Swim Lessons 2015

All three children are now participating in swim lessons.

I'm grateful to say they all love it.

 Meghan is one of two children in her class at the time of this writing. The first day (when I took these pictures) the other child was absent. Meghan had a 45 minute one-on-one lesson!

For family who live in northeastern PA, that is the Susquehanna River in the background.

A Weekend Away

I attended my first writer's conference two weekends ago. It was just what I wanted: a conference focusing on children's nonfiction. It was highly beneficial even if I did drive to NYC all by myself. I have been working on connecting with some of the people I met there and hope to talk to some editors as well.

I want to attend the conference again. However, I never want to drive over the George Washington bridge again. The good news is that no one beeped at me on the way home.

This picture shows the Delaware Memorial Bridge (I think). Returning to Delaware was certainly refreshing since I felt like I was nearly home. Obviously, it hasn't been edited.

I left on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. During the same weekend, Derek completed another Tough Mudder. Since we were both gone, Derek's mom came and watched the children and then took them to northeastern Pennsylvania for a special visit. Unfortunately, Meghan was sick Saturday night and Evan Sunday night. Of course Janice didn't complain. Esther never got the bug and as far as I know it wasn't passed to anyone else. You can see pictures of his 2014 Tough Mudder here.

End of School Year

Before school year officially ended, I had the opportunity to teach Meghan's class about pioneer games. We had a lot of fun. You can read about it at Little House Companion. I'd like to get into schools regularly for classroom visits and assemblies.

On the final day of school, I picked the children up from the bus stop and headed downtown. We went out for ice cream...a real treat!

We ordered indoors...

 but finished our ice cream outside.

Evan's Kindergarten Graduation

Our school had an outdoor graduation for Evan's grade. It was their first time holding it outdoors.

Here is Evan with Mrs. M. She's awesome. I hope someday she will have taught all three Whipple children.

Each class sang a song.

Above is my view when I stand.

Below is my actual view when sitting.

 Mrs. M. gave each student a certificate. Then we went inside for ice cream.

 Isn't this cute?

 We now have a third grader, first grader, and preschooler in the house! Time flies!