End of School Year Things

So much happened the end of the school year. Let me try to share some of it. This is not necessarily in order.

 

Field trips! 

Jet went bowling. Lucky went roller skating. The whole school went to watch Paddington at a movie theater. 

When I asked Jet what he liked about bowling, he told me, "I liked knocking down a lot of pins."

 

Reading Hall of Fame! 

Jet and Lucky both did enough reading for the Hall of Fame this year that they got certificates, posters, bookmarks, and a new book each.

Lucky got a special framed certificate and another book for doing the Hall of Fame all the years of elementary school.

 

Student Council Party!

Lucky was the secretary of the Student Council this year and they had a party at the end of the year. When I went to drop him and a friend off for the party, they started heading toward the door then all of a sudden ran the other direction and into the parking lot. A few other kids did the same. I realized, it was because they were helping carry food and things in for the party. No hesitation, these kids immediately went to help. I appreciate seeing this from these students. They are a good example to others (no wonder they were accepted into student council this year). 

Lucky brought home a service award "for outstanding leadership, character, and service."

 

Two of the aides in Jet's class retired this year so we went to a little retirement party held for them at the school and Jet made them cards.

Jr. Jr. also got a bunch of certificates for surviving junior high. He and I went to a celebration. Then we practiced some juggling afterward.

You saw the train he made, right? See my blog post from May 14, 2026. Jr. Jr. brought home a candy dispenser he made, too. 

 

I got to go to an assembly at the elementary school where Lucky was presented with a Hope of America Award. It was awarded to Lucky "who has demonstrated during this school year capacity for leadership, ethical and moral character and outstanding academic accomplishment."

I was talking with a mom of one of Lucky's friends who also got the award about how it was fun to see how several of these students were good friends. It's nice to know that they are good influences on each other. Keep up the good work, kids.

 

I went to the elementary school dance festival to watch Lucky and Jet dance. They both did great. Jet's first and Lucky's last.

What a cool kid.

Woohoo! We survived another school year. 

We Are Birders

Jeremy, Nichole, and I all took on the 2022 challenge for Utah County Birders. This time it was seeing at least 22 species in as many different counties in Utah as possible and going to field trips and to UCB meetings.

Jeremy went out a few times on his own and with the family. I went out a few times on my own and with the kids (remember 2-22-22?). Jeremy and I went on field trips together. Nichole and I went on field trips together. At times our whole family went out together (Snow Goose Festival, anyone? Spring Break at the lek?).

Jeremy reached the Silver level and got a bird box (owl or kestrel). Nichole and I both reached the Bronze level. I got a birding calendar. Nichole got a photo print of a bird.

We got our awards and certificates at the first of the year meeting at the Golden Corral. It's been a few years since we've been able to meet like that there. Last time was January of 2020 when I stayed home with a new baby and Jeremy took Nichole and Jr.

Oh, I love birding and I love Utah County Birders. It was so good to see birding friends again and to see some new birders. I love it.

Congrats, Jr.

Two years ago Nichole finished off junior high at home. She went to the school to pick up certificates. Some teachers even dropped off prizes.

This year, Jr. got to go to the junior high for a kind of graduation thing. He got to sit on the stage to be recognized with other students who did outstanding in certain areas at school. Jeremy and I were there watching him. Then he got certificates and we said, "Yay," and he got to see some friends who also said, "Yay." I'm paraphrasing here, of course.

Then we went home and celebrated with the family by eating Devil's Food Cake (May 19 was Devil's Food Cake Day).

Since May 19 was the anniversary of the Rubik's Cube, Jr. used some of his saved up points at school and got himself another Rubik's Cube. I think this kid may have as many or more than me at this point. Love it.

Congrats, Jr. I know you were so exhausted by the end of the day but you did it!

It Never Ends

The school year is completely over for Nichole yet she still had a teacher bring by a couple more certificates and some big candy bars.

Look What I Did

Jr.: I solved the Rubik's Cube... and won a prize.

Another prize dropped off at the doorstep, this time for extra credit in science. Way to go, Jr. And way to go solving the Rubik's cube.
Nichole had to go to the school to pick up her award certificates for several classes but her science teacher delivered her science prize to the door. The students had to have a certain number of biological encounters in a year's time and they would be awarded a prize if they had the most in a certain category. Nichole had the most encounters with... you guessed it, birds. Over 200 species in a year.

Field Day 2020

Like the virtual dance festival we submitted our video to, the elementary school also had a virtual field day this year. We were sent a slide show with activities we could choose from and after we were done we sent pictures and videos to the school so they could make a compilation of what families did to get moving.

Here's a run down of our field day (with water breaks and other kinds of breaks).

We created our own warm-up activity: copy the baby's movements. The one time he decided not to roll over but just flail his arms and legs. He got a kick out of his brothers wiggling around on the floor with him.

Outside, Jr. Jr. and Lucky played a dance/freeze game where they followed the actions of a song and did some dancing, hopping, and other actions like that until they were told to freeze and hold their position for a bit.

Back inside we "rode" on a roller coaster. Jr. Jr. sat on my lap, Lucky sat on Jr.'s lap, and Jet sat in the bouncer seat. We leaned forward, backward, and sideways with the coaster (then I had the boys do it again so I could get pictures).

Jr. Jr. and Lucky followed a tutorial and drew popsicles.

Lunch Break!
In the afternoon/evening, the boys and I went outside again to do some other activities: drawing with sidewalk chalk, hopscotch, and riding bikes and scooters.

I pushed the baby in the stroller and took pictures of birds (and of the boys, of course).

On a different but somewhat related note because it had to do with the elementary school, Jeremy went to the school to pick up the boys' classroom items. Besides a reading award (certificate) Lucky got, both boys got participation awards that said, "Certificate of Participation Awarded to: ____ May 28th, 2020 For successfully completing homeschooling during the Covid 19 pandemic and all online activities, such as the online dance festival and virtual field day!"

It's been a lot of hard work getting through the end of the school year but we survived. Go, us!

Bird Nerds

Last year, Jeremy, Nichole, and I participated in a challenge to see lots of different birds in Utah, as well as going on field trips and to Utah County Birders meetings.
This evening, Jr., Nichole, Jeremy, and I went to a dinner for Utah County Birders where they awarded certificates and prizes for the challenge.  Based on points (birds have different points based on rarity- so the blue-footed booby Jeremy traveled to Lake Powell to see got him some decent points), Jeremy reached the silver level.  I reached the bronze level.  Nichole didn't reach the bronze level, but she got up a couple times at 4 o'clock in the morning to go on birding trips and was an active birder when she was able to so she received an honorable mention.  Joshua isn't quite there yet.  He just started a life list and hasn't done as much even as Nichole but he got to go to dinner with us.

As far as prizes go, Nichole got a wildlife calendar and Jeremy and I both got something we'd really been wanting.  We'd seen other birders with these license plate frames so we each picked out one for ourselves.

They say, "Utah County Birders" on the top and on the bottom, "I'd rather be birding."

We had a nice dinner and it's always nice to chat with other birders.  I felt like I knew quite a few of the people there. What a nice evening we had.

How Was Your Trip? (Part 3)

Goodbye, Pacific Northwest.  Hello, Idaho.
On our way back to Utah, we stayed a couple days with friends in Idaho.  These were friends we knew before either of us couples got married.  When they got married, they moved into the same apartment complex as us at BYU.  Our firstborn children are only a few months apart, so they just had to be friends.  These are those lifelong friends that you never lose and you visit each other from time to time.
While visiting them, we went to a playground and splash pad and met up with yet another friend from that BYU quad (apartment complex with four buildings surrounding a central grassy area) and her kids.  The kids again had so much fun playing together.

The kids ate lunch together then we all went back to the first friend's house.  More fun.  After the second friend and kids went home, we had some relaxing time and watched a movie.

That evening, we went to their local library for trivia night.  The librarians had set up a trivia game for adults to play.  The four of us played taking turns watching kids.  We substituted a person each round.  The kids had fun playing in the library and had fun afterward at the park across the street.

Once we left Idaho, we stopped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and let the kids earn Junior Ranger patches.  They got to check out backpacks with gear in them to help the kids do activities to fill out worksheets.  When they finished, they got certificates.  We showed those certificates at the gift shop and got to buy patches for them.

So for those of you who ever want to do that, know you have to buy the patches.  They were only $2 each, though, and we'd been wanting to let the kids do that for some time.  But the certificates are free with doing the activities.  And the activities take some time.  So plan a lot of time.

We made it back late to our overheated home.  Nichole fell asleep on the couch and I went out to take pictures of the moon.
It was a wonderful vacation and hooray!  I finally blogged about it.  So for those that wonder, "How was your trip?" there you go.  It was an adventure.  It had laughter, tears, sickness, injury, birds, fun, family, friends, waterfalls, the ocean, birthdays, celebrations, resting, Duck Tales, and a whole lot of awesomeness.  Ta-Da.