Happy Fourth of July!
(It's a bit late, but life's busy.) For the past few years, it just hasn't worked out for us to really see a fireworks show. This year I was determined to make it happen, so we bought tickets for "Picnic on the Pier"--food truck dinner and a spot near the USS Missouri to watch the show over Pearl Harbor. We had to deal with unexpected rain upon our arrival, but it cleared up in time to eat and watch fireworks. Daddy took the girls to explore the ship and escape the rain, but they were disappointed to discover that below decks was closed off (we've been aboard twice now and have yet to see the inside of this ship!). Dinner was delicious, and the fireworks were lovely. Daddy was bored, and Monkey and Bug were underwhelmed by the show and irked by the wet weather, but Lion and I enjoyed ourselves!

Good food and new friends while we wait for fireworks!

Monkey is Free!
She's had her last follow-up for the broken arm and been given the all-clear from her doctor to resume normal activities. Her first comment: "Now I can punch things!" The context: for the last two months she's been attending Taekwondo classes without being able to participate in any of the punching pad drills.

Also, water fun is back on the table! In about the last week we've had two pool dates and a beach day with friends. For our beach day we met up with a friend from the track team at a favorite beach and had a blast. They were realizing on the way home how much more confident they are in the water now than when we first moved here: The kids decided to swim out to a buoy at some point. A year ago that was a serious intimidating challenge; now it's just a fun, easy activity! Our two pool dates were with another home schooling family we met through Daddy's job. The kids and us moms hit it off beautifully, so we've decided this should be a weekly get-together. Hooray!

Monkey sprinting the 200m.

 Track & Field
The girls ended the track and field season with mixed feelings--they'll miss the events and the friends, but they're looking forward to having their evenings and Saturdays back (at least until soccer season starts in the fall). The season officially ended with the state Junior Olympic Championship--the event in which they could qualify for the national Junior Olympics. The top five athletes for each event qualify. We have a scheduling conflict and can't participate this year, but the girls finished strong! Lion placed 1st in the 1500m and 3rd in the 800m, Bug placed 2nd in discus and 4th in both shotput and the 800m, and Monkey placed 4th in the 400m.

Perhaps my favorite part about this photo of Lion running the 1500 is the bafflement
on that 11-year-old boy's face when the tiny girl flies past him.

They caught a great photo of Bug throwing discus.

Bug and Lion chose to compete in the Aloha Games, an optional post-season event. Lion made the platform in both her events as usual! Bug had made some real improvements in her throwing at the very end of the season, so her throwing coach laid down a challenge: if Bug could throw the discus farther than 9m, she could keep Coach J's personal discus. Bug threw it 9.9m and is now the proud owner of a discus!

Now that the season's over, Lion is back to her real love--cross country! Daddy found a 5K for them to run this weekend. It was a seriously challenging course up the side of a mountain, and Lion blew past the competition. She was 1st in the 14 and under division (boys and girls), she was the 4th female overall, and--perhaps her proudest achievement--she beat Daddy by almost a minute!

History
Here's the girls' latest history production: