Because Miles and his Math Team did so well in the Regional 'Math Is Coool' competition, they got invited to the statewide competition. So we got to go to lovely Spokane for the weekend! We drove over after Caroline's dance class, and had an excellent room in the Fairfield Inn. It looked exactly like the room we had in Anaheim!! Here is Spokane!
First thing in the morning on Saturday Miles and I got up and went to breakfast with the rest of the team at the always carb-tastic Shari's Restaurant. Here is the team:
That's Max, Coach Dan, Miles, Adrian, and Matthew. They did fantastic, and ended in a 3-way tie for 3rd place. Unfortunately, the tie breakers were arbitrary, so our guys ended up in 5th place. Bummer, but we were very proud because we were the first team that wasn't from a private school with a professionally hired coach. Our coaches are parent volunteers, so yay US!!!!
Nick went golfing, and Caroline and I had some time to kill during the competition, so we walked around Waterfront Park, which is just lovely, though about 5 million degrees, and lunched at Taco Del Mar.
She posed with this statue, which I am guessing is a must-do for any visit to Spokane.
We went to dinner at the Krashin's hotel. They are staying right downtown, so we ate in this safari themed restaurant. I had an amazing salad.
Here is a prime example of the decor. Here is Miles and Max:
It is Lilac Festival weekend, so everyone is dressed in purple, and as we leave the restaurant, there is a parade going by!!!!
No joke!!
We were pretty tired, mentally, so we went back to the hotel and straight to bed. The next day we went back to the park, to ride the gondolas across the Falls, but it was too windy, so we settled for a train ride around the park.
And a walk, checking out the old World's Fair sites.
Then we hit the road to home. We stopped at a diner for lunch, and the kids were really excited that they could order their chicken strips with steamed broccoli instead of fries, they are so sick of fries, whenever we take a road trip! We stop along the way for a photo op at the Gorge. So pretty.
We decide to stop at the :
Home to some of the only petrified ginkgo in the world.
And some petroglyphs: (which we love)
And it was SUPER CRAZY WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was a very fun little weekend in Eastern Washington.
Waaaaah. My great big 11 year old boy graduated from Elementary School in June. I was kind of teary about it all week, but managed to handle myself fairly well at the actual event. Here is Miles with Clara, one of his best friends for the 5 years he spent at Lowell. We are not sure what is going on with the magnetic force actually repelling them from each other. They were a little weird about this photo. She made her own dress!
Here are all the teachers:
Former Governor Gary Locke spoke, not too shabby....
Miles getting his diploma from Mr Miller.
Me, Miles and Mr Miller. We sure did like him. I helped him in his class every Monday, and he liked Miles , too.
Caroline, Anna (Miles 's first friend at Lowell), Miles, Max and Danny Davis. It was very fun, but SUPER cold and windy, so we took off and went and had celebratory Mexican food with the Krashins. It was very fun, but kind of bittersweet. Here comes Middle School!
