End-of-the-Year Madness

Doesn't the end of the school year always feel like a whirlwind?  End-of-year gifts, end-of-year parties, recitals, performances, graduations...it's killer.  I wish some programs would offer "final" performances that didn't follow the school calendar.  Maybe have a final dance recital in April?  I don't know...something to keep us parents from going mad!

So here is what we went through at the end of school...

1. Elina's End-of-Year party--Another mom and I decided to do Minute to Win It games with Elina's class on the last day of school (you know, instead of having them watch tv ALL day long!).  It was...errrrr...crazy...BUT super fun and the kids were really thankful for the games.  There was a lot of shouting and screaming when the games took place.

 
The one thing that surprised me was how quickly the kids would yell out, "You cheated!" for no reason.  It was weird.  The other mom and I had to remind the kids, "This is just for FUN!!  We're supposed to be having FUN!" At the end we rolled out a red carpet and handed out candy awards to each kid, too.  I didn't get many pics because I was busy handing out the awards, but it was super cute.

2. Last soccer games--Elina and Eli really had fun with soccer this season.  

We lucked out because we had a spring that wasn't blazin' hot like it usually is.  The kids did pretty well, but we decided that they are just not aggressive enough for this game, especially Elina.  She didn't want to steal the ball away for fear of accidentally kicking someone.  She would just run up and down the field, but not touch the ball.  It was very frustrating to watch.  Surprisingly, though, she said she really enjoyed it!  So that's a plus!  I think she's better suited for less aggressive team sports (like volleyball) or sports that require individual performance (like tennis).  Eli wasn't super aggressive about getting the ball either, but he gave it some flair!  He would combine ninja/karate moves while kicking the ball and running down the field.  It was very entertaining!  But now, Eli's obsessed with basketball, so we'll probably let him try it out in the fall.  We were just glad they had lots of fun playing soccer.  They didn't enjoy having 8am Saturday games sometimes, but we all made it and had a great time!

3. Spring Piano Recital--This happened just a few hours after the kids' last soccer games.  Talk about a busy day!

Elina played "Reflections on the Thames" beautifully.  She also played it at her school talent show this year.  Unfortunately, I had to miss it because I was teaching at music class, but B attended and said she did a great job.   Eli did an excellent job playing "Big Green Frog."  My video is a little blurry though because I forgot to focus!!  But you can hear him playing it really well!   The kids also performed their duet again, "Oh, Susannah!"  They have so much fun playing that.
4. Karate Belt Graduation--Elina received her orange belt!  She couldn't believe she earned it!  She really did work hard at the end to make her kicks better.  Eli is still a yellow belt with 2 stripes, but we're sure he'll get to orange soon.

5. Evie's Spring Dance Recital--This one was actually a little stressful.  There was a photo shoot the morning of Elina's belt graduation.  Then there was a dress rehearsal that didn't let out until 8pm.  Then the night of the recital, we didn't get home until 10:15pm!  Of course, Evie was a good sport about it all, but she really didn't like the recital.  I think she likes to dance, but not do all the backstage waiting and prepping.  Everyone had to stay backstage for the duration of the recital (2 hours).  We took Elina to the recital, but we left Eli and Eulee at home with the babysitter.  Elina liked watching the dancers, but after awhile, the novelty wore off.  I loved watching the older girls dance...they're really amazing!
(In the pictures and video, Evie is the girl all the way to the right on the stage.)

Even though Evie didn't fully enjoy it, she still looked super cute in her blue dress.  I had trouble putting her hair up into a high bun because her hair is so thin and short!  There were definitely some tears in her eyes when I put in all the bobby pins tightly.

Evie's performance was pretty hilarious.  All the girls dance and then they have to all join hands and jump around in a circle.  At the end, they need to go back to their original spots.  When the dance first began, it looked like everyone was doing their own dances...all at different tempos and starting at different times.  Totally cute though.  Then they got into the circle and danced around...and danced around...and danced around.  The girls weren't letting go and returning to their original spots.  So Evie, drops the hands of the girls next to her and she walks over to her original spot and ends the song.  She was the ONLY one who went back to her spot. All the other girls were still holding each others' hands!!  It was SO funny!  We all couldn't stop laughing!  What a good girl!  It was as if she said, "Hey, I'm outta here!  I don't know what you guys are all doing!"  Great memories!!!  Elina used my phone to get this video, so part of it goes black for a few seconds because she forgot she was recording. =)

So that's how busy our lives were from the end of May until the second week of June.  Finally we can enjoy our summer!!  Yay, summer!!