Evan's Last Day of 2nd Grade

What a crazy year this kid has had moving to a new town and new school!  He handled it all like a champ.  Our schools still give number grades (1-4) instead of letter grades through second grade so he finished the year with his usual 3's and 4's (all at or well above grade level).  He is now reading at an advanced reading level (reading level R), and his reading comprehension skills are also high.  Math continues to be his best and favorite subject.  I plan to encourage him to work on his writing a lot while he is out of school this month.  Yes, he only gets a month off before he starts the 3rd grade in July!  Then, he will go to school in July and August and get out again in September.  Our school does a multi-track year round schedule so there are two classes in each grade level on each of the four tracks.  He is on track one.  We will see how we like it.  For now, it is a good track because it allows us to go with Daddy on two business trips this month.  Next week, we will be in New Bern, NC and will venture to the beach for the weekend.  New Bern is a town with a long and rich history and served as our state's first capital.  I hope the boys and I can enjoy exploring while Daddy is working everyday.  He will be teaching some of our state's science teachers about forestry.  His organization partners with NC State University to conduct these teacher workshops where teachers can apply to get free continuing education credits and all of their hotel and meal expenses paid.  They will tour some of our state's lumber mills, forests, and other forestry related institutions during the week.  The second week will be in Asheville, NC.  I have prepared a whole list of entertainment for me and the kids.  Anyway, Evan finished up his second grade year last Tuesday at his new school.  I didn't get to participate in many of the end of year events because of the difficulty of dragging two kids along.  I did meet Evan's class for a field trip at the state science museum in Raleigh.  I didn't get many pictures because we lost his group for the majority of the day when we had to take the elevators, and his group went on without us.  I searched all over for them, but apparently they spent the entire time up on the third floor of the new part which isn't the main part of the museum.  I am not sure what exactly they did up there the whole time because there isn't much up there.  I really think his group's leader just didn't want to walk around and show them much.  It was a big disappointment.  Besides that, Evan seemed to enjoy his final days of second grade.  He immediately got back into organizing sports games on the playground and enjoyed playing soccer and basketball with his new friends.  He said they all told him how good he was.  We had a lesson on "bragging."  Haha!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

First Day - Monday, August 25, 2014; Last Day - Tuesday, June 2, 2015

I think he has grown a lot, but I think the major difference in his looks is probably his front teeth.  He seems to be smiling better now that he lost his baby teeth and finally got his permanent front teeth in. 

Cocoa wanted in the picture.  They are best pals now although Cocoa does get on his nerves sometimes.  He and Brody both try locking her in my room with me sometimes or putting her outside when she is bothering them.  Haha!  

But she adores them!

I told him we needed a picture with the "Today is Awesome" sign.  

We arrived at the museum in time to see Evan before he headed into the little submersible for a show. 

Evan loves submarines as well as jets and Navy planes.  He is seriously considering a career in the Navy if his first ambition of archaeologist doesn't work out.  Haha!  

I couldn't take the big stroller into the submarine so Brody and I enjoyed checking out the fish tanks. 

This little shark was pretty cool looking. 

He looked a little bit like a hammerhead, but I can't remember his exact name. 

This huge emerald was on display nearby.  Emeralds are one of the precious stones often found in North Carolina.  This one was 1,225 carats uncut. 

This was a huge cut emerald although I did not photograph the sign saying how big. 

When we finally saw Evan again, he was going into this little science lab for some experimenting.  He loved that! 

I hope his next year of school proves even more advantageous to his education.  He will start the official state testing next year so that will at least give us a better idea of his progress.  Our new school system and school do get high marks in state testing scores so we have high hopes.