It wasn't exactly smooth sailing at The Academy this year on our final day . . . it turns out the older students had the foresight to complete necessary work ahead of time, and clue the younger students in to their plan. However, the younger students decide they'd just take the school days as they came, which resulted in two very happy grade-level graduates, one slightly behind the times graduate, and one who couldn't believe a math worksheet--covered in division problems--was standing between him and fourth grade ;)When lunchtime rolled around, the *Principal* returned from getting the breaks swapped and the oil changed on the family mover, and took over classroom monitoring so I could snag a shower. I joke that it was teacher-appreciation day, but getting me to leave the house to do something specifically for myself is kind of like asking me to jump off a cliff to rescue a book I didn't like reading in the first place.
However, with school complete--hooray!! Lunch eaten--whew! And the kids employed in the beautification of the yard (Gab's turn to mow--she no likey; especially the blisters on her hands ;) . . . I, the teacher, set forth to conquer the mall. My sweet husband told me to take my time, and it turns out I did! I took so much time that I nearly missed the return time necessary to engage in the evening's activities! However, a couple of major awesome finds . . . first, any shopping I get to do in the baby girls' department; I was nearly teary-eyed, how crazy is that?! SUCH cute little baby togs out there in the world! My CO nieces will be stylin' this summer ;) Also, I found G 100% COTTON sweat pants!! What?! He's not had sweatpants since he was a toddler and we figured out synthetic fabrics irritated his skin. When we travel, he's in jean shorts or khaki pants. Not any more, oh, no sir! He was SO excited when I showed him what I'd found, and then he was excited again to try them on, and then SUPER excited when they were washed and ready to wear. I love when making him happy is so simple :)
Meanwhile . . . while I was shopping, the kids were enjoying a long-standing tradition of enjoying ice cream as a last day of school treat! I'm told "no one got a small" My how times have changed :)
Because he earned a free kids' meal during his tooth pull, and he had a chore chart prize of "choose the next restaurant we eat out at as a family" . . . we went to Applebee's for supper. Now, I'm not a fan of the Bee's and we've lived here two years without ever stepping foot in the door. But, it was his pick, so we went with it. Right off the bat, the waitress said we'd have to wait up to 25 minutes for a table . . . we're looking at the half empty space going, wait, what?! The manager finally came over, turned a table sideways (we were negotiating seats at the three empty two-seaters all in a row) . . . and we were seated in two minutes. The meal was meh . . . Buck got food poisoning from the mac and cheese with chicken strips--he was miserable for two days, plus his back is so sore he can hardly walk. I bit into a chunk of blackened pepper than nearly cracked my molars (you know the kind of bites that make your gums ache for an hour afterwards?) and half of the steak (I knew in advance I strongly dislike their steak) was too fatty to chew. If we have another child receive a meal certificate as a bravery gift, I think we'll just request a second pack of gum, lol :)
So, we left the 'rant with not-yet-unhappy bellies (Bren also had some pain the next day), and headed down to the river to enjoy a free outdoor concert. Yes, the clouds were deep gray and billowing. Yes, the wind was shivery cold when it chose to blast at 40 mph. Yes, we came with one blanket and an oversized beach towel--zero umbrellas. No, we had no idea where we were going, but it all turned out! Gosh, we had so much fun! We got soaked. We stood under lightening streaks and thunder claps (but only for a few minutes), while the Movers were slipping and sliding all over the stage. They were so funny! They said the bought the jumpsuits they wear so they could look cool like the Beastie Boys, but forgot they are from Louisiana . . . they said for the first time in 10 years of performances, they actually felt comfortable in their chosen attire :) They also said this is the first airport that has questioned the purpose of an adult-sized LED-lit onesie in the Movers' suitcase. It almost felt like they didn't have a plan, they were just up there rolling with whatever happened. That was fine with us. G screamed and sang til he was hoarse. The girls took awhile to warm up to the full dance moves, but once they started playing popular songs like Happy and Shake it Off--they were all in :)
We watched a helicopter take off and land near the stage like three times, there was a cowboy shootout to our left, BMX bike demonstrations, and even mechanical bull riding. Our girls were eyeing that activity and were only deterred when the found out it would cost $20 plus in tickets. Guess we'll save the bull riding for some other concert venue ;)
Good times!
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