Nikki's Graduation + Six Flags Magic Mountain!

I was there on the day of her birth. I helped my sister-in-law deliver her (well, I held her leg, that’s helping, right?).

I spent the next 9 ½ years of her life with her on a daily basis. Taking her to birthday parties, to the park, swimming, to amusement parks, reading to her, doing homework with her… she slept with me every Friday night and we watched cartoons or other shows. We played games and went on vacation together.

She is more than “just my niece”. She is a big part of my life.

This is Nikki starting Kindergarten and finishing 5th Grade!

On June 3^rd she finished 5^th grade. How is it possible that this much time has gone by?

She was so excited leading up to this day. She volunteered to speak and introduce a slide show (stupid me didn’t catch the beginning on video – stupid!). (Just like her aunt) she won the Presidential Education Award of Excellence from Barack Obama (mine was from Clinton).  I am so proud of my little girl!

After graduation we had a quick lunch and then, along with her parents and brother, headed to Six Flags Magic Mountain (for those of you who don’t know, this is a theme/amusement park). I worked there once when I was 15 (because it was the only place that hired 15 year olds back then) but I hadn’t been back in many years. In the time since I had last been there they added a handful of new big roller coasters.

I LOVE roller coasters (although not waiting in line for them). Since we went on a weekday and not all schools were out yet, the lines were relatively short so we got to go on all the big rides I wanted to enjoy.

My brother and his family have season passes and so I was able to get in for free with them – hopefully I’ll get that chance again because I REALLY enjoyed it!

Graduation - Throwback Thursday

This week's topic is Graduation (very timely, Amanda Nicole!). 

I'm still in the midst of moving/unpacking/organizing my life house, so I don't have pictures, but I thought I'd still join in and share some memories. 

Kindergarten: None. At least I have no recollection of one nor are there any pictures. 

However, on Tuesday it was my nephew's kindergarten graduation and I do have pictures of that!  My nephew, Jonathan, is an awesome almost 6 year old. When he started pre-school when he was 4 he had very little in the way of attention span. His pre-school teacher (which we grew to really really despise) referred him to be evaluated by Los Angeles Unified to see if he was autistic or had any other "disability". 

LAUSD evaluated him and determined that they would give Jonathan services under the autism spectrum. In order for him to be diagnosed officially he would have to be taken to the Regional Center, which we never did. That didn't affect LAUSD's services to him. 

For the last 2-3 months of pre-school Jonathan was placed in a special education pre-school within LAUSD (his first preschool was a private one not associated with the district). This preschool and the teacher were amazing. Jonathan blossomed and grew incredibly. 

After pre-school he was mainstreamed into a regular Kindergarten. I made sure that he was placed with the same teacher his sister had years before because I knew she was the best person to help guide him into school (as well as, you know, teach him). 

Jonathan has done so well in kindergarten! We are so proud of him. Here are some pictures from graduation:

I was blowing kisses to Jonathan, and he was imitating everything I did. Same for the next picture. 

This is Jonathan with his best friend and his friends' sister. 

He looked so dapper! 

Middle School: I did have an 8th grade graduation. I wore a red dress with hearts on it (all like a velvet material). Our homeroom teacher, Ms. Wormell presented us with our diplomas as we walked across the stage. The school sold balloons and my mom bought me some, but beyond that I don't remember much. 

High School: It's been 12 years, but I somewhat remember this graduation. Ms. Wormell had retired by this point, instead we had Mr. Johnson, whom I butted heads with often - he did get my name right, though. I don't remember what I wore to this graduation, but I do have some memories. My eldest niece was just a couple of months old and my sister and husband came down from San Francisco to be there for me. My best friends' (at the time) brother bought us each a pink lei. and after the ceremony (which included beach ball throwing) we went to lunch at Macaroni Grill. 

That very night we had our grad night which is (traditionally, in SoCal) at Disneyland. We get there around 10pm and stay until 5 in the morning (or so). That was a great night. Maybe I'll make a post about just that another day. 

Maybe one of these days I'll have pictures! 

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