Lucius...

Just cause sometimes I talk more about Oliver than I do Lucius...

This happened back on the first day of February...The one kid who finds it too hard to break rules didn’t tell anyone he needed to go see the nurse for fear of getting into trouble. He came home with a hundred degree temp and sore throat. Went to the minute clinic and the rapid test confirmed it. Poor buddy. He is still learning that it's okay to break the rules sometimes!

Lucius showed us a few things he's been working on at school during his school's Open House mid March. He has been writing a lot about his heros (a football player in this photo).

And learning about balancing things in his science unit.

Not too long ago he went to a friends birthday party at Saint's North, a roller skating rink. He had a blast and has been trying to roller blade at home but now gets disappointed the road isn't as smooth as the roller rink floor.

On all our spring break adventures one stream of car ride conversation that has continuously reoccurred is African American history month topics. I’m so grateful my kids teachers worked so tirelessly to share facts about amazing people who changed the world in both big and small ways all while struggling against hatred and bigotry. My children were definitely listening!! I hope we can learn from our past and break the cycle of hate that continues to put down wonderfully strong people who don’t deserve it. Lucius started most of those conversations and says he learned about Harriet Tubman, Charles Drew, Garret Morgan, and George Washington Carver- to name just a few. And he can tell you what they each did to become someone who made a difference in the world.

Lucius is a bright kid who is the best friend to EVERYONE around him. He tries SUPER hard not to play favorites with any friend and divides his time between a lot of different kids. I love that he is a kind person who has the absolute biggest, sweetest heart imaginable.

School Variety show...

Oliver's school was holding a variety show for kids in 4th-6th grade to preform a talent. Oliver had talked about doing it "when he got old enough". So I asked him if he wanted to try out. All the kids who tried out made the show but it was a matter of trying. Did he really want to try out and then perform in front of an audience?

He said yes, he very much did and he knew he wanted to sing a song for his talent. He suggested a song but I wasn't sure it was the right fit so he choose his second choice song. He happened to be sick with a stomach bug the day of the try outs, but thankfully they let him be in it without the tryout.

Then he decided he wasn't going to perform. He wanted to perform but only in front of the school kids not in front of parents. Before I told anyone he wasn't going to do it- we waited. AND waited. He went back and forth several times weather or not he would go on stage and sing his song. Thankfully he still wanted to practice. There was about a month between the tryouts and the actual variety show.

By the time the variety show came around he was resigned to just performing in the afternoon for his fellow students but not in the evening performance when the parents would be there. Not sure what the difference was- I personally would have been more scared to preform in front of my peers, but I'm a chicken.

The day of the show he picked out his outfit and went for it. I heard that he did really good during the afternoon, singing passionately to the music with his eyes closed for some of it. He told me later that "everyone told me I did really good and they liked my singing!". I think that was all it took- he was hooked on performing. When I asked if he was going to sing for the parents his answer was "yes!".

*photo credit: Slow Road Photo*

In the evening performance I asked if he would be dancing too- because when he practiced his song for me he had added a few little dance steps and hand gestures. A friend of mine was there and she asked him to show her the dance steps. He did and she encouraged him to do them for the evening show. So that's just what he did! He told Jerimy the reason he couldn't wear his shoes was because he's "doing some  interpretative dances moves and I need to slide around the stage". I love this kid. He is so brave and wonderful! Here's the short version of his performance:

His song that he sang was "Something Wild" by Lindsey Stirling

School Walkout...

There was a school walkout to peacefully protest arming teachers on March 14th. I did not tell the boys what actually happened in Florida's school shooting or that there have been several school shootings because they would worry. I want going to school to feel safe for them both and they already have fears because of all the school lock down drills they have to do through the year.

But I did start the conversation before the walk out about how kids are making a difference in our world and that they want to be heard. I told them there was a really sad event that happened in Florida and those kids that lived through it want all schools across the country to be safe. We talked about standing up for what you believe in and standing up for other people too. It tied in very well with all the Black History stories they both heard during the month of February. That brave people stood up for what they believed in and even though it wasn't easy, they persisted and change began.

They weren't sure if they would walk out or not. I didn't push them one way or the other but I wanted them to know what was going to happen on March 14th because they are curious boys. The night before the walkout Lucius got really nervous and thought something bad was going to happen. Thankfully I did not have to work till later in the day so I told him I would come to school and check in with him. Once there he told me he was fine and wanted me to leave him be. He and a good friend choose to walkout together.

I was in Oliver's classroom when his teacher mentioned the walkout. She told the kids that she was going to walk out for kindness and to stand up to bullies. There was a brief mention about violence in the world and how she wanted to walk out to say that she was against violence. She told the kids they had the choice to go out with her or stay inside to read (all students who choose not to go out had supervised reading time). Almost all of Oliver's class choose to walk out for show that they didn't want violence or bulling in their school.

I love that my kids are learning a lot about the world in their school. They are learning a ton about showing kindness because of the examples of their teachers. We talked about how grownup sometimes don't listen to kids just because they are kids. There are a lot of kids who have some pretty amazing ideas if we only took the time to listen. I hope my kids see that the world can be changed when people learn to listen to each other and work together to make our world a better place.

Spring Break painting...

During spring break the boys went to the craft store to buy something to make during their week off of school. They choose a bunch of wooden creations to paint and make their very own. They spent several days painting and so far this is where they've left off. I'm not sure the projects are complete but they have not painted them since they've been back in school.

These are Oliver's treasure boxes.

And these are Lucius' bird houses and treasure box.

Blogging Aniversary...

I started this blog just over 10 years old this March. My first posts were when Oliver was about 3 months old and we started really taking him on adventures. My first ever blog post was about our trip to the MN Zoo. Since we just went there last Friday, I thought it was a crazy coincidence.

Our adventures have become more wild as the boys get older, but my love of taking photos and documenting it all has not faded. This "journal" is mostly for me, I do it to help me remember but I'm glad for the times when the boys ask to read it. It's fun to remember and reminisce.

I hope to continue blogging though it has been getting a little harder to stay on top of things with life being super busy most days. It'll be fun to see where the next ten years lead us.

Spring Break 2018 (part tres)...

On FRIDAY we went down to the MN Zoo. It's been a while since we went and it was on the boys' wish list of place to go this spring break. It was fairly busy but that was too be expected. We knew our friends were planning on going there too but didn't think we'd run into them. Lucky for us we arrived roughly the same time and were able to walk around a bunch with them. We split up a few times but always managed to reconnect throughout the day. Oliver had been a bit crabby this morning and whenever we were on our own- so it was extremely helpful to continue to meet up with our friends as that was when he was happy to have made the adventure with us.

It was a nice long day at the zoo and we were able to see all the indoor sights. It was a bit too chilly to go around the big loop and see all the outdoor animals but a fun day none the less.

 

I feel like this photo captures both their personalities so well.

AND that was what we did during our Spring Break. Five no school days filled with fun adventures.

Spring Break 2018 (part dos)...

THURSDAY morning we drove up to an indoor trampoline park in Coon Rapids called Urban Air. I had entered a blog contest back in January and had won a free wristband. Since we had one free wristband it was like it was half off for the rest of us to go. Otherwise it was probably one of the more expensive things we did this week and could have easily been out of the budget without the free pass.

The boys enjoyed everything there was to enjoy there: dodge ball, a ninja warrior course, ball pit, trampoline park, indoor play area, the sky coaster and gladiator beam challenge.

 

 

I tried most of all the things they did. The ropes course was SUPER not my favorite. Even though I was securely strapped into a harness and that harness was secured to the rigging- I was NOT loving being up so high and crossing the narrow walkways. NOPE- that's not happening again. I need railings to love heights. We spent two and a half hours there and that seemed to be plenty. It was a fun day and we were able to go home and spend the afternoon outside playing in the snow with the neighbors and watched a movie before bedtime. I'd say that was a pretty awesome day.

To be continued...

Spring Break 2018 (part uno)...

No big trips or fancy travel plans this spring break so we got a little creative and made our own plans for a good old staycation. MONDAY started with a trip to the Science Museum of MN. We got there bright and early when they first open. It was fantastic because we literally had the place to ourselves (plus about three other families). We didn't have to wait in any lines and could do as we pleased without the noise and crowds. I think the fact that it was supposed to be a huge snow storm that day everyone stayed away. But it didn't start snowing till much later in the day.

TUESDAY we stayed home and had a relaxing morning. After lunch Oliver had a friend come over for a play date. They played inside for a long time, played outside, made art together inside and then finished off the play date by playing on the giant mountain of snow across the street from our house. He was pretty excited to have had his friend come over and proud of the poster they worked on together.

WEDNESDAY in the morning we drove over to the Eagles Nest indoor play area for a few hours of active play. Oliver happened to run into a random school friend which was fun surprise.

I played hide and seek with the boys in the play area.  I hid for a long time and finally they found me. I just happened to capture a real, true and honest to goodness smile from Oliver when he found me. I don't get to see that smile that often anymore so this photo is a REAL treasure to me.

This became our family motto this week on spring break, because why not?!

In the afternoon sometime after lunch we went to the YMCA with some friends who have a membership. They got us in using one of their guest passes so we could go swimming in the pool. Not too many people were there for open swim and those that were there were in the lap lanes, so it was like we had the pool to ourselves which was pretty sweet. I think we swam for a little more than 2 hours that afternoon.

To be continued...