Spring Semester

We had a few more days of spring break after our trip to New Orleans, so we squeezed in a little local sight-seeing with a trip to Alcatraz.  We got to the ferry just in time - we were literally 3 of the last 5 people to board - but otherwise had a pleasant journey across the bay.  We did our best with the audio tour - Lucie found it a little difficult to sync the narrative with the location, and was a little creeped out by the dummy prisoner heads in their cots.  Brennan requested to attend a ranger talk on the Escape from Alcatraz, which the kids found kinda boring by the half-way point, but I've never seen the film and was quite sucked in to the story, so I made them stay.

It was an educational day all around.  The kids finally got to set foot on The Rock, see the inside of a prison, and learned they better choose docent-led activities carefully.  I learned you can make an inflatable raft from raincoats and a concertina, that I should bring more snacks than I think we will need, and that bathrooms are few, far between, and somewhat unpleasant for the whole tour experience.

Spring semester was the usual mad scramble to the finish.  We had the annual Grattan Fun Run -

Brennan's mileage was the same as last year, despite now being eligible for the "big kids" 45 minute run time.  That's because he and 2 of his buddies inexplicably decided to participate by sitting down on the curb by the water station, until I bribed him with the promise of a soda to stop acting like a teenager.

Lucie, on the other hand, clearly had something to prove after 3 years of only being allowed to watch, and did 13 laps around the school grounds in 30 minutes!  If the 4 laps = 1 mile statistic is true (I've never bothered to actually measure it), she's a pretty scrappy little 6 year old runner.

We closed out the crazy Tahoe winter with one more day skiing at Northstar, then packed all our season rental gear up to return to the shop...where we discovered an end-of-season sale.  Much to my surprise, I now own skis.  My sulky teenage self would be so disappointed in me.

We continued our annual Easter tradition of cobbling together the egg hunt in unconventional conditions (hotel rooms, vineyards, in the evening due to travel delays...)  This year was a Truckee living room hunt, since the yard was still buried in snow.

There were numerous field trips - here are a few shots from the kinder visit to the Gulf of the Farallones Center at Crissy Field.  We sorted beach finds into 3 hula-hoops: Animal, Plant, and Other. Then we went inside to check out fish, shark teeth, and otter pelts.  It was SUPER foggy, so we really appreciated that hey let us use their classroom at the end of their private pier for lunch.

Brennan's 3rd grade teacher is crazy for field trips - he's gone to the Ferry Building, the Castro Theater, the Asian Art Museum, the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum, the symphony, the ballet, 826 Valencia for book making, and every corner of Golden Gate Park within walking distance.  And those are just the field trips I remember.  I filled out a LOT of permission slips this year.  But the grand finale of field trips is the overnight camping trip in the Presidio.  I couldn't get out of work to join them for the day time portion, but I made it by dinner time.  The kids ran wild through the trees, excavated a pit for trapping each other, and changed into PJs ridiculously early.  Brennan was a little put out that I insisted he & Enzo wait until after campfire time to change, on the grounds that my sinuses would not tolerate sleeping in a small tent with two smoke-infused boys.

I think the most scared I've been this year was being the sole provider of graham crackers and Hersey squares at s'mores time.  Imagine being rushed by 22 kids waving hot marshmallows on sticks.

We also enjoyed some more relaxing outdoor time.  SF Rec & Parks is testing the waters on returning horseback riding to Golden Gate Park, and brought in a trail riding outfit for the month of May - so Lucie and I decided to check it out.

We got lucky with a sunny day and had a nice ride.  Lucie's horse was named Cowboy and he took good care of her.  There was a little confusion at the beginning, when they were bringing the horses around, and a handler asked if I was there to ride.  I pointed at Lucie, clearly the littlest rider, and said I was her mother and needed to come with her.  The handler gave a little laugh and explained she thought I might be one of the volunteers.  I'm not sure what gave me away, but apparently, once a barn rat, always a barn rat.

Unfortunately, the pretty spring weather didn't hang around for Cinco de Mayo, but we had fun taking out the piñata with the neighbors.

Spring soccer wrapped up.  The Gorillas had a tough season, with a lot of losses, and having to play in rough weather since games on turf aren't cancelled during rain, but they hung in there and stayed enthusiastic.

Probably the highlight of the season was the Gorillas vs Awesome Opossums Friendly - the Grattan boys 3rd grade teams played each other.  It was an exciting match - the Possums put up a good fight, but the Gorillas pushed through to a (much needed) win.  Most importantly everyone had fun - including the parents.

The Jellyfish had a mostly winning season, according to the people who can keep track of how many goals 2 teams of 4 kindergarteners are scoring simultaneously (the younger kids play on 2 side-by-side teams).  

The high point of games is still snack time, of course, but they are getting into the game more this year, and it's fun to see them improve their skills.  They are starting to pass and work together.  Holding still and facing the camera, however, is something they need to work on.

I was given a handwritten invitation - in an envelope! - to attend the 3rd Grade "Readers Showcase" during the second-to-last Wednesday of the school year.  Unlike his big projects on Boa Constrictors, the Cahuilla Indian tribe, Point Reyes National Monument, and the Life & Voyages of James Cook, Brennan shared not one word with me about it, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It turned out to be a little play called "Blame it on the Wolf", where the Big Bad Wolf defends himself in court for eating Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother.  Brennan was a member of the jury, and also Little Red Riding Hood's father, possibly was part of non-traditional family with 2 dads, but that was a little unclear from the narrative.  It can be tough to follow along when 85% of the performers are mumbling their lines at their shoes.  But I'm sure you are relieved to know that the grandmother returned from a secret vacation to Hawaii just as the Guilty verdict was handed down, sparing the the Not-so-bad-after-all Wolf from a prison sentence.

And yes, the hood stayed up for the whole thing.

The big finale of the school year is the Egg Drop, on the last Wednesday of school.  The rules remained the same this year - raw egg in a sealed sandwich bag, in a protective container of recyclable or biodegradable materials, no bigger than 7x7 inches, to be chucked off the roof to the playground.  Brennan wanted to try a parachute this year, and did all the engineering and building himself.  All I did was source materials, and help with the trial run off our back steps.  Personally, I didn't think a parachute made of the Sunday NYT and twine would function reliably - turns out I was wrong.  Twice.  Because Lucie wanted to make the exact same thing as her brother.  Brennan's classmates have taken to accusing him of hard-boiling his egg, as he's 4/4 now.

Here's Brennan's egg, the minute the chute opened and gently brought the box down to the pavement-

And here's Lucie's, also with chute opening -