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. 

All Day Birding

I got to go on a field trip with Utah County Birders. My sweet husband held down the fort at home so I could go. He is so sweet to me and I appreciate how he encourages me and supports me. I do the same for him.

So this was my turn. It ended up being an all day birding trip from morning to night. We went East in Utah to Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Pelican Lake Wildlife Management Area, and Starvation Reservoir State Park.

I got to see some first of the year birds and...

see my lifer dance?

I got to see an American Bittern for the first time. One of my nemesis birds. I've heard bitterns before but I've never seen one.

And this is about the look I got of it:

If you look really closely at the stick in the middle of the other sticks in the center of this picture, that is the bittern sticking its bill up in the air. It is a common pose in which to find those birds.

It took forever for the patient birders to point it out for me. But I saw it. Yay!

Other highlights of the trip:

Several first of the year birds including mountain bluebirds and pinyon jays.

Porcupine. Not a bird but always fun to see.

Lots and lots of loons. I never thought I'd say this phrase, "Oh, it's just another loon," but I did on this trip.

Also lots of sandhill cranes. At one stop there were 25-30 sandhill cranes that we could see.

Ospreys are always fun to see (especially when they're carrying fish. This particular osprey was not carrying a fish but I saw others that were).

A nicely posed Loggerhead Shrike on the way out.

It was a good trip. I love this community of birders.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Goofing off on National Goof Off Day? I think not. On March 22, Jet decided to be a big helper and helped me make dinner.

I was making Green Goddess Pitas from "A Season of Family Meal Plans" volume 1. He saw me putting together the cabbage filling, saw the spinach that I was going to use for the dressing, and decided to help by putting bits of spinach in with the cabbage. So we had whole pieces of spinach in with it. That's fine.

Since we did need the spinach in the dressing, I gave Jet a measuring cup and he filled it with spinach himself to put in the blender. He started to do more in the measuring cup so we had a bit more than just the cup of spinach it called for which is fine.

I love that he chooses to help in the kitchen. You know he's my baking buddy. He's also my cooking buddy. He likes when I hand him the measuring spoons and cups to dump ingredients into something. He wanted to help cut onions with a plastic knife but we put a stop to that once he started rubbing his eyes. Poor kid. I did give him pieces of cucumber which he was able to cut with a plastic knife.

Sometimes he really is a big helper. And sometimes... I mean he did help clean the wall the day before... after he took a pencil and ran it back and forth along the wall multiple times.

This is why I refuse to read my children the book, "Harold and the Purple Crayon", which is one I read in my childhood. It's a fun book but I don't want to give them ideas (especially Jet).

The pitas turned out well. It was my turn to make hummus to go with it and we had some left over for Chip and Dip Day on March 23. I also made tzatziki with sour cream (so good) for Chip and Dip Day. I used the recipe from the beginning of the year when we made pitas before. Some people had salsa with their chips.

Earlier that day, Jeremy, Nichole, Lucky, and I went on a Utah County Birders field trip. Unfortunately it was getting ready to storm so there wasn't a lot to see in the way of birds but it was still nice to be around my birding peeps (see what I did there, birding peeps? 'Cause small sandpipers are called peeps? Tee Hee).

We got a thunderstorm and hail later that day and the next day we got snow.

Ah, Spring.

The next day after that, March 25, was International Waffle Day. Jet decided to be my helper in the kitchen again and helped stir the waffle mix before I put it in the waffle iron. Then he was happy to help eat the waffles. Tee Hee.

National Picnic Day 2022

April 23 was Celebrate Trails Day and it was National Picnic Day. Since Jeremy and Nichole were off on another birding field trip, the boys and I talked about going hiking and taking a picnic with us. Jr. really wanted to play Frisbee, though, so we compromised. We went to a park with walking trails where Jet and I walked around while the boys played Frisbee. Then we joined them for a bit before having a picnic on top of a hill. I was surprised Riverview Park wasn't as crowded on a Saturday afternoon/evening. I guess since it's not Summer yet... and there was a bit of wind... and it did rain the day before and looked like it could rain again... and it was jacket weather... Who knows?

First picnic of the season. I'm hoping we have a lot more picnics like we did last year.

 

When we got home, Jr. Jr. made us trail mix to go along with the Celebrate Trails holiday. Then I made cherry cheesecake to celebrate the other holiday that day, National Cherry Cheesecake Day.

Aaagh. I got a splinter in my hand. 

Nichole didn't know how to react to that. I really did get a splinter in my hand then I got it out myself before putting the cherry topping on the cheesecake. I just needed her to get me some paper towels.

Here are some of Nichole's pictures from Jeremy's and Nichole's trip (they got to see sharp-tailed grouse this time):