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| Anna as Jeanette Rankin for the state fair |
The school year is winding down and summer is on the horizon, which means lots of activities for Anna in the month of May. The soccer season is in full swing, swimming started after Memorial Day, girl scouts are ending for the year, and school projects seem to be due at the same time. It made for a memorable May.
Anna's big event this past week was the state fair. The big project for third grade is learning about the states in social studies. At the beginning of the year, each student selects a state and completes a series of small projects about the state throughout the year concluding with the state fair. All of the students set up a display for the state, including dressing as a famous person from their state, and the entire school visits the displays and asks questions. The students also bring in a food from their state for the 3rd grade potluck at the conclusion of the dinner.
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| Anna & Coach Dad |
Anna's state was Montana. This has truly been a family project throughout the year. Aunt Lucy helped with the first project - Anna's habitat for her grizzly bear. Dad and Mom have been involved along the way to assist - mostly in reminding Anna what she needed to complete next and helping her set deadlines (actually - Mom was the task master on deadlines). Dad helped Anna make her state food - bison meatballs. Mom helped Anna with her costume for her famous person - Jeanette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress and a suffragist. Anna made her display by herself and did a great job. The fair was fun to see (including which kids had a bit more parent involvement than others). One boy, who had Illinois as a state, was dressed as Mayor Daley and was giving out chocolate because apparently Illinois produces more chocolate than any other state. You can imagine how popular his table was (it should be noted that his mother is also a lobbyist). All of the 3rd graders sang the 50 states song at a couple of points during the fair. It was a lot of fun. Of course no one was happier that it was over than the parents - all of whom have suffered in trying to get their children to finish various stages of the project. We are already looking forward to colonial projects next year.........
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| Anna & Ellie at Viva Vienna |
One of Anna's major activities for the spring continues to be soccer. She remains on Coach Tom's team, but controversy ensued this year after some members of their team were redistributed to other teams to address issues with the Commissioner "stacking" his team (who knew 3rd grade soccer could be so controversial). The result was a smaller team. The White Hawks still did well and the girls got A LOT more playing time since they were down players. Anna was happy to have Coach Dad return again to help out. Their final game will be the beginning of June.
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| The ride Anna will not be going on next year. |
The biggest event for kids in Vienna, Virginia is Viva Vienna, which is held Memorial Day weekend. This is the street festival which sucks large sums of money from parents so that kids can ride amusement rides and play carnival games. This year Anna had a whole new adventure when she met her friend Ellie at the festival. Ellie has older brothers and sisters, thus was accustomed to going on the thrill rides. Needless to say, Anna succumbed to peer pressure and the next thing you know was on rides her parents would not get on a million years. She had a great time, although she identified at least one ride that she will not be going on again. She is already planning her ride strategy for next summer.
One of the final events of the month was the bridging ceremony for girl scouts. This year, Anna moves up from a brownie to a junior. She was quite excited about this and is looking forward to getting the green vest. There is talk that Grandma may be holding a sewing lesson for Anna's troop to help them earn their sewing badge. We will see how that goes.
Let the summer begin!
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| Anna & Sofia at the girl scouts bridging ceremony. |
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