4th of July

 Both the Dieckmans and Barkoudahs traveled to the farm to celebrate the 4th of July with family.  Once of the first activities was a friendly game of softball.  There were some good plays and some goofy plays.  In the end I believe everyone had fun.

 Sometimes just hanging around is enjoyable with family.

Victoria brought her first make-up set with her to the farm.  The girls didn't take long to beautify themselves.  There was certainly a lot of color and glitter on 4 little girls.

 Cornhole and shucking oysters with beautiful weather... a great combination.

 It doesn't necessarily matter what the activity is per say as long as it's with the cousins!

Oma and Izzy created this unique 4th of July pie inspired by a Reader's Digest cover picture.  Not too shabby ladies!  And of course yummy as these are cherries from Oma's cherry tree.



 Another tradition... heading to the pool.  The older kids wanted to head to Beatrice as it has larger slides and more diving boards.  Micah and Victoria were braver this year than last with Micah even going down the pink slide all by himself!

 Fireworks always start with the parachutes. 

 And who is going to get the giant parachute.... Amelia!

Another pre-firework activity... car races.  Victoria was super excited as it was looking like she would win.  But in the end she was robbed by Shane.  Maybe next year.

 New this year was the girls becoming creative in how to light smaller fireworks.  While Avery has been doing this over the past few years, the girls were more reserved.  This year their creativity lead to a fiery mountain of snakes and various combinations of smoke bombs.



 The men were our hosts of the larger fireworks show.  Micah was exceptionally excited to be a part of this group/activity this year.

Ohhhhh..... Ahhhhh.....





The finale.

Victoria's Dance Recital

 Once a week Victoria has gone to a jazz dance class after school.  It's been hard knowing what she and her friends do exactly in class.  I'm sure there is an equal amount of goofing off and "girl time" as there is dancing.  The end of year recital was a treat to see what all the dance groups have been up to over the academic year.

 Victoria and her friend Ceci while waiting for the recital to begin.  Unfortunately the pictures on my camera have been lost thanks to someone breaking into out condo.  These are the only pictures of her recital I have as they came from my phone.  I'm glad to have these and a video recording of her dance.

 The little girls doing ballet are always some of the cutest to watch.  These two didn't disappoint as the waved endlessly at their families in the audience.

 I go quite a kick out of the hip-hop dance groups.  I think Micah enjoyed seeing other boys in this type of venue.

The finale... one giant dance with all the groups.



Music - Stevie Wonder - Faith

Last Day of School and More!

The last day of school is always a very BIG day.  We all know not much is "learned" on the last few days.  However I think this applied to the last 2 weeks at Pierce.  Aside from Christmas, June is the 2nd busiest month because of all the activities that are crowded in... recitals, spring sings, last minute play dates, family work shares, school picnic, etc.  Everyone had amazing years.  Hopefully this continues into the next.

 Micah & Victoria's spring sing was lovely.  The innocence of their age makes the songs they sing sparkle.  Victoria was chosen from her class to play on the xylophone with other selected 1st graders.  Micah proudly stood in the front row (behind where Victoria is in the picture) wearing his navy blazer.

 In addition to a 4th grade spring sing, Izzy also had a band concert.  The 4th graders could choose from either brass or orchestra instruments, each with only 4 choices.  Izzy's group could choose from the trumpet, trombone, clarinet or flute.  The played songs in order of how they learned throughout the year.  The first few were simple.  I can imagine how awful they sounded at the beginning of the year.  However by the end of the concert, they were crescendoing and decrescendoing as well as playing in a round.  Fifth grade will be Izzy's second year of band.

 For Father's Day we took John out to Boston Beer Works for lunch after one of Micah's baseball games.  A seasonal favorite was blueberry beer.  We enjoyed watching these tiny fruit float and sink like a lava lamp.

 I was invited to the 20th birthday party of one of my favorite patients... Sara.  She amazes me all the time.  Cognitively she is 20 but is in a body that doesn't function they way it should. 

John and I partook of a 1-mile fun run for the Brookline Village Days.  It was a bit toasty that day.  We decided to do this on a whim the day of leaving John to run in his loafers.  That and the fact neither of us have ran for months made this a bit interesting. 



 This was the first year the kids were able to participate in VBS.  This year's theme... Miraculous Mission.  The outer space theme was in every aspect from the decorations to the treats.  A bit leery as none of them have attended, they were disappointed when they couldn't be there for the last day.  Micah and Victoria each made a new friend.  All three voiced wanting to go back the next year. 

 A treat to celebrate the end of school was to attend a Red Sox baseball game.  Fenway has such nostalgia that it's hard to not get sucked away into being at the ball park.  The game is always better with popcorn and cotton candy.  We didn't stay for the entire game due to time.  There may be another trip to Fenway given the smiles on the way home.

And that's a wrap for the end of school!