First day of school - EGA (age 4)

She is four years old.  She starts her second year of the early childhood program at Montessori Community School.  Her teachers are Ms. Karey, Ms. Ruby, and Mr. Nate.  She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.  She still sucks her two fingers, and has some of the most fierce tantrums for no real apparent reason.  She also has her moments of intense concentration and focus, and can be a sweet girl who loves her big sister in an incredible way.

Here is her video:

First Day or 3rd Grade - CRA

Carolyn started third grade at Indian Hills Elementary.  Her teacher is Ms. Keiser.  She still wants to be an anesthesiologist when she grows up, she thinks she will learn multiplication this year, and her little sister seems to always butt-in to her limelight.

Here's to a fantastic year of learning, Carolyn.

She's a bike rider

Last weekend, Lizzie woke up and proclaimed that she was ready to ride the big girl bike, the one with the pedals.  She has been riding a strider bike and a scooter, and has the balance part down.    Here are some videos of her first ride.  I do not think anyone thought it would be this easy for her.  She just did it.  No running alongside her for days and weeks.

..... and just like that, she is a bike rider!

Later that afternoon, we were bragging on her and wanted her to show some neighbors how well she was doing, but she decided she is not ready to go on the concrete.  She will only ride on the baseball field.  I guess we will have to work on her braking/stopping, so she has more confidence for the street.

Star Struck

There are not many concerts that I would take my kids to, but this one has become a tradition.  Michael Franti and Spearhead put on a fantastic live show that leaves the audience -- of all ages -- with energy and optimism.  He has become a favorite of Carolyn's and Lizzie, so of course, all four of us got tickets when Red Butte Gardens announced its summer concert series.

There are no assigned seats at Red Butte concerts, which means that someone in the group will usually go a few hours early and sit in line to get a good spot.  From years past, I knew that he often comes out after sound check, so I volunteered to sit in line for our group and decided to bring Carolyn along with me.  We got in line at 4 and the gates opened at 6.  It was a long, hot two hours in the sun.  But, for 45 minutes of that wait, Michael Franti came out with his guitar to do an acoustic set and to talk with those of us in line.  Carolyn was floored.  When she met him, she said "I am only 8 and this is my 6th concert of yours."  He took an unhurried photo with her, and then his photographer came back and took a photo of me with them too.  That itself could have made the night worth it.  

But, that was just the start of it.

The show did not disappoint.  You just cannot help but dance and jump with everyone else in the amphitheater.

During his shows, he often comes out in the audience to sing and, for a few songs, he invites people from the audience on to the stage.  There is a particular song "Say Hey" that he asks for kids to come on stage.  In her previous five shows, Carolyn has never made it to the stage for this song, and last night, she was determined to get up there.  She and our friend's son, Jack, positioned themselves in the front row along the stage all night. We were right at the front too, but we barely saw those two kids the whole show.  When we hear the song start, we see some kids file on stage.  There was Carolyn and Jack!  They sang and danced, and at some point, I saw Carolyn come front and center and stand right by him.  He then whispers in her ear and gives her a microphone to sing, "My mama told me don't lose you."   A few more kids behind her sang the rest of the verse, and then the audience and the kids just dance and smile harder to finish out the song.  No photos.  No videos.  I was having too much fun to think about finding a camera to document this.  Oh, but to see Carolyn's eyes when she came off stage - incredible!  [Here is a video of the song at some other concert with some other kids, just to give you an idea.  And I did find a picture from instagram of the kids leaving the stage.  Carolyn has a green shirt, on the left]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN-MxaWRHzo

Where are we?

I took some girls hiking yesterday and could hardly believe the weather.... it was barely 70 degrees on the trail, with a mist coming from an overcast sky.  The trails were wet, but not muddy.

It totally felt like we were hiking in the pacific northwest, not the hot and arid utah we are used to. 

Scavenger hunt

The girls and I tested our knowledge about RedButteGardens this weekend, at a scavenger hunt.  There were cryptic clues, taking all through the park where we picked up puzzle pieces and told us where to find our prize.