I was glad to be there because I wasn't sure how Brielle was going to handle people talking about eating animals. She really enjoyed seeing the cute animals, including baby sheep and chicks. I told her it was a good thing that the kids were falling in love with these animals and at the same time hearing the presenter say, "These are the types of sheep we eat. You might see them on the menu as..." This might help certain kids make the connection between what they're eating and where the food comes from. I think she understood what I was talking about.
The only station that really bothered her was the "Eat Beef!" one with an enthusiastic older cowboy pointing to a live steer as he listed off the animal's different parts and the products they're made into. He proudly listed all the uses for the animal while Brielle and I made mental notes about which products we should be sure to avoid. I was disappointed that we can no longer get Dove Sensitive Soap. Oh well. Here's Brielle's "they're so cute!" face as she looks over to the baby chicks.
We don't always participate in neighborhood events, since we're always the only family there with kids, but the Hawaiian Luau at the park sounded fun. The kids dressed up and drank out of their special coconut and pineapple cups.
We also spent a weekend in Gainesville (and I apologize for apparently not getting any photos of Granddad and Sujata!). Usually, when we go, I try to think back to my childhood and activities I enjoyed as a girl. But this time we finally took a look at some of the new activities that have appeared in recent years. We made a great find during this most recent visit. Apparently there's a huge, indoor trampoline park just a few minutes from Granddad's house!
The place was huge, and it was almost empty during our visit, so the kids could run around anywhere they wanted. They bounced on the trampolines and kept returning to their favorite feature - a series of trampolines you could use to jump or flip into large foam pits.
A really cool feature was a video monitor that recorded the kids' jumps but played them on the screen with a few-second delay. This way, the kids could do their crazy jumps then turn around and watch what they looked like a few seconds earlier on the screen.
There was also an obstacle course, trampoline basketball, and tightropes!
The kids had so much fun that we decided we'll return to Gainesville in late June and let them do a week of summer camp there!
The end-of-the-year school celebrations differ from class to class, depending on what the teacher decides to do. Ronan's classroom had been learning about Hawaii, so they ended the year with a Hawaiian Luau. Parents weren't invited, so unfortunately I don't have any photos of Ronan to share. Brielle's teacher decided to invite parents to an awards ceremony in the classroom. She had wonderful things to say about Brielle. (Brielle enjoys wearing her pretend glasses.)
Brielle enjoyed having Mrs. Deyo for both 3rd and 4th grades. We can't believe she's going to be a 5th grader in a short period of time!
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