https://youtube.com/shorts/BJb2wiN328Y (I just spent far too long trying to get this 7 second video to embed in this post. YouTube changed something and I can’t figure it out. So, click the link if you want to see her finding out her country assignment.)
Last fall Eve applied to be a Rotary Exchange student and today we went to a district meeting and found out her country assignment. Sweden! It was her second choice, but she is happy and already getting excited about it. She immediately started asking me lots of questions about the language (she loves languages) and I got to display my poor memory and lack of language skills. We might be relearning the language together. 😄
Tonight we went through my hope chest and found a few of my stuff from Sweden so many years ago. I have old journals I kept and my calendar book (pre digital calendar age!) and some photos and stuff.
Eve had her first day of work today and she sure did dress the part! She read the dress code at the last minute and realized it ruled out all of her athletic wear, so she grabbed a pair of jeans from my closet (from way back when I had lost a lot of weight!) and threw on some tall boots, just for fun. 😄
She’s so cool. She was putting on her mirrored heart shades as she walked towards the building.
Her bestie also started work at Hannaford today, so they got the tour together and did the training videos together. Eve said she did some bagging for a few customers too. Good thing I’ve trained her well on that front! 🤗
She came home in a very positive mood and even made herself a healthy dinner!
She has two more shifts this week, one with her bestie and one without. I hope the positive attitude sticks around.
I guess it’s about time to start documenting Eve’s next adventure — Rotary Exchange Student! She applied to be a Rotary Exchange student for the 2023/24 school year, her Junior year. We completed round one of interviews and paperwork, and yesterday we did round two of interviews. We spent a few hours at a Youth Exchange event yesterday, meeting the Rotarians, several inbound students, and several other outbound applicants. It was interesting.
Eve is pretty excited to go to Norway, the UK, or Iceland. Last week they sent a list of currently available countries and it was way shorter than expected and did not include any country she was interested in. We got nervous and I think she started having second thoughts. At yesterday’s meeting they handed out updated country lists, which now includes all of the Scandinavian countries and many others. Eve was much happier! Me too, truthfully. She enjoyed meeting the other outbound applicants and left the meeting in a pretty positive mood.
At some point between now and January she will have a chance to select her top three countries and indicate up to three that she would not go to. There is another Youth Exchange event on January 7th and we are told that if all goes well they’ll tell the kids which countries they’ll be going to. That should be right around the time we hear back from the colleges Lex applied to as well.
Dear Santa, bring me tissues this year. 😢
All good changes. All good things. All part of growing up and spreading their wings. Sometimes parenting is both amazing and terrifying at the same exact time.
Another AMAZING high school musical is on the books! Lex ran the lights, while Eve and her bestie, Simon, ran the spot lights. Our old neighbors, Macy and Asher, stole the show! Well lit, of course, by my children. :)
Lex in the tech booth
Eve above the tech booth!
They both had a great time and the show was fantastic.
Eve made plans with friends to go to the county fair last weekend. The fair was a little too far away for me to drop them and leave, so I decided to hang out. Then my friend (the mom of one of Eve’s friends) decided to tag along too, with the rest of their family. So we all went to the fair. Right when it was time to go, Eve ran upstairs and changed into her Gary Graham carnival-inspired dress. :)
Rides
Food
Animals
Animals
Gary Graham needs this picture.
They were amused by the Tik Tok hats. :)
We spent a ton of money, ate crappy food, got hot and sweaty and dusty, and overall had a great time! It’s neat now that the kids are old enough to make their own plans. I love Eve’s friends. They keep me laughing.
Last year Eve came up with the idea for a beautiful wildflower garden. Because we live in an area with shared common grounds, I floated the idea by the neighbors and everyone loved it. Eve, being Eve, went no further with it.
This spring one of the neighbors reached out to Eve and asked if they could work on the garden together, starting with a simpler plan. The neighbor also has a little more garden knowledge than us, or at least a little more garden ambition! She rented a rototiller and the two of them dug up a large patch of land in the side yard. Two weeks later (today), they re-tilled and planted seeds. A few other neighbors came out to join in the fun as well. I popped in and out for moral support and to take pictures. :) Eve wasn’t excited for the hard work and hot sun, but I think she will be excited when the garden starts to grow. I’ll let her get some decorative stuff for it as well, which is the part she really wants. :)
I got my babies back today. Yay! They had a *great* time at the Governor’s Institute. This morning there was a whole presentation where the director talked about the experience and showed a slideshow of everyone’s final projects. Then we had time to walk around and check out all the final projects. They ranged from digital designs, to video games, to physical robots and “makerspace” projects. They were all pretty cool.
Eve made a really neat wooden box with her drawings engraved in the side. She also created the graphics for a video game that Lex programmed, and a screen printed poster of the game logo. They had fun working together. They also both joined a Dungeons and Dragons group and are now fully addicted. 😄
Eve also made cool/weird/pretty earrings and a little mushroom out of clay and paint. They are adorable, but the earrings are huge. :)
After we were packed up and checked out, we headed to Church Street for yummy bagel lunch and Lake Champlain Chocolates ice cream. We also made a stop at the local game store to buy D&D dice. Yep, they are hooked!
Alan took Lex and Eve back to his house for a bit while I dropped B’Lake off at his Governor’s Institute mathematics camp. It was a very different drop off experience than last week with Lex and Eve. For the math camp they were disorganized, lax, and extremely informal. I hope it ends up being as much fun for him as L&E had.
Em the snail went to camp to keep B’Lake company. 💙💛
After dropping him off I stopped at Alan’s house to pick up the other two and we headed home. Huxley was VERY glad to see the kids again! He slept in his crate every night this week and is definitely missing his cuddles with Lex. 🤗
Tomorrow we’re off on another adventure! Life is good.
Eve and Lex are spending the week at a fancy tech camp called the Governor’s Institute. The camp is held at Champlain College, a beautiful location on Champlain Lake. I dropped them off yesterday, in the rain. I was a weird nervous person trying to be double sure on the parking and plans. I think I drove Lex crazy. LOL. The camp is a super cool camp. Lex and B’Lake did it last year, but it was virtual due to Covid, so it was fun, but not AS fun as in-person. This year Lex and Eve signed up for the “technology and design” session and B’Lake signed up for the “mathematics” session, which is next week.
Eve was up at 4:30am, feeling anxious, I think. She didn’t say as much, but she said she had a stomachache and worried she might have Covid (she tested negative before I even work up). She was excited and nervous, so I knew it was all ok.
I helped them both get packed, ran a few errands with Eve (she needed headphones and Lex needed laundry detergent –he’s planning to do laundry!), then we headed to college. It was a super weird experience.
First things first — Covid tests. One poor camper who had driven 2.5hrs tested positive and was sent home. It was a nerve wracking – yet boring – 15 minutes.
Eve in her dorm. She has a lovely view of construction. Lex wanted no help in his dorm room, but I’m assuming they look about the same.
Forced fun photo for mom. It was drizzling and I made them stand in the rain anyway for the photo.
I don’t think I was too much, but by the end when I wanted one pic of the two of them together, Lex was done with me. :) I jokingly said something about Lex being ready for me to leave and he less jokingly said yeah, he was. :) That boy is exactly where he should be for a rising senior!
Eve, on the other hand, needed extra hugs, texted me before I was even home, and called me at night. She said she was having fun, but that there was a lot of people and activities and she was very tired. I’m hoping she’s having a good day today. She texted me a picture of the clouds this morning, so that’s a good sign.
Eve come home yesterday with a few forms to show me. She started pulling them out of her bag and announcing them — course planner for next year, course selection sheet, and a drivers ed application. DRIVERS ED?!? I was NOT prepared for that.
I have been bugging B’Lake to bring home an application so he can take drivers ed this summer. Lex got his license and I was prepared to do the next two in order. The idea that Eve could take drivers ed this summer NEVER even occurred to me! Of course, she will be old enough and could have her permit in time, but in my head it was one kid at a time, not two at once!
Also, Lex and B’Lake are at a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) meet this weekend. They left with their team after school this afternoon, which means they were packing and prepping last night and this morning. This is the first time Lex is off on his own. Not really on his own, of course, but not with parents or grandparents. They are staying in a hotel and taking the bus to and from the competition. Unfortunately (for me) FRC isn’t allowing non-team attendees, so I can’t go watch.
Lex joined the team his freshman year and we went to our first FRC competition in March 2020. Two weeks later the world shut down and all further FRC competitions were cancelled. We all really enjoyed the competion and were bummed that we couldn’t attend any more. Last year the season was all virtual, which wasn’t much fun for Lex. This year they are back in person and able to hold the competitions, even without an audience. I’m happy the kids can do this, even if I can’t be there to watch. :) Luckily they will be livestreaming it, so if you want to follow along, you can do so here: https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/95
I’ll be watching and cheering them on! Maybe my buddy, who can’t possibly be old enough to take drivers ed this summer, will watch with me.
