Katrina's 8th grade graduation

 

I know that 8th grade graduation is kind of a silly thing to celebrate. But it IS the end of an era for Katrina. She's been at her school since kindergarten, and next year only one other kid from her school (one of her best friends, happily!) is going to City with her. Most of her friends will be together at another high school, so they might stay friends with each other. But she really probably won't stay in touch with the majority of her friends that she's had most of her life. And that's a pretty big deal.

Tonight was her graduation. These pictures were taken before graduation, which is why she looks really happy and excited. After graduation, all of the pictures show her smiling, but in-between pictures, she kept wiping away tears and trying not to be sad. I was given the job of following her around while she found people that she wanted to take pictures with (all of the people). She wound her way around the crowd frantically looking for friends and teachers to take pictures with. We were some of the very last people to leave. She just did not want to go, because that would mean that she really was finished with this school and these teachers.

And now she's a high schooler. I just can't even believe it. How is she that old already?! It's impossible!

Katrina's last band concert ever

Katrina graduates from 8th grade in a few days. She has a giant group of friends (Us: "Do you have a best friend? Or a couple of best friends?" Her: "Not really. All of them."), and she's going to City, while nearly all of her friends are headed to other high schools. So last week was the last week that they'll all be together at school. This week they go to Chicago for two days, and then graduation is on Wednesday.

At City, you have the choice between band, choir, orchestra, or art. Katrina was torn, because she loves playing the flute, but she loves art more. And so this band concert was the last. And they were great. Katrina was great. And i'm a little bit sad that this was the last concert for her. (She and her friends didn't seem sad at all.)

Also, in completely unrelated news: This week is Festival. Katrina and i went with Beth and Katie yesterday afternoon. This was the first time i've ever gone to Festival without children who were small enough to want to do all of the kid activities - the paint-in and the glue-in and the hat making and the face painting.... We watched a couple of different dance schools' performances and a bit of a couple of bands, and just wandered for the rest of the time. Katrina was completely bored by the bands. I was surprised how little there was to do when you're not racing from one kid thing to another. But it was a beautiful day, and we had fun seeing what we saw. Yay!