In the beginning of June 2021, Coastal Academy did a little graduation for the kindergartners. The kids walked to graduation music and lined up for pictures (masked). Wren's in the middle in the pink t-shirt.
Then we had the opportunity to take individual pictures in front of a festive backdrop. Wren was being super ornery and uncooperative, and she refused for a good while to pose. I don't remember why she was upset. It was very frustrating, especially because other families had to wait forever while I tried to talk Wren down.
She finally got it together.
This is Wrenzy as of the end of kindergarten:
(Note that her shoe size was exaggerated. She was definitely rounding up.)
That night, Tiny pretended to read a Magic Tree House book, à la her sisters.
A couple days later, Susan Oddou had the kids over to celebrate the beginning of summer break.
We did a late-night run to Home Depot to look for a countertop and backsplash for the cabin. The littles became obsessed with this one worker and watched him like stalkers.
He was incredibly nice and invited them over to watch him and talk to him while he worked.
Jim brainstormed ideas for the cabin logo. (In the end, Derrick Karner created one for us, and we went with that one.)
In January of her kindergarten year (2021), Berry made a goal to read six books that year. By the beginning of June, she had read all 53 Magic Tree House books.
Then one morning, unbeknownst to me, she started the book Ever had just finished, Willa of the Wood. When I found her, she was already on page 116.
I didn't know if it was appropriate for her, and Auntie Anna reported that Clara said it was really dark. It seemed too late to stop her, and Wren quickly finished it and loved it. Keeping her to age-appropriate material is a challenge.
Berry asked me to videotape her playing the piano. (She and Ever were not into counting at this time.)
Emerging from upstairs and finding this scene warmed my heart - Ever on the piano and the other two reading.
After Willa, Wrenzy went on to Sarah, Plain and Tall. She certainly inherited Tutu's fast-reading genes. I've never seen anything like it. I didn't get that talent.
We enjoyed some time in Cikaneks' pool. Scott got crazy and screwed the slide from their playset onto the wall surrounding their pool equipment.
Bear got very angry when I took a picture of her tower of bagels. She really does not like being photographed.
The girls swam at Subrebosts', and I had to take lots of videos of the littles. Tiny made me take a really long one of her.
Ever and Nathan got cute under the tramp. Possibly she was helping him with his reading practice?
We did another Home Depot run for cabin stuff. Again with angry, anti-photo Bear.
Jim was on a run while I was working on dinner one evening. The propane tank ran out of gas, so I had to try to change it myself for the first time. The valve didn't connect correctly. I heard a hissing noise I didn't remember hearing before, but I couldn't get it connected any better and just went for it. Not long after I turned the grill on, a fire erupted. Cikaneks weren't home or I may have run to Scott for help. I was afraid of burning down the house, and I couldn't turn the gas off because the knob was engulfed in flames. I ran in and fetched the fire extinguisher (thank goodness I remembered seeing it in the pantry) and surprised myself by being able to use it.
Upon his return, Jim was at first a bit dismayed by the mess I had made. But he confirmed that the tank was faulty and wouldn't attach properly and said I hadn't done anything wrong. (Although in my heart I know I shouldn't have turned it on when I heard the hissing.) He cleaned up the mess for me, which was no easy feat.
We had the first heat wave of the summer. The littles had stripped down by 9:30 A.M., when Wrenzy advised, "Just wear your birthday suit, Tiny." I love this picture, especially with the "ChildLife" sign in the middle. Perfect.
Wrenzy practiced piano naked again.
Tiny was having trouble at night, so I gave her a picture of Jim and me to put by her bed. She came up with a wonderful way of keeping it close.
Tiny presented Jim with a homemade token of her appreciation on Father's Day.
The littles did fun things on the playset.
Goosey had to get a tooth pulled because the permanent tooth was coming in behind it. It was a terrible ordeal. The dentist was super patient, but she was totally freaking out for a LONG time. I was really afraid we were going to have to give up, reschedule, and try again. She finally let him give her the shots and get it done, so that was a thank heavens.
(Later, in 2022, she had to get her two canines pulled for the same reason - the permanent teeth were stuck above her palate, behind where they were supposed to be. Her teeth have really not been cooperating.)
Jim took time off for a week in Big Bear. So much work. Poor fella, renovating another house.
Berry did some joker facing while we were there. This isn't her best work, but it's something.
The littles found a dead mouse in the crawl space under the house. They played with it for hours.
They placed the mouse on top of something and put food (mainly leaves and acorns) and water next to it. Eventually they put a bucket over it. They knew it was dead but also definitely thought they were going to resurrect it. They checked to see if it had eaten or drunk anything and were sincerely disappointed when it had not. If I remember correctly, they looked for it the next time we went up. It had disappeared, so they thought it had run away.
I was reading The Secret Garden to the girls in the car and at the cabin. Bear cheated and read ahead for a minute. I reclaimed the book and picked up where I had left off. I quickly read, "Do you think that will make my father like me?" - the line in the middle of the page.
Wrenzy called me out: "You didn't read, 'said Colin a little awkwardly.'" I was shocked that she remembered the phrase and noticed when I omitted it. She's got quite a memory. Also, for being a crazy fast reader, she sure digests what she reads.
The girls helped paint the master closet.
Ever also helped mortar a bathroom.
The girls also did art projects with scrap material.
Tiny got violent and pinched Wrenzy really badly. She's the absolute sweetest - like, they don't come any sweeter. But she also has regular moments of rage and lashes out physically.
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