Memorial Day Weekend in Ojai!

Ojai!

We were invited this weekend for the 7th edition of Evy and Bram's Annual Backyard Camping Fest at their lovely home in Ojai. We have not always been able to go previous years, but this year it worked out. Marcus was supposed to be in New York that week, but he got fired from the project - which had been a nightmare for months - a couple of days earlier, so we were happy he was able to join us! The kids loved playing in the backyard (there's a trampoline and a swing set, what more do they need?), in the house (X-box anyone?), and to top it off: in the pool! The weather wasn't too great on Sunday, but that didn't stop them 😊. We had delicious Mexican taco's for dinner and it was just awesome to hang out with our friends who we hadn't seen in a while. Life gets so busy, and before you know it, years have passed without seeing each other! Our growing kids remind us just how fast time flies... Anyway, it was great spending the weekend together. We'll be back next year (WITH tent 😉)

Our host Bram!

Big backyard!

Martha and Louisa getting in the cold pool!

Zoé (Bram and Evy's 11 yr old daughter) and her friends Grace and Cali

Elise, Bram and Evy's 8th yr old daughter

Lifeguard Stella on duty :-)

Edith (Barbara and Peter's youngest daughter) on the bulldozer!

Fiona (Edine and Sven's 5 yr old)

Flinn, Edine and Sven's 7 yr old boy

Edith

Sven and Peter playing Jenga!

Swinging!

Louisa and Lily playing darts!

The sun was out on Monday, an official holiday in the US (and a day off for all of us!)

Thank you, Evy and Bram, for hosting and entertaining!

Open House at school!

4th Grade

Lily and her teacher, Ms. Convey

Favorite project: the mouse trap!

Famous Californian project: Sally Ride

Lily wrote a book in 4th grade: the Death Spell!

How can we stop food waste?

 2nd Grade

Ennio and his 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Langsdorff

The life cycle from egg to chicken: live in the classroom!

Ennio's rendering of Campbell's Soup!

Ennio's diorama: Fire Ants!

About Ennio's name...

Ennio's Diorama and Science Report: Fire Ants!

Ennio had to write a science report about an insect. He picked the fire ant (because when he heard the name, he was convinced this meant an ant on fire... which he thought was kind of cool 🤣) He had to create a diorama of his insect and habitat. We used a shoebox, glued on some photos of grass and trees, cut out styrofoam to make an ant hill and leftover pieces of fruit, and put little ants all over the place. To be honest, it was more of a family-project than an "Ennio"-project, but he did do a lot of the painting! He also had to write an in depth report about his insect.  
Describe how the insect defends itself from predators. If it is a predator, how does it catch prey? What kind of habitat does the insect prefer? How does the insect support the food web around it? What would happen it this insect didn't exist? Include a diagram, fun facts, sidebars and illustrations. 

This is what Ennio ended up writing:

And this is his diorama:

Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10)

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week in the US! Teacher Appreciation Week is celebrated during the first full week of May each year. Students show their teachers their appreciation by bringing flowers to school, writing Thank You notes, giving them treats, etc. Our teachers do so so much for our kids, it's only fair to thank them for their everyday efforts!
Lily and Ennio both have great teachers this year. We especially have a close connection with Ennio's 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Langsdorff. She is truly amazing. She believes in Ennio and only focuses on his strengths and potential, I can't say enough good things about her!

Lily's 4th grade teacher, Ms. Convey, got flowers from all the kids in her classroom on Monday morning!

Last night, Lily and Ennio wrote a special note for their teachers. Ms. Convey is Cool, Optimistic, Nice, Vital, Energetic and Youthful, according to Lily. I bought a bottle of cava and a bar of chocolate for her to give as a treat.

Ms. Langsdorff is Lovely, Amazing, Nice, Spectacular, Dazzling, Optimistic, Rulez, Fantastic and Fun, according to Ennio (and Marcus, who helped finding some of these adjectives :-)) We gave her some German and Belgian chocolate pralines.

This school year has been a good year for us. Relatively easy going, not too many waves in the water, or bumps in the road. Crossing our fingers that this course may go on!

Ennio's first sleepover at home!

Ennio had been asking us to have a sleepover with some of his friends for a long time. We'd always postponed it, but now that he turned 8, we couldn't really say "no" anymore. I mean, Lily had a sleepover with like 10 girls when she turned 7 (I know, CRAZY, right?), so Ennio's turn was actually long overdue. He was soooo excited when we told him he could have one. He chose Ford to be his sleeping buddy, and we said Leon could come too (we know Leon and May, his mom, very well, and May has often been a great help for us (watching Ennio when we needed someone, etc), so I wanted to return the favor. No way I was going to have more boys over! Ennio was over the moon and was counting the days until May 4th, day of the sleepover. His friends got to our house around 5 PM on Saturday and stayed until Sunday morning 10 AM. I think it went well!!! It was hard to get them off their electronics (if I would let them, that would be the only thing they'd do), but I made them play outside (trampoline, tree house and slide, sandbox, jungle gym - there's enough to do!). After dinner (the easy way: I ordered pepperoni pizza!), they watched a movie and had popcorn in "Oma's room", then played Roblox on the iPad in Ennio's room, and were still a bit loud and wild until it got quiet around 11 PM. Phew! They woke up early (6:15) but were quiet (again, because they were allowed to play on the iPad) until I got up one hour later and made breakfast. All in all, a successful sleepover. Leon had a tantrum when his mom picked him up, because he didn't want to leave, and Ford told his dad, "it was the best sleepover ever" (he'd only had 2 so far 😉), but anyway, that was good to hear! Hooray, another "first" achieved by Ennio!

Playing in the backyard!

Pizza!

At night, they watched a movie (Despicable Me) and played Roblox on the iPad before going to bed (and sleeping at... 11PM!!!)

Crêpes for breakfast!

Ford

Leon

Ennio

Chaperone Lily :-)

And for snack: fake fries with mayonnaise (cake and whipped cream!)