Let the Games Begin

Olympic Games, that is.

Every four years, the summer Olympics are held in some country somewhere. So every four years, the elementary school holds their own version of the Olympic Games. The entire school is divided into several different countries (about 20), with a mix of all age levels in each. These groups have been meeting regularly since the winter months, learning about their country, making t-shirts, and planning and preparing for fierce competition. It is a big To Do, and really a lot of fun....most kids will only experience this once during their elementary years. But in the case of those who are currently Kindergartners, they will get the pleasure of experiencing this huge event again as 4th graders. Jonny is one of those lucky kids this year, as is Crispy who will get to look forward to this in another four years.

The events began today with the academic games: spelling bee, geography quizzes, and math meets. The afternoon was perhaps one of the highlights of the entire event. All countries gathered in their groups, and with flags held high, processed around the track to cheers from the crowd. Grandma C, Laura, Tubby, and I looked on from the stands, cheering and waving, as well as learning interesting tidbits and facts about each country from the announcer. Laura spent the time whining about wearing her sunglasses and laying on the floor of the stands. After the lighting of the torch, the kids sang a few songs to further get into the spirit. The official outdoor games will be held tomorrow beginning at 8:20am, and lasting throughout the day. All parents are encouraged to attend and support their students (of course they are). I know where we will be spending tomorrow!

With the exception of going to bed at 8:30pm this evening after snuggling with my kids in my comfy bed reading bedtime stories, that was the nicest part of the day. These headaches are much too life interrupting and quality damaging. So tired of them. And even more sad is that my Alex has to go through the same thing. And neither of us are keen on taking mega meds. I wish that there was a better answer other than moving to a better elevation and climate. Oh well, boo hoo for me....(and Alex.....)

Melissa had an EARLY morning OT eval in Maple Grove. She did great....pretty much flew through the test by being so cooperative. She has so many OT needs that it was no question that she needs to restart weekly services this summer. There was mention of a new school aid program where Melissa can speak her thoughts and ideas into a device that then get transferred via voice recognition into typed papers. This will be fantastic for all of the stories floating around in Melissa's creative mind! She will be working on setting up and learning that program over the summer, leading to possibly using it at the start of next school year. This will also force her to be less sloppy with her speech, which is another area of constant need for her. I really liked this OT....she is one of the best that Gillette has to offer. Now we need to decide if driving an hour away each week is really worth it, or if we could settle for an OT she recommended that would only be 40 minutes away for us. Given our unhappiness with the last OT we had, I am not sure which to choose.

Directly following the OT eval, Laura had an appointment at the eye doctor in Minnetonka. Not wanting Melissa to miss any of the fun Olympic events at school, Grandma C was kind enough to meet us there to pick Melissa up when we had arrived and drove her back to school. Grandma then took lunch charge over the other kids at home. Laura, Tubby, and I made the best of the long 1-1/2 hours at the eye doctor's office for a quick 15 minute appointment. My headache continued to rage despite meds and a coffee break at the cafe, Tubby was getting extremely crabby from being forced to wake up so early this morning AND miss all of his usual nap times, and Laura was in one of her very stubborn moods, impolitely refusing to cooperate with much. She did get excited by all the pretty pink eyeglass frames for kids, and had picked out a beautiful magenta colored pair that looked adorable on her. Boy was she UNHAPPY when all was found to be well with her eyes and she did NOT in fact need glasses. This spilled over to her pouting at the Olympic ceremony (as mentioned above) while wearing sunglasses because of her dilated pupils. She really had wanted those glasses. What is so funny, is that the day she found out she needed to visit an eye doctor, she CRIED because she did NOT want to wear glasses. Silly, fickle little girl!