Closing out the School Year

William's class got to take a trip to BizTown a few weeks ago, and he looked awfully sharp in his blazer jacket and bowtie! He had a great time, and continues to wear the hat he received as a souvenir because he was the CEO of one of the BizTown banks!

How are we pushing through all of this end of year excitement?  Sugar and Caffeine mostly.  

The twins' field day was held in the park across the street, and it was held in two waves, because there just wasn't enough space to hold it in the same manner as the old field allowed for.  I was working at the balloon toss station, so only managed pictures of my girls while they were at my station.

I felt like a trash collector each time I subbed at the end of the year, because every time I worked I left with bunches of things heading for the trash!  One such item was a container of butter leftover from their baked potato bar.  I'm happy to report that I've managed to use or assimilate it all at this point!

The instructional support teachers provided a breakfast for the rest of the staff one of the mornings that I was working, and I loved their donut display!  Everything has been themed 'construction' this year, because of the construction, so not only are they living it, but they are also celebrating it!

Speaking of the construction, this is my final picture from the drive through line!

And I didn't get a pre-last-day-of-school picture, so a post-last-day-of-school picture will have to do, but Emily and William are officially off to ninth and seventh grade, respectively!

Alice has four days left, and both of us are d.o.n.e.  But we are almost there!  William starts summer camp tomorrow, so I'll be getting him up and on the bus pretty close to his regular day, but he'll be having way more fun while there, I think!

later days

edit 6-8-25: backdated for continuity.

Cat Cafe

Shortly after the new year, Alice was talking about a cat cafe that she'd seen in a video, and Grace and Juliet had also seen the same one!  Sadly, it was in Japan, or somewhere abroad.  When we told Billy that there was one in the Lansing area, he scheduled a family visit for that afternoon!

In true Grace fashion, she planned her outfit cat-fully.

The cafe is set up that you enter through what is a regular coffee shop.  You order your drink, which we had prepaid when Billy set up our visit time, then you can take your drink into the cat area (but the cats are not allowed in the cafe area.)  

There is a double door that buzzes loudly if you have both doors open at once. You aren't supposed to mess with sleeping cats, and the kids did a good job obeying this rule!  

William, Emily, and Grace each got time with a kitty in their laps.  

We were in the room alone for the first ten minutes or so, but then a group of college kids joined us, and the sparse number of cats who were active (most of the cats were hiding or sleeping) was now further split.  So, Alice and Juliet didn't get much interaction with the kitties.  

Even with the inactive cats, the kids had a good time! They are scheduling to move into a new building, much closer to us, so maybe we can go early on a weekday in summertime, so everyone gets more kitty time.

later days

edit 2-11-25: backdated for continuity.