He Did It!

Boylee made the team!

(this is just him horsing around at his birthday party)

The Suspense is Killing Me

Boylee tried out for his gymnastics school's Demo Team on Monday night. They said they'd let us know if he made the team in a couple of days....and I'm having a very hard time waiting!

I really want this!

You can print out your own copy here.

Jogging for Dollars

Today was a big fund raising event at school: Jog-a-thon! The kids had 15 minutes to run as many laps as they could.

At the start line, Boylee danced to the blasting music while hearing last-minute running tips from the P.E. teacher.


Boylee's teacher ran one lap, carrying a torch. Yay, Mrs. D!


Boylee coming around for another lap, about a quarter way through the 15 minutes.


Afterwards, all the kids had water and tangerines.


He made it 13 laps, so those of you who pledged better get your checkbooks ready! (One girl in his class ran 18 laps. She's a born runner -- last year as a kindergartener, she ran more laps than anyone else at the school!)

Party Time!

Hard to Believe

Laura G. went to work in Barrow, AK, which is one of the most remote places in all of the US, and is the northernmost city in the country...and ran into a friend of mine! How strange is that?!?

Currently Boylee's Favorite Things

We downloaded a bunch of the music and he's been a non-stop singing, dancing fool. He also told me that he's making up his own Billy Elliot play at school with two of his buddies. He will be Billy Elliot, Liam will be the director, and his pal Taireek will be Michael. (For those who haven't seen the movie or play, Michael is a boy whose biggest desire in life is to wear his sister's clothes.)

Good News, Probably

Our school got city approval for its new site. So starting in September, we'll be in our own location, not a temporary spot in a corner in someone else's school. This will be FABULOUS. But I'm not really going to believe it until the day classes start there.

Highlights From Our Trip

On our way. The plane did have that calming purple glow to it. Very pretty.

Wall Street


At the Stock Exchange, where they have a Lego model of the Stock Exchange!

Everything's bigger in NYC.


Walking along 5th Avenue.

Empire State Building!



Making friends everywhere we go.

Boylee Becomes a True New Yorker

NYC

It's one of those insanely beautiful New York weeks. The weather is so nice you think, "Gee, why don't we move to New York?" Then you remember the big problems: winter and summer. Also: the money aspect. Oh well.



Today we got up early to get on the employee boat to visit the Statue of Liberty. We had our own personal tour guide -- Ranger Dave. He was endlessly knowledgeable about the statue, the fort it sits on top of, the designer, the build process, etc. We did get to go to the front of several lines, which was awesome. But we did not get to climb up to the crown. Those tix are sold out months in advance -- you can book now for July, apparently -- and they only let in 10 people every 15 minutes. Dave says that's so people who get up there can really enjoy it, without the smashed crowds that I remember from when I was a kid. And they don't let the VIPs without tickets go in. The last ranger who did -- he let in some decorated military dudes -- was transfered to another job immediately. And from Dave's tone, it wasn't a good job.

We also went through some pretty intense security. We had to stride into a thing that seemed like an x-ray machine, but instead shot you with puffs of air -- and then sniffed you for chemical residue. They're not taking any chances with security there. And then some weird thing did happen with a helicopter getting too close, and suddenly there were police and coast guard and military helicopters circling around. We didn't find out what that was about. And we also saw a French navy battleship leaving port, with sailors standing up along the top rails, and trailing a big French flag. At one point it let out a giant plume of black smoke. Guess that was supposed to be celebratory.

Then we went to Ellis Island. Our ranger there, Melissa, wove quite a narrative as she told us the story of what life used to be like there. The biggest surprises: That in total, only about 2% of immigrants were rejected. 1% for health reasons, 1% for political/legal reasons. Also, that almost no one had their name changed at Ellis Island. The whole process there was about speed, because at its height they had 5,000 immigrants a day coming through. Sometimes people's names were incorrectly written on a ship's manifest, and those errors could persist through the Ellis Island process. But most of the people whose names were Americanized either did it themselves or had it done to them at some point later in their immigration experience.

And did I mention the spectacular weather?!?

Parenting Fail

My favorite part is how the dad says, "I'm a horrible father." Poor dad. He didn't realize how bummed his son would be!