May 2019

May 3

May 4

Phoebe’s best friends wrote her this note to congratulate her for making the Battle of the Books team; they’re very mature third-graders!

The Battle of the Books competition was held at Monarch High School. It was high-pressure for the kids, but maybe even more for the parents! The kids had to confer silently because all the competing teams were in the same room, so we could see the questions, but not what the kids were answering.

Phoebe’s 3rd-grade team from Lafayette Elementary ended up in a tiebreaker round with Ryan Elementary, another Lafayette school, so talk about drama! This time the teams had a spokesperson, who was the only one who could speak to give an answer. Lafayette won the tiebreaker and came in 2nd place overall for third graders!

May 6

Our amazing babysitter Alejandro invited us to his wedding, which happened to be at an event center just a couple of miles away in Lafayette. Dave was on a work trip to Canton, Ohio, so the kids and I went by ourselves. It was a lovely wedding, and we had a wonderful time! The woman he married, Sarah, has a big family, so she has a sister Phoebe’s age, and the two of them enjoyed each others’ company. The Mexican food was delicious, I had fun meeting some of Alejandro’s relatives, and Benjamin and I did some dancing.

May 8

I went to Benjamin’s school for an on-premises morning field trip with the kindergartners. Thorne Nature Experience came to talk about birds and habitats, and we walked around the grounds looking for birds and clues that birds might live nearby.

Benjamin’s karate class

A valiant try at reading a hard book.

May 9

May 11

May 16

Dave and I had to take the kids to our concert band rehearsal.

May 17

Benjamin’s kindergarten circus was held in the morning at Sanchez. It was even more adorable than last year! He was an elephant.

It was a busy day; Xtreme Altitude also held an evening gymnastics show that Phoebe participated in.

May 18

Benjamin had karate testing; each kid has to go up alone and show the form he or she has learned. It could be scary, but Benjamin always takes on the challenge with aplomb.

May 21

May 22

May 24

More karate photos. It’s so fun to watch!

May 25

First camping trip of the season over Memorial Day weekend. We went out to Fruita, in the desert, so we could be sure it would be warm enough. We brought our bikes, and Dave and I were looking forward to mountain biking on Fruita’s awesome trails. BK (before kids) we used to go several times a year. This time, the biking was a highlight for me, but I think the kids were more excited about the icee shack in town.

May 26

Phoebe and I rode Rustler’s Loop, which is an easy mountain bike loop with interpretive signs that teach you how to deal with things like sand or rocks while you’re biking. She made all kinds of good decisions—good lines, good power when she needed it pedaling—but she moaned loudly the whole time, and it took us about 2 hours to go 4 miles!

May 27