Checking out Mesa Academy

I had lunch a few months ago with a friend who has a daughter the same age as Tyler. We were talking about school and she told me about the school that Camryn attends. It's called Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies, and it is a 4th-8th grade Mesa Public School. I looked into it a little bit at the time, and we talked to Tyler about it too. He's going to have to switch schools for 7th grade anyway, so it makes sense to try to get him in there for 6th grade. There are so many cool things about this school, and I'll try to hit on a few of the things we like best. 

We submitted Tyler's application to attend the Academy for 6th grade, and attended a parent information session the other night. The principal and the head of the IB program (International Baccalaureate, more on that later) led the info presentation explaining how the school operates, classes that are offered, the awards the school has won, and more. It was held in their multipurpose room seen in this photo. 

First of all, this is a Mesa Public School so it has bus service (and many other things that go along with public school).  It's located only about a mile away from my college, so it would be great to be able to drop Tyler (and Ava when she's old enough) off on my way to work, and they could take the bus home. It's grades 4-8 and kids rotate to different classes like a traditional junior high environment. This allows them to have a variety of teachers who are experts in their subject area. It's an International Baccalaureate program, which (from their website) is a "non-profit educational foundation offering four highly respected programs of international and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. Schools must be authorized by the IB organization to offer the program." There are only a handful of these programs in the valley.

The 4-5 graders do a varied class schedule during the week where they take their 4 core classes every day, and then rotate through 3 different classes different days throughout the week (Chinese, Spanish, music, technology, health/wellness, etc). Yes, you read that right, they take Chinese and Spanish. The first two years are mainly just to let them get a foundation for both languages, and then by 6th grade, they are expected to pick one or the other to focus on the next 3 years. They also take Suzuki music classes and have both band and orchestra. For those kids who may decide that they don't want to do either band or orchestra (they can switch for 6th grade), they can take classes like Music Composition. Here is a photo of a Music Composition classroom. The kids use technology to learn about composition and arrangement of music, as well as studying music history. Tyler was pretty excited to see this classroom. This is right up his alley!

The morning after the presentation, Tyler, Grandma Jean and I went on a tour of the school with the principal and some other prospective students. We learned a lot at the presentation, but it was so helpful to see the school in person, and visit some classrooms. There is definitely an emphasis on technology in the classrooms, which is so important, and great to see that this school has the ability to include it in their curriculum. We went into a 4th grade class that was doing math facts and each child was on a laptop doing what looked like video games, but were educational games. We went into an 8th grade technology class that was working on video animation, and as you could imagine, Tyler's eyes lit up! We listened in on a Spanish class, and heard a little bit from the Chinese class too. There was so much to see, and it all blew me away. I believe this school was designed for Tyler, and I could definitely see Ava excelling here too. The benefit for her is that we can hopefully get her started in 4th grade so she can take full advantage of the program. I'm a little bummed that I didn't know about this school when Tyler was in 4th grade. Now we need to keep our fingers crossed that he gets in! I think it's a little harder for the upper grades because it's all dependent on how many spots are available in each grade. They only have 90 kids per grade, so we are relying on some kids not returning so there are spots open. The initial round of offers will go out by the first week in April, but the principal warned us that we may not even know until right around the time school starts in the fall. It's based on state test scores and letters of support from classroom teachers, and of course, space available.

The Academy has won a ton of awards, and the students in various clubs have taken home numerous accolades as well. That's another aspect Tyler is excited about. There are a number of clubs including Novel Writing Club, Drama Club, various math teams, robotics club and many more. Tyler is very interested in the first two I mentioned. Mesa Academy has been ranked the #1 middle school in AZ, and was also recently named #1 elementary school in the state as well. I can't even begin to tell you how badly I want Tyler to get into this school! Tyler wrote a nice email to the principal after our tour to thank him and to tell him how much he enjoyed seeing the school. He also included a link to his You Tube channel so the principal could see his animation projects. It was a nice gesture, and hopefully will put him on their radar, if even just a little bit. Click here to visit the website for the Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies--and keep your fingers crossed that Tyler gets in!

Here is a video they showed during the presentation. The governor of AZ visited the school recently, and they made this video.

4 years of flying

It's January 31, which is a special day in my trapeze history. It was the day that I was invited to this super awesome trapeze family. I remember that day like it was yesterday, and it's hard for me to believe that four years have passed. I can hardly remember what it was like not to have trapeze be part of my life, as it's become so important to me. I realize how very lucky I am to fortunate I am to be part of a relatively small world of trapeze enthusiasts, and even more how lucky I am to get to do it for free with a group of people who have become my circus family.  It still makes me smile like I did on the first day.

I've said it all before. Trapeze changed my life, and in a round about way, changed life for our family. Because I wanted to get in better shape to help with trapeze, fitness became part of our lifestyle. 

On the 4th anniversary of joining this regular trapeze group, I celebrated by taking a new trick out of safety lines. I haven't been working on this one all too long but it has become a consistent trick for me, and George gave me the go-ahead to take it out of lines as soon as I felt ready. It's called a Pelicano, and is a combination between a layout and a straddle whip. I need to stay in the straddle longer, but it'll do for now. It's a fun one, and I can wait to start catching it out of lines too.

I am forever grateful to George and the rest of my circus family for including me in their very small circle of 'regulars,' and will forever be amazed at my good fortune for finding my way into this group. I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband who doesn't bat an eye when I fly 2 or even 3 days a week. Four years have flown by, pun intended, and I can't wait to see what my circus future holds!

They grow up so fast

I've written before about how great Google Photos is about making random videos, collages, and other cool compilations using the photos in my albums. The other day, I noticed that it made a video called "They Grow Up So Fast," and it was a video using all photos of Lacy over the years. I guess it uses facial recognition to find photos of the same person, and puts them together chronologically. I was hoping Google would make videos using my kids, and then I opened up and found this one! Take a look at Tyler over the years.....

Uke practice

More Ava pictures--I'm not sure where Tyler was this day that I was taking so many photos of Ava playing games. I guess I'll have to track him down and get him in a few more pictures next time. After the games of Uno, soccer, and football in the backyard, I took out my ukulele to practice a little bit. Ava joined me with hers for awhile too. She's really good at getting it tuned, and is getting better with a fe of her cords. I hope she can learn some songs soon!

Soccer with Dad

Playing games in the grass led to playing soccer too! I played along for a little while, and Ava and I were on a team against Dad. I felt my talents would be better used taking photos though, so I didn't last long. 

She got to practice throwing a football around too. Her dad is such a good coach!

Games in the grass

The weather is beautiful right now! Days like this are the reason we live here. It was actually a pretty wet and cool January, so this sunshine is a nice change. Ava asked to play a game with me, but I said I'd only agree if we could play outside. She spread out a blanket in the grass and we played a few hands of Uno. She looked so cute in her sunglasses that I had to go get my camera. 

I thought this shot was pretty fitting--her shirt says "Love every moment."

Ava loves to play games. It might be one of her favorite things to do when we're at home.

I swear I wasn't trying to cheat by looking at the reflection of her cards in her sunglasses!

Becoming a musical family

With Ava and I having our own ukuleles--wait, I don't think I wrote about that. I got my own ukulele! I guess Dave thought it would be good if I would quit stealing Ava's ukulele, so we went to Guitar Center a couple weekends ago and picked one out for me. Here it is--isn't it cool?

Anyway...now that Ava and I both have our ukuleles, I think Dave thought he needed to get in on the fun. We headed over to Guitar Center today because I needed to exchange my ukulele for another one (was having some fret noise), so he started looking at the guitars and asking the sales guy some questions. 

He has a couple cousins and his brother in law who all play guitar, so he has plenty of people around who can help him get started. And, of course, there's always You Tube!

We were making our way out of the store when he found one near the front door that was on sale and seemed like a good one for him. He's excited to learn to play!

Now, if only we had someone in the family who could sing for us......

Tyler's Science Camp

Tyler's class went to Science Camp again up at Camp Tonotzona near Payson. They went last year too, and Dave went along as one of their chaperones. Lucky for Tyler and the teachers, Dave was willing to do it again this year. I don't have much to say about this trip since I wasn't there, but I do have a few photos to share. 

We've had a pretty wet (snowy up north) winter so far, so there was quite a bit of snow on the way up there and at camp. They stopped here on the way up to play in the snow a little bit. The kids really had to dress for winter on this trip! 

Here they are making Lego cars, and they got to race them down a inclined path to see which ones went the fastest.

Tyler got to try out his archery skills in their indoor range.

These next couple of pictures were posted by his teacher on their class website. Here the kids are learning about ecology and nature by the pond.

 Isn't this a beautiful setting for a lesson? The snow on the trees is lovely.

The kids also got to do some sledding on their trip. Tyler made several videos during their 3 days of Science Camp, so I'll have to get those and share them with you. He made a great video compilation of the kids sledding, but he is supposed to get permission from the other kids in his video before he posts it. I'll share it when that happens. They had so much fun sledding!

Here is the entire group--it's both classes of 4th-6th graders, along with teachers and chaperones. You'll see Dave pretty easily in this picture, but Tyler is a little more hidden. He's just a little face in the very back middle--just on the left edge of the green sign. It's so cool that Dave went with on this trip again this year. Tyler, and the rest of the kids, were very lucky to have him there. He's such a great dad! Ava and I managed by ourselves for a couple days too, but we missed our boys.

Ice skating with our friends

After the Women's March today, we had to rush back home because we had plans to meet our friends for an ice skating and pizza date. We tried to make this happen a couple of times already this winter, but had to reschedule for various reasons. We finally got a date on the calendar that worked for most (minus Kelly's family). Luckily, it worked out that Heather and I could attend the March, and still make it to the ice rink in Gilbert. Heather rode down to the March with some friends, and then she rode the light rail back to Mesa with my mom and me. We met up with my family and then headed to Gilbert where Craig was with their girls. It worked out well!

Heather and Becky have both taken their kids ice skating this winter, so they knew what to expect. While our kids didn't, they were still really excited to try skating for the first time. We dressed really warm since Heather said they keep it pretty cold in the rink. Heather and I were already dressed warm because we were anticipating some cold weather at the March this morning, but it ended up being a beautiful day. The ice rink in Gilbert was super crowded--apparently this is a pretty popular thing to do! Who would have thought?!

It took a little while to get our skates and to get all ready to head out on the ice, but once we did we all had fun! Ava stuck with me most of the time, and held my hand or the edge as much as she could. I think she would have been ok to skate on her own, but she was a little nervous. These kids look dressed for winter, don't they? 

Tyler did really well too! He was off on his own the whole time, and only fell once! He and Dave both used hockey skates, which worked better for them than the figure skates. Dave hadn't skated since he was a little kid, so it was almost like his first time too.

Here's just a short video of Tyler skating on his own, and Ava with Dave. 

It's been many years since I skated last. I can't think of when it would have been, but I think I did go at some point back when I lived with Karen and Kristina--so almost 20 years ago! I didn't skate a ton when I was younger (my brother was the hockey player), but I did grow up in ND, so I could skate a bit. I started when I was a little kid on the frozen creek at our farm, and I guess it's like riding a bike! I would have liked to have a little more open space on the rink to really see what I remembered. I was able to skate backwards, and that is about the extent of my skating skills.

We only ended up having about an hour on the ice since we got there a little late. Next time we'll have to make sure we have more time to skate because the kids really enjoyed it. They want to go with Uncle Jason since he's the skater in the family. I also think this would be a great place to spend a summer day--110 outside and 45 inside the ice rink. Those hockey parents in AZ have it made!

Here are all the kids that were with us--Tyler, Ava, Olivia, Colton, Lila, Dylan and Becky's nice, McKenzie. As you could imagine, those Bradley boys are fearless on the ice, and Olivia and Lila have been skating several times this winter. They all had fun!

My kids were also very interested in watching the Zamboni clean the ice after open skating. They had to get it ready for some of the little kids hockey teams to play. I couldn't get the Zamboni song out of my head.

After our skating fun, we headed to a pizza place down to road for an early dinner. It's always an adventure when we're anywhere with all these kids, but I don't know that we've ever done a dinner at a restaurant. They kids were really well behaved, and once we got the order figured out, everything went smoothly.

Cheers to my good friends!

These two were interested in watching Tyler draw his comics. I'm glad I brought the colored pencils and coloring book for a little something extra to keep them busy while they waited for their food.

After dinner, we went in to the pet store to look at the puppies and then went in the Fractured Prune doughnut shop. I had a Groupon for $15 worth of doughnuts, so we were able to get most of the group doughnuts with that. They were delicious, and unique choices. I'd say it was a pretty great day!