First, we visited the Golden Gate Bridge. The day was very clear, the flowers were in bloom, and being a Monday, there were very few tourists.
After the Golden Gate Bridge rendezvous, we drove down to Crissy Field, and let the kids swim, play ball, build castles, catch the waves, and sun bathe. My mom and I read and relaxed, while the kids had a pleasant time being Californians.
After the kids had lunch, and played a few more times in the ocean, we said goodbye to the beach and headed toward a few other landmarks which Flat Stanley could visit. We stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts, enjoyed the beauty of this stunning building, fed the ducks, and had some snacks. The kids loved going up Lombard street and down the crooked part of it, mom enjoyed the view of the city from Treasure Island, and I counted my blessings for having such wonderful family to share this pretty city with.
On Wednesday night, Elijah and I attended three open houses at our kids' school, and then after that Gillian and I visited her new Middle School, which was having its own open house. It was so fun seeing the different talents of our children developed through their work.
James is the best in class for reading, writing, and comprehension. He ties with a girl for math. James was adamant to show us every project and assignment that was up for the parents to see, and I was excited to see his hard work. His imagination and love for writing was so evident in all of his projects.
I love it that James is such a perfectionist in all things. His handwriting is beautiful and clear, his love for order is evident in his dress and behavior, his responsible personality is shown in how he takes care of himself, his meals, his books, his chores. James obeys me right away and without complaints. When he was little, his siblings nicknamed him "loving James," because of his sweet nature. I'm so glad he continues to be a sweet, kind, and loving boy, and an intelligent student.
Jefferson's teacher is amazing. She has these boys involved in science projects (they observed butterfly eggs in the butterfly habitat/cage in all stages of their growth), art (painting Picasso and Pollock style with a little help form Jefferson's mom), jeopardy grammar, math competitions, and my favorite, writing your own endangered animal report, type it, make a PowerPoint presentation out of it, find pictures to cut and paste into the power point presentation, and record their voice reading their own report. I was floored by the level of perfection and academic achievement that Jefferson's class is receiving as a result of this hard-working teacher.
Elijah's favorite of all of Jefferson's work was Jefferson's own assessment of himself. Amazing how the army subject, which I don't hear much about at home, made its way at least four times in this short list. As I was reading his peers' lists, and they were all funny and thoughtful, I was surprised that none had mentioned a belief in God in their assessment. I was touched that Jefferson stood by what he knows to be true and had the courage to share. I know his final destination will be heaven for sure.
We didn't get to stay as long at Gillian's classroom, since their projects are few in numbers but long in length and demand to be read at home. Gillian is such an incredible writer. I love her stories, her reports, and her projects, and it doesn't matter what subject she is writing about whether that be history, science, or literature, she will always find a way to add very personable touches to all of them. My favorite writing of hers was the fairy tale project where each student took a well-known fairy tale and portrayed it through another character's point of view. Gillian chose Snow White and retold it from the Evil Queen's perspective. I can't wait till she brings it home, so I can post it for all of you to read. Speaking of reading, while Elijah and I were looking through Gillian's projects, the three boys just found the reading corner and stayed there unnoticed. When we got out, Charlton didn't want to feel left out, so he asked us if we could take a picture of him as well. Please, Charlton, don't grow up too fast.
On Thursday morning I was reading an article about Chinatown in San Francisco, the biggest Chinatown in the world outside Asia. I asked mom if she was up for a little trip, and then we just took off. Fortunately, it was a weekday, and not a week-end, so the streets were not covered with tourists. Don't take me wrong; there were plenty of tourists. I spoke to a French lady who thought Charlton was the most adorable child there (and the only one around for that matter), and I helped a German couple find their restaurant. However, the crowds were waiting for the week-end which totally suited me fine. We entered the Chinatown Gateway Arch (or otherwise called the Dragon Gate) built in 1970, and started our pilgrimage toward this interesting culture. We shopped, looked, and enjoyed the colorful buildings, clothing, trinkets, and ever present lanterns. It was a very relaxing and fun trip.
On Saturday, the older children participated in the National Guild Piano Exam. The National Guild of Piano Teachers organizes once a year an exam for all piano students who wish to participate. The students need to choose a few pieces ranging from 4 to 10, memorize them all, learn to play them in perfection, and then they get to be judged on about 50 specific musical items. I didn't tell my kids that they had a choice in this. Between myself and their teacher they were convinced that this was a must. And I'm glad they participated. It made them work harder toward a goal; it gave them confidence, and now they have a large repertoire that they can play at any time since they have them memorized. We received the answers today, and they all did beautifully with Jefferson and James needing improvement on only five items, and led by Gillian, who surprised us all, her teacher included, with 100 percent in all of her 7 pieces. I am so proud of their talents and hard work. I guess all that yelling had to amount to something :)
After her exam, I dropped Gillian off at a Primary swimming party, and the boys and I headed home. I sat down and prepared my RS lesson for Sunday, Charlton sat by me reading, Elijah had a few errands to run, and my boys went to their favorite spot (on top of the tree) and shared comics with each other.
In the evening, Elijah and Gillian worked on some homemade pies to take to friends the next day (about 4 altogether,) and the boys and I rocked and rolled to some fun music. James borrowed Gillian's guitar and pretended to be a rock star jamming on his guitar. At the time this picture was taken, we were listening to The Final Countdown by Europe, an all-time favorite of my boys. This reminds me of a funny moment during our dinner time a few weeks ago. On Fridays, we pull out a question or two out of our jar filled with dinner conversation starters. The question that night was what is your favorite music band. Here are the answers: James - Beach Boys, Jefferson - Blondie, Gillian - Queen, Melita - One Direction. All my kids chose classic and awesome music, and their mother chose a boy band of the 2012 creation. Hilarious! I guess, reverse roles keep us all young and mature at the same time.
