Dancing Queen and 3-2-1 Bounce!

T had her dance recital Friday night. She did a great job and had fun! Her dance class performed a "pajama party" to a song by the Beastie Boys. It was the best song (and performance) of the night!

Grandma and Grandpa Westby come for the recital every year.



Saturday was T's cousin Riley's 4th birthday. Her party was at 3-2-1 Bounce! If you don't know what that is you should probably find a kid to talk to. I think, just about any kid will do. It's the new "place to go" for the under 11 crowd. Like Chuck E. Cheese when we were kids... Anyway, the party was a ton of fun and Riley did such a good job thanking everyone for the gifts they brought and giving hugs. That girl gives the biggest and best bear hugs.

The Birthday Girl--I LOVE that hair!


Kaitlin and Riley: Top of the Slide, Top of the World.
I would also like to point out, this is the ONLY picture I got of Kaitlin...she's hard to catch!



T and Emily: Is it just me or does T look 16 in this picture? Yikes.


Riley's Buns are a blur



Emily's Buns are just plain cute



Samantha on the Slide...she's so tiny I swear she was about be bounced right off of that slide.

The cause of my ulcer

The 7th graders are launching rockets today, tomorrow and probably some of next week.
I am supposed to be the encouraging teacher who is brave and all-knowing. Somehow, I think that image is dissapearing. We have, so far, had 3 rocket's explode on the launch pad and every time I've gripped the arm of the kid who was launching the rocket so hard they've asked, "are you okay Mrs. Westby?"... I am NOT fond of exploding rockets. Nor was I particularly pleased when two rockets landed on top of the school. And the rocket that careened towards the teacher parking lot and narowly missed landing on the 2008 Honda Hybrid...not too happy about that either. It is fun for the kids but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it! Note to self, just keep thinking: Summer...summer...summer...summer...

3rd Grade Camp

BEAUTIFUL! Even in the rain.Tayler's class drove down to camp Seymore on Monday morning.
In a RAINSTORM! A buckets of water being dumped from the sky, mixed in with constant drizzle, rainstorm.
We spent the day hiking and learning about forest ecosystems and learning how to use a compass and count our paces. It was a fun day. The kids had a blast despite being soaked. It was also pretty darn cold.

I worked at a camp for many years before I became a full time teacher who needed summers off. I miss camp! However, I was also glad to leave the soggy Pacific Northwest Wilderness for my warm and cozy bed. Who am I kidding, I would have given anything to stay the whole 3 days and play at camp...darn responsibilities! Poor Shane, he will probably get no sleep the next few nights.

Concentrating hard on making a food chain diagram.

Soggy but trying their best to master orientering.

T and Fo on a Boat

T wanted to tell you about the camp her class gets to attend on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. So here is the interview we conducted while riding the ferry today:

Fo: Where are you going to camp?
T: We are going to Camp Seymore in Gig Harbor.

Fo: What are some of the kids most excited about?
T: Some of them are excited about the archery. Some of them are excited about dissecting squid.

Fo: What are you most excited about?
T: Swimming.

Fo: Anything else?
T; Also, in the morning at 7 o'clock you put on your swimming suit and go in the water. Not in the swimming pool. The Puget Sound.

Fo: WHAT!? That sounds crazy?! Who will you do that with?
T: Marian (teacher) and some other kids.

Fo: Brrrrrrrrr...

Fo: What are you most nervous about for camp?
T: If the squids are going to be stinky.

Fo: How late do you get to stay up?
T: You get ready for bed at 9:00. And lights out at 10:00

Fo: What!? That is way past your bedtime! You'll be so tired...
T: smile :)

Fo: Is there anything else about camp you want to tell us about?
T: During rec time you can go to the touch tanks and touch different animals.

So there you have it. T and Shane get to go to camp for 3 whole days! And apparently, they will be doing a lot of swimming and a lot of staying up late. A kids dream.

hmmm...

Did I really use the wrong kind of "to, too, two" in the last post? Embarrassing...

Can't Wait to Camp

I am anxious for summer camping. We love to go mid-week so the campgrounds are empty. But our favorite is to camp in places where there is no campground...that way we are guaranteed to be alone! One big benefit to having two teachers in the family is that summers are wide open...

Some places we hope to go:
Port Townsend
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Old%20Fort%20Townsend&pageno=1

Shi-Shi Beach
http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/faculty/cwillett/local/shi/index.html

Gifford-Pinchot
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/campgrounds/sites/north-fork.shtml

We really hope to take a trip to the Northern California Redwoods and stay at a cabin my Uncle has in the area. The cabin is about an hour north of San Francisco and about 30 minutes from Fort Bragg and Mendocino. Those times might not be possible...you might not be able to be that close to San Francisco and Mendocino at the same time! (Note to self: Ask Mom about that one more time!).

Close to the beach!
Close to San Francisco Sour Dough!
What more could you ask for?

Shower

Cheryl's bridal shower was a hit! Very fun! We even got all of the flower beds cleaned/planted by Saturday morning...MIRACLE.
I can't wait to post more about the shower later...but right now I am supposed to be figuring out how to build rockets with the darn 7th graders. Unfortunately, as I'm new to the school this year, no one remembered to mention the rocket building portion of the curriculum until a few weeks ago. Catastrophe. Normally, I would just say the kids and I are going to figure it out together but with rockets...I really don't want any accidents to happen (i.e. fingers lost). I don't think the rockets are really that powerful....but still.

The only downer to the weekend was that T caught an early summer fever. The poor buster was out of it Saturday night and all day Sunday. No school for her today. Hopefully, she'll get over it quick...