Birthday Party

This weekend, Gavin was invited to a birthday party for three siblings! Their birthdays are all within 6 weeks, so they got to have one big party. Check out the group of 33 kids, below:

It was held at Pump It Up in Lisle. There were two bouncy rooms and a room for eating cake and snacks.

There were several staffers with our group at all times, keeping things organized.

Gavin wasn't sure about the rock climbing wall at first, but then gave it a try:

This rainbow layer cake was a big hit! This cake was for Claire, below: 

Sitting in the birthday throne with Tristan:

Gavin with Claire and her brother Ethan (also his birthday):

Gavin and Claire. All the kids seemed to have a great time, except Claire and Ethan's little brother Adam, who was a bit under the weather.

Evie's Garden

On Friday we went to Evie and Gavin's old preschool to plant flowers in her memorial garden. It's right outside the Bluebird Room, which was her classroom.  There are some beautiful perennials, but we added a bunch of wave petunias to fill it in.

All of the kids' therapists came to help, along with their teachers, the principal, and several other staff members who loved the kids. We had fun and it was great to see everyone again!

Gavin diligently watered every flower:

Mrs. Seppa let Gavin release the Cat room's ladybugs into the garden:

Swimming

I haven't posted about Gavin swimming in a while, so here are a few pics. He moved up to level 4, and he has started learning to alternate arms in backstroke (in the beginner level, the kids moved their arms at the same time and just worked on keeping their bodies up and kicking), he can swim in  a longer lane, and he learned the preliminary moves for the butterfly stroke.

Pointing out he is in level 4:

Nana got to come with us one day:

In this video he starts on the platform in the middle of the lane and swims toward us. His freestyle is getting really strong!

Volunteer Tea

Gavin's school had a special presentation for volunteers - anyone who had done any volunteering during the school year. They called it a "Volunteer Tea" and each grade did something cute.

I was in the back (it was packed) and was using my phone, so these a little fuzzy. Gavin is is the back row in blue.

They did two cute songs, one to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out, and one to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes:

Gavin & Claire

Last week it was time to register the kids for the next school year! So I left Gavin at my friend Gina's house with her parents, and the two of us walked over to school to take care of the paperwork while her parents watched all the kids.

As it turned out, Claire got a few early birthday presents from her grandparents that day, and Gavin was happy to be there.

Below, they are watching Gina cut a very frozen ice cream cake and then Claire is licking the frosting off the candles while her brother Ethan and Gavin watch. Gavin chose not to try the cake, despite the birthday girl's request. :)

Then they ran around outside for a bit playing a version of My Little Pony. No, there are no ponies in this picture - they kids pretended to BE the ponies. (*shrugs* - 6 year olds!)

Today is Claire's actual birthday, so we wish you a wonderful day!!

Tae Kwan Do Tournament

Gavin participated in his first Tae Kwan do tournament on Saturday. He was really excited to compete, and wanted a gold medal.

First he showed his "blue belt form," which is a series of coordinated steps, punches, and blocks. He earned a bronze medal for this.

Then he moved on to the "breaking" portion. He had to break four boards - one with a punch and three with different kicks. He took silver in this one!!!!

Wearing both. medals He was so proud, and wants to go again next year and get a gold!

Here's a video of his breaking skills:

Playdate

Over spring break, Gavin's friend Claire came over for a play date. The afternoon started out warm, and they played outside for a bit. But then the wind picked up and we moved inside.

Hopscotch - their way. They kept counting to 20 and higher.

Lego Engineering

I took Gavin to a Lego engineering class over Spring Break. It was part of the Engineering For Kids program at Airtastic.

This class was in the Mechanical Engineering category and had them build a sailboat (which he and his buddy dubbed a "pirate ship") and they connected wires to make sounds and make it move.

Of course, the kids got to have a break in the middle and run around Airtastic. Gavin loved it!!!

Adler Planetarium

Yesterday we went to the Adler Planetarium. It was Gavin's first visit. He is totally fascinated by planets, stars, and our solar system, so we figured he'd like it.

We found a lot of cool things, like this model of the solar system from back when people thought Earth was at the center, not the sun:

We spent a lot of time in a hall with models of each planet:

It's hard to see, but Gavin is in that window. This was a pretend crater on Mars:

This is like the machines at Brookfield Zoo that flatten a penny and stamp an image on it. Gavin chose a Mars image:

Cleaning dirt off of old sundials. Gavin loved this!

A staff member was demonstrating what happens to objects (like a balloon) when the environment has no air. Gavin loved it!

We had a great time and Gavin can't wait to go back!