School is OUT!

Summer therapy

As the last full week of school drew to a close, there was a definite sense of summer's arrival and the need to dispense with school already. I mean, last year we were done on a Friday the same as another local charter school. But this year, we had the school assembly and then--gotcha--more school on the way. WHY?? So it was with a bit of a letdown that we finished up Friday afternoon without that feeling of relief and settled for a somewhat rainy evening to celebrate La Noche de San Juan at the park with our Spanish crew. We added in a few more friendly faces, including Quinn and Katie and their French amies. The mood was festive and that was helpful to remind me that food and friends are really all you need any time. We'd deal with school later...the temporary rain showers threatened all evening, but only really picked up once we were almost done. I got slightly soaked in a tent-top waterfall as we folded things up, but oh well. I suppose it did cool me off. 

Elisa had her rebound sleepover at Birdie's house scheduled for Saturday night and with Nacho working, I wasn't sure I could take on a sleepover spectacular for Carolina at our place. The girl wanted to invite 3-4 friends and I told her that would have to wait. Unfortunately Elisa had already handed out our address on a slip of paper to Blair, one of the friends, so I had a slightly hilarious conversation with her mom about that. No, you do not have to drop your daughter off at some random street in Sunnyside on Saturday night. Oy, these kids. They seem so mature sometimes but then their hair-brained ideas reveal the truth. They are really just crazy little bundles of excitement trying to scheme their way into a house party for all their friends. In the end, I tried just inviting Kira, but she was out of town so that put the final kibosh on a sleepover. How about a mommy-daughter date? I sold it to Carolina as an anything-you-want-to-do kind of extravaganza and she was in. Could we go to Toys R Us? Why not? Could we eat pizza and make slime? SOLD. We had a graduation party at the park for Chris and so after that we dropped Elisa and Carolina and I took off for a little evening adventure in College Point. We hit Toys R US, then pizza at our old standby Coppola's and then capped the night at Target buying a few slime supplies while I snuck in some shopping too. Then home by 9pm to--whew!--make slime, have a disco party and try to make it to bed before midnight. I have to say Carolina was a breeze and even gave me an out at one point. She told me we could finish her list of sleepover agenda items the next day. No biggie. But I wanted to persevere and make her evening special. The only thing we didn't get to do was froyo, but that could wait. She was happy enough and we both enjoyed our silly evening under the disco lights playing with slime. Of course, upon Elisa's return Sunday morning, she immediately whined that she didn't get to make any. Which was half the plan. We would make more and I decided to spare myself hours of torture and just go ahead and do it. Yes, let me dive into this new brave world of slime with my whole self. It wasn't so bad after all and they were elated. The slime sisters rejoiced! 

We finished off our long weekend with a bit of a birthday swim meet up in honor of Jamie's 44th. Kristin hosted at their pool which meant I could bake up a little something and bring some snacks and we'd have a grand old time just a few of us splashing around. Last year their apartment building offered memberships to the pool for prorated amounts depending on when you joined. It seemed to be the perfect hush hush way to have an outdoor pool in the neighborhood without too much fuss. We didn't join, but only because we were traveling so much and in the end, we went as guests enough times that I probably should have just done it. But I figured I would go ahead and get a membership this year and then, lo and behold, they didn't offer any. Oh well. If it's too good to be true, it usually won't last, right? So having this opportunity to swim was a real treat and we enjoyed every minute of it. The night with a perfect sunny drive home and two tired girls. Summer was starting off right. The next day we slept in way later than I planned and I woke to a text from Marija asking about our plans for this last day off school. Having the Monday off felt like a terrible trick since there were still two days of school left. I wanted to get out and do something but what? Finally we agreed to hit the Hall of Science in Flushing with our Cool Culture cards. It enabled us to have free entry and then pay the $5 each for the playground. We didn't realize their cafeteria was under renovations, so lunch had to wait a bit. But we snacked and played and finally made it to the Connected Worlds exhibit which was closed the last time we came. After pizza nearby, we took them to The Lemon Ice King of Corona for their first visit! A true summer staple and I think they all enjoyed it. Cotton candy flavored ice is still surprisingly awesome and we made it back to Sunnyside just in time for our last gymnastics class with Emma in tow. Yes, this summer stuff is going to be all about long days running around getting to see and do so much. 

School Daze

Today was the last all-school assembly at AOC and I wanted to be there since every class was going to share something and I'd already missed their individual class shares earlier in the year. As we get on in this experiment called life, I realize that school assemblies are great and all, but I try to save myself for the ones that really count. And today I was glad to be there. It also came at the end of a hard week for the kids at Academy. A fifth grader died last weekend from complications from an asthma attack and it has really resonated throughout the community just how fragile life can be. Just when he should have been up there dancing and jamming with his class mates, celebrating the end of his reign at AOC, we were left with one student missing and lots of tear-stained cheeks from parents, teachers, and students alike. The counselor herself was awash in grief and I thought how hard that must be to support the kids when you yourself are dealing with such a loss. The school has already hosted a memorial service last night so today's assembly didn't mention the student by name. But when the fifth graders sang "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa, I think we all knew it had taken on new meaning for them. 

So let the light guide your way, yeah

Hold every memory as you go

And every road you take, will always lead you home, home

It's been a long day without you, my friend

And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

We've come a long way from where we began

Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

When I see you again

I was a mess of tears as I stood there watching them sing their hearts out. Yes, this year is almost over and it ends with a bittersweet mix of euphoria and sadness. You can never start early enough talking about love and loss. Grief comes in so many stages as we make our way through life. Just recently Elisa learned that Birdie won't be returning to AOC next year. She was devastated, especially after the girls recently petitioned their teachers to be in the same class next year.  I know she will overcome it, but for now, she is a bit melancholy and that's not for me to fix. I can only say I know that she's disappointed. I would be too. So today I gave my own girls big hugs on the way out. You can never do that enough. Life has lots of twists and turns, and you just have to keep looking out for the goodness around the next bend. It's there. Right now, it's called summer. 

Making Progress