Last day of school

Tuesday was a big day: Anselm's last day of kindergarten. He has been very happy this year, and his last writing was about how sad he is because it is coming to an end. I joined for the closing hour of the day, kicked off (har har) by the 5th graders vs the teachers' soccer game. Our kids were strung around the side of the playground, but when their teacher Carlen took the kick, they spontaneously synchronized into one chanting, cheering mass.

Then back to the classroom, where they sang for a group of assembled parents some of Carlen's cool songs, about larvae and pupae, vowel pronunciation, the elements (not the elephants!) of a story, sublimation of carbon dioxide and the like. The parents presented Carlen with a beautiful book put together from Craig's photos of all of the kids, which she read out to them, to their rapt delight.

Anselm and I then stopped for coffee/hot choc at the downtown Vivace on our way to a long and fun gearing-up expedition to REI, where we tried on many hats and shoes, chose backpacks, and looked for quick-drying clothes for our Japan interrail trip-- leaving in a couple of days! Excitement and anxiety are both running high, particularly with Eliot, whose mood has been all over the place. She has had tears several times because she wants to go to Japan RIGHT NOW; at other times her worries have been surfacing in recalcitrance.