  She endured another year of dance class and rocked her recital performance last weekend!  This year Delia was especially challenged in her dance class.  She caught onto the choreography quickly, but was one of the only students who did.  The last few weeks of practice had more pressure and stress than normal.  Delia was happy to dance in the recital, but was pretty sure she'd be done with dance after this year.  But then, as is always the case, the adrenaline rush of performing on that big stage to a packed, cheering crowd and the fun of the whole company curtain call dance party lures her right back in and she's willing to reconsider, after taking a break this summer.

This year's super sparkly costume was one of my favorites.  We had some fun photographing it in sunshine!  And you should have seen it on the stage under all the bright lights!

Delia's dance was another jazz number to a catchy and empowering song called "Girl in the Mirror" about recognizing your unique beauty and loving yourself exactly the way you are.  The girls got to dance with mirror props, which was fun too.  Delia even had a small solo part in the middle of the group.

Dance class is many things to us, which is why we continue to invest in it.  It teaches Delia how to listen to yet another teacher; and that exercise and something that is good for your body can be fun; and that there are rewards and pride in persevering and working hard to master something; and that she can have confidence in a talent that is just hers in our family. 

Go A's!

Did the title of my blog post surprise you?  For one night, we decided to become A's fans!  Delia's teacher is a major fan of this team and arranges a special outing to the ball park for everyone in her class (and their families) who wants to go.  On our last day of school lunch date today, I asked Delia what she will remember most about 4th grade and she immediately said, "The A's game!!"  

Even though her funny teacher published a list of things to know and do regarding getting to and enjoying the game and one of the items was "Know that you can only wear green and yellow in the seats I have reserved for us", Delia insisted on wearing her Kris Bryant Cubbie Blue jersey to the game.  She got a lot of fun attention for it. :)

The game was so memorable because our whole section was just school friends.  Dave and I loved visiting with other parents, while Delia ran around with her classmates, dancing in the aisles and chasing down the cotton candy seller.

After a big bummer of a jump-over-the-wall catch of what would have been a tie-breaking home run for the A's in the bottom of the 9th, we all went crazy when our team (for the night) did win in extra innings in an exciting walk-off run!

And if watching the team you are rooting for win in a dramatic fashion, and spending several hours playing and dancing with your friends, and consuming large amounts of junk food, and hanging with the teacher you absolutely adore outside of school are all not exciting enough...this was also a fireworks game!  We got to walk out onto the perfect green outfield grass and enjoy a great fireworks show after the game.  

Baseball and fireworks.  Our last day of school was just today, but this night made me feel for the first time that it is officially summer!