Roger had a great birthday celebration at the park on Saturday, March 29th. It was windy, but we planned ahead for that condition and didn't try to grill or use paper goods.
Roger had a great birthday celebration at the park on Saturday,
March 29th. It was windy, but we planned ahead for that
condition and didn't try to grill or use paper goods.
Roger was a happy camper for his picnic party.
We took Lisa back to UCSB after her spring break on the 30th.
This is the lagoon in the middle of campus.
We also enjoyed splashing in the surf. This was the first
time Alan has really liked the water.
Our Giant Sequoia -- it still has some growing to do.
Roger emulates Spiderman on our 'new-to-us' playset.
It was given to us by our neighbors while the
fence was down for replacement. Their children had
outgrown it.
We like to 'camp' in the yard.
And here's the campfire.
We even have wildlife!
Our pipsqueak Lupin Cherry tree actually produced fruit.
The peach tree is, too.
Some Scarlet Pimpernel volunteered in my 'forest'.
Lisa came home for Easter and was instrumental in
dying the eggs.
Alan brought his basket with him to check for
eggs on the playset.
Roger was so successful that the eggs started falling
out of his basket.
After some coaching, Alan found the egg hiding under the log.
Jenny, Roger, and Emily filled just one chair on
the McGreevy's patio.
Alan takes good care of his babydoll.
Here is Jenny, once again showing off her project,
this time at the California State Science Fair.
It is held relatively locally for us, in downtown LA
in Exposition Park which is right next to USC. It's
also adjacent to Watts, a wonderful neighborhood
to avoid. Some of the kids had travelled over a
thousand miles to be there. She didn't win
anything except the experience of being there, which
is a prize in and of itself. She had to defend her
project to 8 different judges which is great experience.
Happy 18th, Sarah! She chose to skip partying in favor
of receiving a combination graduation/birthday
present of a 20" flat-screen TV/VCR/DVD combo unit.
She has had her eye on one of the TV/VCR units for
quite a while, but this one also plays the DVDs and
doesn't suffer from light reflection problems.
We dug up a large area of the backyard to make room
for a 15' diameter pool.
We leveled the dirt, put down weedblock, and then
spread out sand.
Glen came up with an ingenious system
for leveling the sand.
And finally the pool was ready for filling. In this style
pool, you inflate the top ring, then fill. The sides are
made of very tough vinyl and bulge a bit once the water
is in.
Alan negotiates the ladder with no trouble.
Others in the pool are Jenny, Roger, and Jenny's
friend, Sophie.
Jenny actually persuaded Alan to try floating on his own!
Glen is working hard on a brick walkway around the pool.
Roger is working on a set of ceramic dinosaurs.
He studies the pop-up dinosaur book for color choices.
Alan is very proud of the Lego car he put together himself.
Alan painted this sun all by himself in June.
Jenny is getting situated for her end-of-year
advanced band concert at Mesa Verde MS.
The kids had a great year, with a number of
'superior' ratings, the highest you can get,
at the various festivals they attended.
For those of you who don't have kids in band,
a festival is not a party. The bands perform
for a panel of judges who rate them as superior,
excellent, good or some lesser mark whose name I can't
recall. They enter in different 'classes'
depending on their presumed skill level.
And Alan decided to take a nap during the performance.
Jenny finished 8th grade this year. She and her friends,
Heidi, Kristen and Christine pose here with their
certificates after the ceremony.
Sarah walks in with her class for graduation.
It's held in the stadium to accomodate all 469
graduates and their family and friends.
Roger waved school color pinwheels while watching
the ceremony.
Alan fell asleep and I settled him on a blanket on the concrete so
I would be free to take pictures.
Sarah ceremoniously receives her diploma folder. The
diploma itself is picked up later in a designated
classroom.
Sarah, Maggie, and Erin. Maggie would have been part of
this class except that she jumped the gun, took the GED, and
has spent the last year taking classes at Moorpark College.
Here's our honor graduate!
Roger seems more excited than Sarah!
And on Friday our newspaper covered the graduation.
I'm so proud of Sarah being an Honor Graduate.
This means that she finished with over a 4.0 (4.3 in her case)
for the entire 4 years of high school. It was a
wonderful feeling to walk in front of all those
bleachers to take pictures of her receiving her medal.
Lisa has done a great job of keeping her grades up while
working during the school year in the computer labs and
pursuing her interest in Anime. And all three girls got
straight A's for Spring 2003.