The Ryans

The last day of school was June 18th. The day before I walked about a mile with the kids to a park where all the first grade classes had a picnic. The kids had a blast! That week Kaitlin received a very nice plaque at an assembly for perfect attendance (along with about 6 other kids from the school), she was the only first grader. So far, during our few days of summer, we have slept in and done a little bit of everything from mom time to play dates to hanging around the house. When she isn’t in school…Kaitlin has a LOT to say all day! Our new thing is hiking/walking (about an hour up the trail) while Kaitlin tells me a story that she and Matt have read at night (so…a long story that they have finished). Today she told me a Nancy Drew story from beginning to end, took about 45 minutes and had lots of detail. She is a really good storyteller…we both didn’t notice the steep hill or the tired legs until we got home.

This past weekend was the big Feis. The Irish dance competition, which happens to be the one hosted by Kaitlin’s dance school. Unlike other competitions at hotel ballrooms, this one is outdoors at the annual Irish Festival. We saw Irish wolfhounds and a sheep herding demonstration, heard bagpipes and saw some people in kilts, etc. She placed third in one of her dances. Here is the video.feis-at-the-fair-movie-v4

Next week is girl scout camp (I’m working one day) and her ballet recital. AND a certain 7th birthday:)

love Becky

PS. We are growing cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onion, carrots, beans, basil, strawberries and some other herbs. Tonight had squash blossom appetizer and a dinner that used rosemary and onion from the garden. K. had cereal this morning with strawberries from the garden. Luckily, the menacing tomato-eating rat showed up dead at the jaws of another animal (we found it, throatless) after our unsuccessful attempts at trapping! Our spinach is done, but we made pesto from it and froze it.

Kaitlin’s Irish dance school had a fundraising event today. Lunch and entertainment at an Irish pub/restaurant. So, kind of, we took Kaitlin to a bar, where she danced for money today…bad parents! It was a treat because we don’t really get to take video at the competitions, and they’re much more serious and formal, obviously, with judging going on. This event was just kids/teens from her school, so it was relaxed. Everyone had a leisurely lunch while the girls practiced, danced, took breaks, etc. It is neat to see the older girls in their solo costumes (and wigs) and though I didn’t post video of it, there are adult dancers too who simply wear all black.

This video shows Kaitlin dancing: auld-dubliner-video-1

This video shows what she may be doing in a few years (quiet audio, try increasing your volume): auld-dubliner-video-2-older-girls

Look for more blog posts in about two-three weeks…covering end-of-school picnic and dance competition.

love Becky

Kaitlin enjoys her indoor play tent as much as she did when she was younger. However, if I go inside with her it drives the dog nuts. He really likes to go inside it too, but usually knocks it over in the process. In this video it doesn’t look like he enjoys it, probably because we’re goading him. But if we leave the tent out for a few hours and Kaitlin does something else, Indy will go inside and lay down. He looks pretty crazed in this video:  dog-and-tent

love Becky

On Monday, Kaitlin officially became a Girl Scout Brownie, after being a Daisy since the school year began. It was very exciting for the younger girls to be honored and to see the older girls in the other levels. For the parents, it was bittersweet to see the high school girls who seem so grown-up, speaking in front of the group about their very significant depth of community service that they do to earn awards on par with Eagle Scouts, and seeing that our girls will be there before we know it. As some of you know, I am the co-leader of this troop and it is very rewarding, despite being quite a bit of work! Some of you may remember the classic scout song “Make New Friends” from your own girl scout days when you see the girls performing it:

2009-girl-scout-bridging-ceremony-2

Also on Monday, Kaitlin had an ice-cream party at school for all students who completed an extra credit mathbook throughout the year. And on Tuesday they had a pizza party for all students who completed reading milestones during the year (Kaitlin excelled of course, and also got a free book). On Wednesday, the 1st graders had International Day, culminating their study of the continents. The kids all dressed in folk costumes from other countries, rotated classrooms doing different activities in each room and of course had a feast. They heard Australian didjeridu instruments, did the Mexican square dance, learned about beads and textiles and made a bead necklace. I was there volunteering and got some great pictures. Kaitlin was “Irish” in a homemade costume that is vaguely medieval celtic, but some kids had very authentic garb!

This weekend Kaitlin has an Irish dancing show/fundraiser in preparation for their upcoming competition at the Irish Fair. Then in a couple weeks, last day of school picnic and ballet recital!

Matt and I are fine. Working a lot, which is good. Indy is crotchety because he is getting older.

love Becky

We just returned from Virginia where Matt had a meeting which coincided with Kaitlin’s spring break from school.  We were lucky that Matt’s parents were available so that they could feed us (mostly Kaitlin, she ate a TON and must be growing) and put up with our touristy agenda! Though it was rainy the first day, it was gorgeous, mild, Spring weather the other two days. We visited the Smithsonian Natural History and Air & Space museums while Matt was at his meeting. You can spot him all dressed up in the picture when he joined us later in the day. Kaitlin really enjoyed a diorama of what dinosuars would have looked like in their natural environment, easier to see compared to the giant skeletons when you are 4 feet tall. She got to climb into the cockpit of a cessna at the Air & Space museum too. The next day we did a combination bus tour/walking around the capitol. We saw the capitol building, Ford’s Theater and the house where Lincold died, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and Union Station. From afar we could see the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial.  Kaitlin read part of the Gettysberg Address when we climbed to the top of the Lincoln Memorial where it is inscribed. Our bus tour was a little bit of a roller coaster at the end, but Kaitlin did not fall off the top of the bus (nor did Nana!) Kaitlin had a blast pushing us around on the wheeled chairs and learning pool with Pop-pop at the Ryan house. We can’t go to Virginia without a nature walk around Heron Pond and this time we got some great pictures! We spotted about fifteen turtles sunning themselves before they got scared of us and jumped into the water. We also spotted deer contemplating whether to eat Judy’s daffodils, and cardinals and blue jays…and of course, squirrels. This first picture is from the top of the Lincoln Memorial looking over the reflecting pool and Washington monument in the background, but those are really hard to see because we were in the shadow (squint).

Matt has been coaching Kaitlin on mountain biking technique, riding over rocks, sandbags, curbs, soft sand, etc. She seems to be good at it and enjoy it. They usually practice around the neighborhood and on the dirt trail near the park…a couple times we’ve driven the bikes to the county park a few miles away and I’ve joined them. Kaitlin is tough and handles falling (a major part of mountain biking) very well and gets back on the bike. She knows how to properly steer and use her gears too. This is some fun video, especially the part where she rides through the tiny creek! Click here:  mountain-biking-movie

We had a wonderful time at Mike & Tracy’s wedding. The ceremony was outside in the courtyard and very touching. The reception was relaxed and fun with no shortage of 6 year old girls to dance when everyone else was too shy! Here are a few pictures, in no particular order. A really fun twist on the guest book was that guests stepped into a carnival style photo booth, took 4 pictures (nice, serious, silly, whatever) and then pasted the photo sheet into an album and wrote a personal note to Mike & Tracy. We’ll email our set of four pictures if anyone is interested (translation:  Matt got silly and we don’t want it on the web!) Kaitlin had a blast dancing with new and old friends, as well as with Matt who remembered some of the line dances from when he attended the girl scouts cowboy dance with her a few months ago.

This morning we woke up at 6:15 to go to Kaitlin’s first Feis. Feis is Gaelic for a festival or feast, but is the term used for Irish Dance Competitions. It is quite different than ballet or other dance where a teacher will choreograph a routine for the whole class to perform together at a recital. Students learn different types of dances (reel, light jig, slip jig, etc.) for which the choreography is specific to their dance school. Then they compete in age-group categories for each type of dance, with about 3 girls dancing at a time. The trick is that the girls may be from different schools and therefore doing different steps all at the same time. It is weird to watch. Also, it is standard to have live music. So within an age group, a dancer might do 3-4 dances at a Feis, probably within an hour along with other girls her age…but the Feis is a two day event to accommodate all the age groups and dances.  The bummer is that no taping is allowed of the competition, so this video is a practice only…therefore minus the right music (I added this music when I made the movie) and minus seeing the other dancers! So this video is of her practicing. Yes her hair is curly, via the old-fashioned strips of fabric tied up overnight.practice-before-1st-feis-version-2

So girls competing in their first Feis are in their own category to lighten the competition. Kaitlins’ place and total girls competing: reel-5th out of 8, light jig-3rd out of 8, single jig-2nd out of 2.  So Kaitlin came home with two medals! She was SO excited that she didn’t take off the medals all day and is bringing them to school tomorrow. We’re really proud of her because she seemed kind of sleepy and when it was her turn she really turned it on and put her chin up and smiled!

love Becky

We were so lucky with weather again this year! There was plenty of snow, including some fresh snow from the day before. In fact, we still needed chains to get up to Snow Valley but only for the last part of the 80 mile trip. But it was very sunny and even a warm once we got moving. Once again, Kaitlin joined a group class and by the end of the morning she was on the chairlift and bunny slope with her instructor. In the afternoon, she was with us and progressed so quickly that we think next time we won’t need the ski school. Matt or I could help her onto the chairlift, and shuffle her from the top of the lift to the beginning of the run (she didn’t have poles, I think not until kids are older, so she couldn’t propel on flat terrain). She would ski towards one of us so we could control how close we were to her at all times, and Kaitlin had really good control over turning and stopping. We left the bunny slope and moved onto the easiest slopes, which she really enjoyed and wanted to go fast.  She wanted us to go all the way to the bottom of the run and wait for her there! (we didn’t, we stayed close)  We’re glad we opted for full-day instead if 1/2 days this time. Check out the video:  ski-movie-2009

At the end of the day we were exhausted! We drove to a cabin near Lake Arrowhead and devoured our dinner at an Italian restaurant and went to bed. Next day we played in the snow around the cabin and made a cool snowman (picture in the movie link below). The snow was too icy on top and too powdery underneath to roll snowballs, so we made due with some snow chunks we found and icicles from the cabin roof…Kaitlin reached them quite easily since the snowdrifts were so high. The snowman’s nose carrot was from our very own yard at home!

We went sledding at a local place called “the bowl.” Lots of screaming/laughing on Kaitlin’s part, but very fun. Check out the video of snow play and sledding: snow-play-movie-2

I’ll add that Matt & I are getting old. He toppled head over skis on a slope (we didn’t witness it though) and I bruised my tailbone getting air on a sledding jump. We are in decent shape, but are just now regaining our energy. Kaitlin of course had tons of energy as soon as we arrived at home on Thursday!

love Becky