lucky number 7

Weeks and weeks and weeks ago, I turned 7. Weeks and weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday.

There are considerably fewer birthday party options here than there are in Austin. We did extensive birthday party research (we even created a spreadsheet!) and decided that PISE was the best choice for a boy who likes  loves  needs to play sports all day every day.

I invited my dearest friends from school, a boy from soccer, a boy named Atticus, and the sweetest little princess I met in a restaurant months ago.

At my party, we played almost two hours of gym games led by the Physical Literacy Leaders. (They ran us ragged. completely ragged.)

Then they released us, a ravenous bunch, for food.

When I first moved to Victoria, I saw a monster truck cake at the bakery. And that was the cake I had been talking about all year. It exceeded my expectations, though I don't think I ate any of it.

The best part of the cake, aside from the monster truck crushing the three vehicles, was the crumbled up brownies that the baker used for mud.

this is the end

When my dad departs for work tomorrow, he leaves our home empty for the next family to move into by the end of the day. 

I was so very lucky to grow up in a yard that covers nearly an acre and backs up against hundreds and hundreds of acres of undeveloped land owned by friendly neighbors who welcomed us to explore.

The photos below are not in chronological order. But they so perfectly summarize how I spent ages 0-6.

Before I started school, I spent every waking moment outside. Once I started school, I would always retreat to the yard at the end of each day. Sometimes I wouldn't even go inside (except to wash my hands and dash back out). I would be served a snack inside of my climbing cube. I was content for hours. digging. walking. chasing my dog. looking. talking to neighbors who walked by at the same time every day. watching the sun go down. watching the sky fill with stars. 

I can tell by the photo above that it was taken after 4:00pm. My neighbor was a sheriff and he arrived home every day precisely at 4:00pm. Hi Atticus, his voice would boom. 

This is me when I was first learning to walk. At first, I could barely make it off the porch. Then I could bravely venture to all corners of the yard. My yard always had soccer balls, baseballs, footballs, large balls for playing catch. A favorite game: throwing a ball up on the roof and watching it come back down; this was inspired by Grover's song about playing by yourself. 

Do you see the columbine by my ball? Right now (mid-March) is the best time of the year in my yard. The columbine had spread throughout the yard and it starts to bloom, followed by the wildflowers and my mimosa tree. Sadly, my massive lavender that was planted in 2004 was recently slaughtered; to see it in bloom was spectacular. And it tasted good too. 

On my second birthday, I was overjoyed to receive a gift of a bucket of rocks from my dear friend Anne. One of the rocks was almost perfectly round and it fit into a groove in a larger flat rock. I spent hours moving the rocks around my yard. 

and this is why I never ever cared about TV

We know nothing, really, about the new family who will move into our house. We have heard they have a little boy. I hope he loves my yard as much as I do. 

Seattle

We finally made our first trip to Seattle since we have been in Victoria!

Until I was sick last week, I had never ever EVER missed a single day of school. (Right, ZERO absences in three years!) But I was allowed to be absent on Friday so we could leave for Seattle on Thursday afternoon.

We woke up to a sunny and warm morning in Seattle on Friday. I watched some construction (way better than television) while I waited for my breakfast. Apparently, they are building another Hyatt just for me.

Even if I told you, you would not even believe how much I ate for breakfast. I will submit proof of that shortly.

After breakfast, I swam some laps. I am still small enough that it tends to surprise people when I enter the water and proceed to swim lap after lap of front crawl. Or swim underwater from one end of the pool to the other. I wonder what they would think to see me jump off the platform at my diving lesson. Speaking of diving, I can now do a backwards somersault into the water! (Note: I did NOT practice any diving at my hotel pool. It is too shallow. Safety first. Like my diving coach bluntly tells us at every lesson: if you don't follow the rules, you will drown or die.)

After swimming, we went walking. and walking. and walking. and walking. We logged more than five miles. It was during our walk that it became even more apparent that I had eaten too much at breakfast. Around downtown Seattle, where some of my favorite food is, my mom kept offering me snacks. cookies, pastries, drinks, pizza, donuts. Even at Le Panier, I couldn't be coaxed into eating a croissant au beurre; I could barely manage to choke down a glass of milk while my mom enjoyed her caramel macaron. oh the misery.

After our long walk, I used my gift card to buy a Lego set at Barnes and Noble. No trip is complete without a new Lego set.

On Saturday morning, Trinity picked me up early (I won't say bright and early because it was dark) so my mom could go to her race. She participated in the Rainier Tower stair climb. 40 flights!

Saturday was fun. more eating. more walking. more Lego. more talk about how badly I want to move to Seattle. tomorrow.

Our view from the ferry as we left on Sunday morning . . .

D Day

Christmas break finally ended and I returned to school on Monday.

The new year brought new, more exciting and challenging, work in school. I now have spelling homework that is assigned on Monday and a weekly test on Friday. I was placed in the most advanced spelling group with only two other students. I find the words to be a bit easy and I got them all correct in the practice test on Monday. 

On Tuesday, I was introduced to division. 

On Tuesday after school, I started diving lessons. (Yes, those little people on the diving platform . . . that is me with my diving crew.) Since I have been in swimming lessons since I was six months old, there really aren't lessons here that meet my needs perfectly so I am giving diving a try. Twice a week, I will go to diving for 90 minutes. The class includes 30 minutes of tumbling, 30 minutes of diving, and 30 minutes on the trampoline. And I have to wear a speedo!

About my diving program:

Located on Vancouver Island in the city of Victoria, Boardworks trains at Saanich Commonwealth Place which was built for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.  Known as one of the premier diving facilities in Canada and around the world, SCP provides Boardworks athletes with the opportunity to train at a high quality facility whose Commonwealth Games legacy focuses on maintaining an internationally competitive facility in order to assist high performance athletes achieve their international goals.

grade 2.7

Last week proved to be an exciting one, even without Thanksgiving and a real Black Friday and putting up the Christmas tree.

I participated in the first-ever teddy bear dress up contest at school on Thursday. On the morning of the contest, I decided we should leave for school unreasonably early so we could get a prime parking spot and visit my favorite cafe for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate. I also caught up on the curling news. I have decided that curling looks like an interesting sport (sweeping rocks along ice with a broom! so much fun!) and I will try it once I am old enough.

I had dressed my fluffy white bear in my Seattle Sounders uniform and cleats. My bear was the first to arrive, and he was followed by hundreds of bears. He was seated next to a bear dressed as Russell Wilson - complete with a helmet and football and that reminds me that I left my NFL football in Texas. At the very end of the day, the six winners were announced and I won third place! Congratulations to me and my bear!

We also picked up my glowing report card at the end of the day. I continue to be a superstar at reading and math and French. Despite very limited exposure to French before this school year, I have picked up this new language incredibly quickly. I can count to 20 and my vocabulary is expanding by the day. My written work in my cahier is neat and accurate. I know weather, seasons, household objects, and colors.
I mean colours.
I mean les couleurs.

On Friday, my mom had a conference with my teachers. More and more awesome things were said about me. I have been assessed as reading at a grade 2.7 level. I am working on multiplication. I have a memory like a trap. I am excelling at science and social studies and pretty much everything.

So long, farewell (graduation stories)

It was either a lifetime ago or maybe just yesterday, I graduated from the primary program at my Montessori school in Austin. The celebration and ceremonies lasted throughout the week. 

Early in the week, our class presented our cultural challenge. I recited Hickory Dickory Dock. There was a magic show, some jokes, more jokes, dancing, a cello performance, and the traditional singing of So Long, Farewell to bid us graduates goodbye. I was paired with my dearest friend for our departure. Someone please pass a box of kleenex around to the parents. The children love this farewell song, until it sinks in that it means we will never be together like this again. 

Now that I have moved on, we don't really need to talk about how not smoothly graduation week went. Despite the 23 years of tradition, plans were changed. Parents were uninvited. Then re-invited. Then days changed. times changed. (so not Montessori)

The week was darkened by the fact that 38.8% of my peers who were eligible to graduate were retained even though they had each completed three years of a Montessori program. Some children didn't even know they'd be staying behind in primary until the rest of us starting preparing for graduation celebrations. It was sad, confusing, and unfair - to the students and the parents.

At our graduation ceremony, each graduate was introduced. Our guide said three words about us - beginning with the first letter of our first name. 

ambidextrous. affectionate. analytical. 

I received my roses, my diploma, and the coveted key to the universe. 

And some ice cream. 

On the last day of school, I was the first to arrive. just like on the first day of school. just like most days. (Yes, I wore the same shirt two days in a row. It was done in the name of school pride.)  

On the last day, the primary students were included in the school-wide Gates of Life graduation after being told we wouldn't be. Many students who have graduated from the school over the past 23 years attend to form the gates through which the new graduates run. I plan to return to Austin to help my friends graduate from upper elementary in grade 6. Is that really only five years from now?

After Gates of Life, we enjoyed a picnic on our beautiful playground. That playground is the best part of the school, of any school anywhere: twelve acres of largely undeveloped land and endless opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Sure, we found some black widows and there were scorpions and snakes (just like home!) but those become excellent lessons.  

I left the picnic to spend my last time in the primary classroom and commit everything to memory. the reading shelf. the science shelf. my water cup. the cozy reading corner. the geometric solids.  

So long, farewell, auch wiedersehen, good night.
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.

butterfly

This fat little baby, who isn't so little or fat anymore, started back in swimming lessons today.

Earlier in the week, we went to the pool for a swim assessment. (What's the point? I am awesome.) The assessment showed that I have sloppy freestyle form. but so fast. Fantastic with breaststroke and backstroke.

Where I really shine is butterfly.
I should also remind my readers that I just turned six.

I am signed up in a class that should have a total of four children but I am the only one enrolled - or maybe the children are just too lazy to get to the pool early in the morning. So I got a private lesson! A whole session of intensive butterfly instruction!

Hey, Bruce Robertson, with my Canadian citizenship paperwork in hand, I am coming after your record as Canada's best butterfly guy ever.