School's out! FINALLY

Can you believe my boys made it until June 26th?  They really felt robbed that they had to go to school so long in the summer, but they actually loved going to PS 87.  They will remember NYC schools forever.  Their teachers were great and they made great friends. 

 

Lucky for Luke, in 2nd grade they were studying NYC.  So he got to learn about all the cool landmarks in the city and they did a section on the subway system.  Above is a picture with Luke in front of the subway map he mad in school.  

 His diorama was of the unisphere ... the original is in Queens, be we get to see a copy all the time here by us at Columbus Circle.

 His also put together a power point presentation with his buddy Sonny on the details of Grand Central Station.

 

Here is just a typical shot of Luke for ya!  He had afterschool Karate and on the day parents could come watch I got the time wrong.  I was SOOO MAD about it.  I was sitting in the play-yard waiting for our time and when I finally went inside, it was just finishing!  Luke said he saw me from the window (sitting outside dying of heat waiting to go in to his review), but he didn't dare tell his teacher I was there.  Oh well.... My pregnancy brain gets the best of me sometimes.  Me, Jake and Sam shed some tears that we missed it, but Luke was cool about it... I mean, look at this cool cat below.  Nothing shakes him. :)

 Below is a picture of his teachers Jeanie and Carmela.  The teachers here choose if they want to go by first names or not here.  And surprisingly to me, about 90% just use their first names.  I only got a good close up of Jeanie.. but we really loved Carmela too.

 They were so great to him and told me several times how much they loved Luke.  They thought he was the sweetest boy in class that always tried to include others.  Probably on 5 different occasions, they pulled me aside and told me of something really nice he did for them or other kids in the class and they were AMAZED at how he behaved.  It warms your heart to hear things like that, because for some reason.... we mom's don't get a lot of that behavior at home!!! 

 Here is a picture of Luke with his buddies Kai and Freddy.  He also had 2 other friends, Sonny (pictured in his power point shot below) and Ben (I never got a picture of him, dang it!).  But, luke had a play date several times a week out here.  He was sure loved by his peers.  Even the mom's of the girls in his class would come up to me and say, "My daughter just loved Luke."  Luke's class really loved the little boys too.  Sam and Nate came on a couple field trips and the students LOVED them.  I don't know if it's because they don't have lots of siblings here or what, but everyone was so cute to our "HUGE" new york family. :)  In Utah, lots of kids are just annoying, here they are a novelty.

Jake's teacher was Ms. Spencer.  She told us at the first parent teacher conference that she was known to be the hard teacher.  It has been GREAT for Jake.  He's the one that things come easy for, so to have a little challenge was good for him.  He ended up LOVING her and learning a lot.

Ms. Spencer loved Jake.  She told me that he is a perfect mix of friendly, intelligent, and funny.  She said people ask her what she looks for in a man and it would be Jake, if only he was her age. :) 

I thought that was so cute!  She told me I should write a parenting book... I told her to come find me in 30 years and we'll see how they all turn out.  I'm sure I've scarred them for life with all my faults!!  But, it just goes to show you how amazing my boys are inherently.  

They are loved by others in-spite of my parenting!

 In 4th grade this year, the kids learned about the Revolutionary War and about the founding fathers.  It was really fun because we also were able to hit a lot of patriotic sites out here on the East Coast and Jake had been studying about a lot of it in school.  Below are pictures he drew throughout the year.  He is not the natural artist, so this was good for him to be required to do.  His pictures are the top far left... the top far right, and the bottom far right.

 He also had a ballroom dance class and was asked to be presenter of the waltz in front of all the parents in the Dance Gala.

He actually quite enjoyed learning all the dances and all the kids did a great job having to be partners with students of the opposite gender.  However, it did take them a few months to get used to it!
Below is a video of him demonstrating the dance steps.

Jake's afterschool activity was basketball.  He was awarded best defensive player and the coaches came up to me to tell me they loved how much spirit Jake has and what an addition he was to the program this year. Only a handful of boys received big trophies and awards and you bet Jake was stoked to be one of them!  I have to embrace his competitiveness I guess.

 This boy LOVES SPORTS. 

 A few action shots of his all-star game below.  His team got 2nd place in the tournament which was a HUGE upset because they weren't expected to do that well.  Way to go Jake.

 A picture with a few friends of Jake's in class. 

Last day of school pictures below... just a few of the many fun kids we loved at PS 87

 Above are the Marsdens.. my boys loved them.  They are a family of soon to be 8 kids here in the city (LDS of course).  Nate attached himself to their 5 year old girl Sophia and asked me everyday if he could go to "his friend's" house to play.  We spent many hours after-school playing at the school with them.

 Of course we had to get a picture with Brandon Todd.  He is everyone's buddy here, He's only in first grade, but such a stud, all my boys love him.  Even Nate got teary eyed the other day telling me he was going to miss Brandon when we leave.

Of course, we had to grab some Italian Icees for our last day of school. These vendors make a killing because they show up right when school gets out every day and the kids all beg you get them.  I made a rule that we could get one once a week, but this last week we happened to NEED them everyday! :)  YUM!

Washington DC

 We got into DC in decent time and decided to see the National Mall at night!  GOOD CHOICE.  The weather was perfect and the memorials at night are stunning.  Best choice was taking the subway into the city.  They metro system is a lot different than in NYC.  Much bigger and cleaner... but much harder to figure out! :)

 First stop, the capital building.

Then on down to the Washington Memorial.

 Of course, we needed a little ice cream during the walk.  Cute Nate fell asleep, I love that my kids will sleep anywhere!

The world war II memorial is really cool at night.  It was the first memorial that was created with night viewing in mind.  All the memorials have a very sacred feel, but the evening summer nights with lights is very serene. 

 

 Below, Luke found Utah in the pillars of states in the order they joined the union.

We finished the night at the Lincoln Memorial and all of us were amazed at how big the statue is!  Jake was convinced it would be easy to climb up on his lap. Oh, the things boys think of.

 The next day (after a little swimming) we headed back into town.  This time for a bike tour of the mall and city sites.

 SO SUPER FUN.  The Mall is HUGE and to hit it all in a couple hours of biking is the way to go for sure!  The boys all rotated bikes throughout the tour. We had 2 regular kid bikes, a tandem bike I pulled (but actually Sam helped me most the time peddle), and a bike with a trailer Taylor pulled.

 Nate asleep again, but still able to get him in the picture of the white house.  He'll remember all these sites, right?

 Jake displaying the Salt Lake Tribune.  There is a building where a newspaper is displayed every day for every state.  We found Utah, of course.
Below is a picture of the Korean war memorial.  I really liked this one.  Bigger than life size soldiers wandering through the woods.  Cool!

;

 We finished the second day there at the Arlington Cemetery.  My favorite was the tomb of the un-named soldier and we saw the changing of the guard.

One last quick road trip and one more success!

Heather and Breckon!

So happy to have my sister and nephew here for a whole week.  The time went too fast, as always.  But we got a lot of fun things in during their visit.  First stop Brooklyn Bridge.

  If you are going to walk across a bridge you better get some pizza at the end!  YUM Grimaldis.  The wait was a bit long.... especially for Breckon who was sick of pictures. :) haha

 But we were all smiles after the pizza arrived and downed both in NO TIME!

 After pizza, the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory!  Then fun never ends with food in NYC.

 We hit China town on our way back into town and picked up some good memorabilia.  The boys favorite purchases were the hats. :)  And, Nate cried for about an hour until we bought him those sweet glasses.  I think they were a chuck e. cheese prize originally, but SOOO worth the $2 to stop his whining!

 

One of my favorite things about NYC is all the free stuff that happens in Central Park.  I was so glad we got to hit the Shakespeare Plays.  After a few hour wait in the park (thank you Heather for getting there early and entertaining the little boys!).

 Much Ado about Nothing.... I think I probably shouldn't have taken the little boys,  They were bored and asleep by 10pm... the play went until 11!  but everyone else lasted and enjoyed it.

 One of the main characters is a star of one of Breckon's favorite TV series (some horror show), so of course, my boys had to get a picture with her too.  She actually was quite amazing on the stage.

 We did a lot of subway riding... which is always fun. :)

 We did a couple new things with Heather and Breckon that I hadn't done yet in the city.  First, the new 9/11 memorial museum.  I can't believe this is the only picture I got there... ME BEING PREGNANT.  But it was such a cool museum.  My boys actually paid attention for several hours of looking at pictures and watching videos.

 Only 32 weeks and I'm HUGE already.  I haven't taken many pictures documenting this pregnancy.. so this is good to have (I guess). :)

 The other cool thing we hit while touring the city was a Radio City Music Hall tour.  What a cool building and we even got a sweet picture with a Rockette (I'll scan and post that later).  The boys thought it was really cool... which I was surprised about.  And didn't complain at all in the tour with all adults.

 I love the Grand Central Station Building and we actually found the whispering room this time.  Kind of fun to try out.  You can stand in one corner and whisper into the wall and it travels to the other corner really well.

Breckon just got a new job at the bank and was looking for some new work cloths, so of course my boys had to entertain themselves in other ways while shopping.  Actually, Heather and Breckon willingly took the big boys while I was trying to park the car (dang street cleanings in NYC).  Of course who would you rather go shopping with than Heather and Breckon... They found things to entertain the boys.  Love this picture of Jake above. :)

 I've mentioned this before, but Breckon is the best big cousin EVER!  people on the streets were commenting on how great he was with the kids.  One person asked if he was family or a babysitter.  Everyone here has nannies and you know they were wondering if he was for hire!  He found all the ingredients and supplies to help them build a giant bubble blower.  SO FUN to take it to central park!  the boys loved it, and were ready to start panhandling with the act!

 Being the second to last week of school, both Jake and Luke had "publishing parties"  this is where parents and family come into the class for a party to see all the kids work.  How fun for my kids to have a whole slew of supporters. 

We had SOOO FUN with them here.  I'm so grateful for my family and the fact that we all love to be around them.  Thanks Heather and Breckon for making the trek out to the big city.  My sister has come to visit me in every house and state we've lived.  What would I do without her! 

 Sunday dinner is always entertaining!