How We Spent Our April Vacation

Last week was school vacation week.  We didn’t have any exciting vacation plans, so pretty much left it up to the girls to decide what we should do.

I woke up to this every day.  Closed doors = sleeping children. (Emily slept in the guest room so that she wouldn’t be awoken by Elizabeth)  They got between 9 and 11 hours of sleep each night.  I hope that their internal batteries recharged enough to get them through these final seven weeks of school.

On Thursday, we visited a very cool fish store in New Haven.  Elizabeth has been working hard toward getting a new and better tank – and by working hard, I mean a well-written business case that included prices, protocols, fish species (well-researched), etc.  This was the ultimate result.

And lest you think that the visit to the fish store was all about the fish…..well, it wasn’t.  Of course this guy spied Lee the second we walked in the door and climbed aboard as soon as he had the chance.

Elizabeth, who is a lot like her father, was also a willing victim.  Emily and I kept our distance.

On Friday, we went to Yankee Candle flagship store (their choice) and then toured Deerfield Academy in the afternoon, meeting with faculty (a former Groton classmate of Lee’s) and the admissions office.  These visits do nothing to diminish her boarding school enthusiasm – fortunately, they also cause her to dig deep when it comes to her studies.

Last, but not least, Emily got a hedgehog.  After she begged us for a hedgehog for a few weeks, Lee and I looked into it.  And promptly told her "no way".  When we were at Yankee Candle, she stumbled across this fake hedgehog and of course we let her get it (purchased with her own money).  Now everyone is happy.

Walk A Thon

On May 6th, Elizabeth and Emily are participating in a Walk A Thon for their school.  The goal of this event is to raise $20,000 to support new technology for the school.  Most of our classrooms have smart boards and the students all use computers in class (the middle school uses tablets instead of text books!), but the needs and the technology are ever-changing.  The girls are accepting flat fee donations (must be received by 5/6, checks made payable to JPII School) and per-lap sponsors.  Please contact us if you would like to sponsor one or both of them!!!

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a very busy one for us.  Emily played two soccer games for Sporting on Friday night (we got home at 10 pm!); Elizabeth played in two varsity soccer games for school on Saturday morning; Emily played in two JV soccer games for school on Saturday afternoon and then headed directly to a Magic game; Emily played one final game for Magic on Sunday night, 45 minutes away.  Phew!  That's a lot of driving and a lot of soccer! 

Magical Lamps

Elizabeth recently put her artistic baking abilities to work, creating Magic Lamp cupcakes for the concession stand at the school play.  She created the genie lamps from fondant, which we then spray painted with edible gold spray paint.  She then made the cupcakes and frosted each one perfectly.  I have to say, we were pretty impressed with the final product - and they sold out completely (at $1.50 each!).  We can't wait to see her next creation.

 She has way more patience than me.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse season has started and Elizabeth could not be happier.  Both girls are playing again this year, but this is really Elizabeth's sport.  She is playing for both the Juniors and Seniors teams and in their first two games of the season, they are 2-0.  This is quite the feat, as all Middletown girls lacrosse teams have only won two games over their first three seasons.  In the first game, Elizabeth played for the Seniors (mostly 7th and 8th graders) and she scored twice.  She's never taken a shot before - why, we don't know - and Lee and I have really been on her about shooting this year.  I guess it worked!  Her first game was the best we've ever seen her play, and her team as well.  We are really looking forward to watching the games this season.

Sprinting the length of the field in the Seniors game.  Elizabeth plays middie and recovered this ball in the defensive zone, which meant she needed to sprint from one end of the field to the other to set up a scoring opportunity.

In the second half of the first game, Elizabeth won every single draw.  It was awesome!

Juniors game.

March Odds and Ends

Photos that didn't make it into any March posts:

Invention Convention - Magnetic Memories

Invention Convention - Fish Ferry 1000

Emily's Good Friday diorama.

Emily had a gorgeous assist in her Sporting game, followed by two goals in her Magic game.  She's had more than 15 assists this winter, but only one goal, so she was happy to break that scoring drought.

The heart remembers what the mind forgets.  #livelokai

Aladdin

Last weekend, the JPII drama club put on an amazing production of Aladdin and His Magical Lamp.  The auditions were in early October and the students and director of the play worked tirelessly to bring the show to life.  Elizabeth had the top score (for a non-soloist) at the auditions, landing her a pretty good part in the show.  Emily, as a younger student, had a smaller role, but made the intermission announcement (she did great!).  We were so impressed with how well they pulled the performance together.  It was such an enjoyable event to be part of.

In order for there to be enough parts, the play was a mixture of the movie and the book.  Elizabeth played Aladdin's sister.

Emily was a citizen of Shamar - lots of singing, which she loves!!

Prince Ali!!!

Intermission announcement.

Aladdin comes into some money in the second act of the play, so Elizabeth goes from street vendor to wealthy citizen.

On the second night, the popcorn maker set off the smoke detector....the firemen took a photo with the cast.

The cast and crew.

Both of our girls received a perfect attendance award.

6th graders!!  Elizabeth was a little quick to change.

Back Outside

Last weekend and this weekend, the indoor and outdoor soccer seasons overlapped.  Emily's outdoor game last weekend was cancelled due to pouring rain, but she played three indoor games.  This weekend, she had two outdoor and one indoor game (missing her last Magic indoor game because of the school play).  She scored in her last indoor game (after quite a drought, she's been on a bit of scoring streak lately, scoring five goals in her last three indoor games) and drew a penalty that resulted in another goal, which was a good way to end the year.  Hopefully, the transition back outside will be a smooth one.  The outdoor field is much larger and when they are on grass, the ball doesn't always cooperate, which is something they all need to get used to again.

Saturday morning was very cold.  Emily allowed two goals, but stopped a couple of breakaways too.

Making the effort for the cross.

On Sunday, the temps were a bit warmer.  She had 9 saves and didn't allow any goals during her half in net.