We're on a Trip, not a Vacation!

 Bryce just finished this acrylic painting at art class. 

Acadian's transition to MCDS for 6th grade has been seamless. His teachers report that he's doing well in his classes. Most days are quite long with him catching the bus at 7:30 am and arriving home close to 6 pm because he is doing cross country and soccer. He quickly made friends with "the good kids" with whom he mostly hangs but has also befriended some of the less well-behaved ones by playing soccer. He'll be running in the JV XC championship this Tuesday. Bryce started out his sophomore year by taking wood joinery and turning and is playing piano in the beginning jazz class. So far we have seen a wooden frame, and we are looking forward to the bowl he will produce. He also started a short stories club with a friend where they read and write short stories. Over the course of the water polo season, he improved to become the top scorer on the JV team and was asked to play varsity for the league championships, which just concluded today. The photos are of the the...

Bryce and I competed in his first triathlon in Herald, CA: the sprint Tri for Fun at Rancho Seco Park. It was a 1/2 mile swim in a lake, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run. It was incredibly special to compete with him as it was his 15th birthday, and I had dreamed of him competing in a triathlon when he was a toddler. In my dream he had the body of a 12 year old but the face of a three year old as I couldn't picture what he'd look like when he was older. Since the bike was out and back, I expected to see Bryce early on as he was returning and got very worried as I started approaching the turnaround and finally saw him. He's a very fast swimmer and cyclist, so I was surprised to see how much I'd caught up to him. I cheered for him on the bike and when I saw him on the run course, which was challenging as it had gotten quite hot and there was no shade. Kyusik noticed that his shirt was ripped as he crossed the finish line. Only after I had finished did I find out that he'd...

After working with Dinorah on Wednesday, they visited the Castillo de Chapultepec in the afternoon. On the Thursday, they first watched Dinorah demonstrate how she uses a robotic arm and then got to try it out themselves. I noticed in the photo that  José   sent today of the group at the National Museum of Anthropology that Bryce bought a new shirt. 

Bryce applied and was accepted to a 10-day Design and Digital Fabrication trip for 10 students from his high school. He is the only one who doesn't speak Spanish, so he did a bit of Duolingo prior to his departure. He complained about having to conjugate verbs and that there are feminine and masculine articles, nouns, and adjectives. I am glad he is having such a rich cultural experience, especially since he was on a school backpacking trip when Kyusik, Acadian, and I went to Mexico City two years ago.  He is staying at a Hilton in the Cen tro  Histórico  and has a packed schedule . I dropped him off at the airport on Friday morning. It was the first time he's travelled anywhere without us. We've been getting daily photo updates from the two teachers chaperoning the trip. Samu is the Technical Arts Department Chair, and José is a math teacher.  They are collaborating with a local artist named Dinorah Martínez Schulte , who uses 3D modeling to create sustainable build...

Even though he could barely swim a few laps, Bryce tried out water polo in the fall. Over the course of several months, he worked hard and became a strong swimmer  and one of the better players on the JV team. He also made some great friends. His teammates voted him as the most improved. The team is really sweet with the senior boys taking the frosh under their wings and giving them advice in the locker rooms. One senior hosted the entire team at his family's winery for a sleepover. In a photo at the end of the season, Bryce is doing a speech to honor one of the senior boys with whom he was closest. Bryce has enjoyed the sport so much that he then did club water polo over the winter, which meant that Kyusik and I had to take turns doing a very complicated carpool to Burlingame 4 days/week with 4 other families. It was a 3-4 hour commitment because after driving there and back, the practices were 2 hours, and it was too far for the parent to drive home in between. Bryce is now on th...