Today was Kylie’s last day of 5th grade, and as such the end of Elementary School! Hard to believe that next year she will be moving up to the Middle School. She’s excited but realizes that she is going from being one of “the big kids” to once again being the youngest. However, she is already looking forward to the possibility of joining new clubs and looking forward to making new friends as students from other elementary schools will be going to the same middle school. At the end of the day there was an awards presentation, after which there was a clap out for the 5th grades to send them off to middle school and say farewell. When everything was complete we went to Red Robin for a celebratory lunch.
Category Archives: Kylie
Third Swim Meet
Kylie had her third swim meet tonight. She participated in 4 events and did great! This was the second meet that Melissa and I were able to make it too, the first one being last week’s. I was very proud, and impressed, to see how much she has improved in the last week. I know she has a lot of practices during the week, and was even practicing in the lake with her cousins when we went up north, but the change in her form is incredible. Tiffany sent me the videos that she took during this meet like she did for the other, and as soon as I can I will get them posted as well. Also, once again, I do not know what her rankings were in her events, but that doesn’t really matter to us. We are very proud of Kylie and everything she accomplishes, and even more for just simply attempting it and following through. Looking forward to her next event already!
Memorial Day Weekend Recap
What a great weekend! We just returned from spending the weekend up north at Chris and Tracey’s cabin. It’s the first time Kylie and I have been there in almost 10 years, and it’s the first time for Melissa! We had a really good time, the kids all got to play together and the adults got to relax a bit. Even though it was a long weekend the time still went by really fast. The drive up and back took a bit longer than they normally would due to the holiday traffic, but luckily there were no real standing points, just congestion and slow downs. We are already talking about trying to find some more time to go back up this summer. Not sure if we are going to be able to or not, but we definitely won’t wait another ten years to get up there!
Second Swim Meet
Tonight was Kylie’s second swim meet with the Wild Cats, and thankfully Melissa and I were able to make this one (and hopefully many if not all of the rest!). Kylie took part in 4 events, and while I am not certain, I think she came in first in one and third in another. These events were a mix of both individual and group events and she performed a mix of different strokes. She will not find out what place she actually came in until her next practice, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that she did her best and had a lot of fun. She is doing really well and I can see a lot of improvement over the way she used to swim at the old apartment pool. I can see her confidence has improved in the water along with her general form. Also the dedication she is displaying, not only to swimming but also to maintaining her grades and ballet, is awesome. I think sometimes as parents we don’t realize the dedication and effort our kids put into these extracurricular activities, we just see the money and time we spend getting them there. I think it’s important that we recognize all the hard work, effort, and skill this takes on the part of our children as well. We are super proud of her and can’t wait to see her next meet!
Middle School Orientation
In a couple short weeks Kylie is going to finish up fifth grade and move on to sixth. This means that she will be in middle school! This is a completely new school, separate from her current elementary school, though right next door. So today she got to go on a field trip over to the new school to have an orientation, and tonight the parents got to do the same. Orientation for the adults this evening was held in the library of the middle school and provided by the Principal. He explained what our children can expect in terms of additional homework, different classes, changing classes and rooms during the day, even the availability of extracurriculars and clubs. It turns out that the swimming team is one of two athletic teams that sixth graders are allowed to join, so the Wild Cats will be a great help to Kylie if she wants to go for the school team. He also informed us about the eighth grade trip to D.C. so we could start saving for it now, as it can be a little pricey. After the presentation and the corresponding Q&A, he then led us on a tour of the school. The school has a separate gymnasium, auditorium, and cafeteria which is different from the elementary school. In addition they have their own indoor school, which is where Kylie is currently practicing with the Wild Cats until after school is out for the year, then it moves to the High School. There are also fully functional science labs and multiple computer labs the kids will have access to depending on their classes. Additionally there is a new wing being built that will include a second gymnasium and additional classrooms. Next year Kylie will also be required to change for gym, which is new compared to elementary school. There are going to be a lot of changes for her next year, and there will also be some for changes for us as well. While I am a little shocked at fast the time is going by, I am really excited for Kylie to begin the next chapter of her education
First Swim Meet
Tonight is Kylie’s first swim meet with the Wild Cats! Unfortunately due to Melissa and I celebrating our anniversary tonight by going to see a musical, we will not be able to attend. Thankfully Kylie understands, as this was planned before she was on the swim team. Nevertheless I am a little sad to miss out on her first meet. I have no doubt that she is going to do great though, and I look forward to hearing all about it. I am sure Tiffany will take some videos and send them to me, so once I have them, and time, I will be sure to get them posted up. In the meantime, good luck Kylie! We know you will do your best and totally rock! We love you and are very proud of you!
Ballet Recital Number Seven
I rarely get to go to Kylie’s ballet classes anymore, and even when I do I purposefully refrain from watching the class. I do this so that I am always seeing her dance for the first time at the recital, and she never fails to amaze me. As I think back on the years gone by, it’s an incredible journey and evolution of her skills. Watching the younger children during the recital always helps to really emphasize that journey. It’s so easy to watch these young kids and remember when Kylie was that age, and then to have her come out and perform and have that full journey played out is spectacular. It’s hard to believe that Kylie has been in ballet for almost 7 years now (her first class)! This year saw the addition of pointe and while she did not perform that during this recital, I have witnessed her training in action for that. In fact she was only one of two girls that were able to releve` to on-pointe position for their individual ballet picture! All in all it was another great recital followed by the traditional visit to Stroh’s.
Bring Your Daughter to Work Day 2016
Today was the day that Kylie had been waiting for just about a year. It’s take your daughter to work day! Last year was Kylie’s first time participating in this event and she had so much fun that she has been asking about it ever since. So last night after work I went over and picked her up so she could spend the night at my house to make the morning a bit easier. Seeing as the events started with breakfast at 9am I decided it would be best to not go into work at 6am like I normally do, so we both got to sleep in a little later than normal, which is always a good start to the day. Traffic on the way to work was a little heavier than I am accustomed to, and even Kylie commented on it, which I thought was funny. Regardless, we made it to the office with plenty of time and Kylie was amazed that since last year I have moved my desk and now have a standing desk instead of a sitting desk. She seemed shocked to find out that I literally stand around all day. Even more exciting for her though, was that I actually do have a chair, one that adjusts to a higher height to allow me to sit at my standing desk if I so choose. She had a lot of fun sitting in such a high chair. After about 15 minutes we went over to the main gathering area where breakfast was being provided and found ourselves a seat. After breakfast there was some dancing (though Daddy doesn’t dance) and general goofing around, and shortly after it was time for the kids to go off with their groups for a day full of activities. Due to a customer issue I was, unfortunately, not able to actually sit and have lunch with Kylie. This upset me greatly, in fact, I think, a lot more than it did Kylie. Thankfully she was able to sit with Nicole and Kira so she was not alone. I was able to at least quickly go over and let her know I wasn’t going to be able to eat with her and let her know how sorry I was so she wasn’t just sitting there wondering if I forgot or something. After eating Nicole brought her over to my desk so I could see her for a few minutes before she went off to her next activity. At the end of the day we met back up and she told me about all of the cool things she did. She said she really enjoyed the programming class and that the day in general was a lot of fun. I am very fortunate to work for a company that participates in these events and grateful to have a job where I can actually bring her in for the day. We are both already looking forward to next year’s bring your daughter to work day!
Riverdance
Today we went out to the Wharton Center to see Riverdance, and it was amazing! It’s hard to believe that this show has already been performing for 20 years! Kylie loved seeing the dancing, and when she realized that they were doing Ballet, Pointe, and Tap all at the same time, she loved it even more.
We purchased a program on the way in, and because Kylie was with us the guy at the souvenir stand gave us the heads up that the woman 
(Natia) we had purchased the program from was one of the dancers, and that if we asked she would sign it for us! So off we went to have it signed, and in doing so she pointed us to another dancer (Mariia) who also signed it! Then Mariia gave us the heads up that if we went around to the stage door after the show that we could have the program signed by the cast of the show!
So after an amazing show we asked the Wharton Center staff and they directed us around to the stage door out back and we waited, in the snow, for the performers to come out, and we are super glad we did! There were only two other families who were waiting so we got to interact with many of the dancers and crew, get autographs, and even a couple of pictures. They 
were all so kind, happy, and thankful that we waited out in the cold and snow just for the opportunity to meet them. The highlight is this picture of Kylie with Jason O’Neill (Twitter), the principal dancer for the show! We even tweeted him after, and he replied! I can’t overstate how incredible it was to see this show live. If it ever comes through the area again, and we have the opportunity, I am certain we will go! We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside of the Wharton center theater, but we were able to take a few outside in the main area, and those pictures, along with the one above of Kylie and Jason, can be seen in the gallery here.
The Tooth Fairy Retires
A little over 5 years ago (February 4th 2011 to be exact) Kylie lost her first tooth. I can still remember pulling that first tooth out without her even realizing it, and how excited she was that the Tooth Fairy was going to come to Daddy’s house and visit her. Those days of excitement have sadly come to an end. I found out today that Kylie no longer believes in the Tooth Fairy. She told me that she was working on Mommy’s computer and found a typed letter that the Tooth Fairy had left for her on the computer. I not sure of the exact circumstances, it could be that the file was accidentally left open. Regardless, she saw it. This lead her to ask Neil if the Tooth Fairy was real. Knowing she was just on the computer he figured something was up, this wasn’t the first time she had asked any of us this question, but this time it seemed different. So he asked if she wanted the truth and Kylie said yes, so he told her. She was slightly upset but also liked that we had all done this for her. I knew this day was coming, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still feel a little sad. While we all want to witness our children grow, mature, learn, and be successful; it’s still sad when these large events take place as they are key indicators and turning points that parents can point to as specific moments in their child’s life when they took another step out of childhood and into the next phase of their growth. As she takes this step away from being a child and moves forward in her evolution into a young woman I take great comfort in knowing that no matter her age, she will always be my Little Bit.