Mayne, Party of 3: End of 5th Grade, Florida

Evie had a new first this past week: going out of town with her grandparents to Florida. Of course she has been to Florida many times, and been on trips with her grandparents many times, but this was the first time that they took her out of town without us. But more on that in a minute.

Evie had some big wins this past week. She was promoted at her ballet studio from Lower Level 3 to Upper Level 3. I had no doubt this would happen, but Evie's been doubting herself lately and wasn't sure. Her teacher, Ms. Alyssa, called and spoke to us and bragged on Evie and how expressive she is, how she is a triple threat, and how much they love having her at the studio.

Also, a boy that has been bullying her (daily, which I didn't know) was given a No Contact order (like a kiddie restraining order) where he was not allowed to interact with her for the rest of the year. There were only 5 days of school left when this was enacted, but I am glad. I didn't know that she was having to listen to his mean-spirited jabs at her every single day. The relief she felt for those last days made me glad but also really frustrated that she was having to deal with that for so long. I'm glad it was finally stopped, but I wish I has known earlier how frequently she was being told by this kid that she was dumb.

Anyway, between those two things, the end of the school year was a lot better.

Thursday, Evie had her promotion ceremony. She is no longer in elementary school! The program was about an hour long and then there was a reception on the lawn. I managed to herniate a disc in my back putting on my shoes to get ready for the ceremony... Evie was very sweet and got me my back brace as soon as I did it. I felt terrible that that happened just before her program because I wanted it to all be focused on her, so I tried to underplay my worry. But honestly, between steroids and new techniques for reducing inflammation, I was able to sit through the whole ceremony without problems.

Sitting with her classmates at the promotion ceremony

Musical selection

Last day as a redhawk

Evie and Allyson, friends since 1st grade

Evie and Eden, a new and very close friend

Evie and Sophie who will be reunited in ballet this year as Sophie is promoted to Lower Level 3. Sophie has one more year of elementary school and was there to help serve cupcakes

As soon as the ceremony was over and we made our rounds at the reception, we headed home where Granna and Grannadaddy were waiting to whisk Evie off to Florida to meet her cousins and Uncle Ryan. Ryan was asked by the hospital in Destin, where they used to live, to pick up some shifts and so Granna, Grannadaddy, and Evie were headed down to spend time with Ryan when he wasn't working, and Addie and Will who tagged along from England.

Seth and I had already planned to be gone Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 20th anniversary as a couple, so when Ryan initially told me about this trip, he had invited us but then encouraged us to keep our anniversary plans. Seth and I had originally intended to go to New Orleans, but we found an excellent last minute deal for an all-inclusive in Cancun. So we worked on Thursday after Evie left, and on Friday, and then we spent Saturday through Wednesday in Cancun where we laid on the beach or by the pool and did absolutely nothing.

Evie, however, kept very busy with beach and pool trips of her own and tennis and Wii Sports and games with her cousins. Granna reported on their trip:

Evie's post-graduation trip with us showed how grown up she is and how she is still an imaginative child. She and Will hung out together most of the time because Addie was sick, and on Sunday evening it was determined that she had Covid, so from that point she mostly stayed upstairs and came down with a mask on when she needed something.

Will and Evie played sports on the Wii, especially tennis, and Grannadaddy was the announcer of their sets several times. Evie and Will played tennis with Addie the first day but then went back several times together, once or twice with Grannadaddy and Ryan for couples. They enjoyed the pool more than the beach, but they dug a deep hole in the sand one afternoon and another day, Will indulged Evie's desire for a make-believe bakery, and I tasted all the baked goods. Aunt Linda came on Saturday afternoon, and she supervised some of the pool sessions and was asked to be the judge of Evie and Will's flips, spins, and other moves. Evie persuaded Will to be in her ballet at least once, and you could see her expressive hands and arms above the water as she moved to music she was humming. Will was behind her to lift her a bit at certain points. This was all ad-libbed and therefore quite amazing.

On Friday afternoon Evie managed to pull a molar that she had all of a sudden realized was loose. I texted Emily about whether the tooth fairy should come to Florida or wait till her return, and she suggested it might work in Florida if Ryan had an English pound. He did, but we forgot to get it ready for that night. But Evie put her tooth out anyway, and she was a little disappointed Saturday morning when the tooth was still there. I asked if that had ever happened before, and she said, "Never." I suggested that there might have been a lot of children who lost a tooth that night and the fairy was behind. When Uncle Ryan got home from his overnight shift, he checked with Emily and took care of things. He said the tooth fairy might have had trouble finding her since she wasn't at home. He went to that bedroom to sleep for several hours, and later when Will and Evie could go back in the room, she discovered the coin and came down the steps to show us adults the coin. She was so excited. I said maybe the fairy had to go a long way to get that coin. I took a photo as Evie gave us her version of what must have happened - the fairy going to get the coin in England and coming to find her in Florida, not at home in Memphis.

So although very adult-like, she would take care of her needs, she and Will would plan their time together with negotiations when they wanted to do something different, she could be the child she still is (some of the time) with excitement about her tooth and dancing in the pool and opening a bakery on the beach.

Oh, and Evie enjoyed being the one who put things on the bottom step so that Addie could get them and drop off things there for Evie to bring to the kitchen or wherever they needed to go.

When Ryan told Mike and me on Monday that he was a little concerned about having a day shift in Navarre until 4:00 on Wednesday, about an hour away, and having to get back to get the kids and close the house, and to the airport about 45 minutes away for a 7:15 flight that they were supposed to be 3 hours early for, we both offered to rent a car to drive home to Memphis. It made more sense for me to do that so that Mike could take care of his pastoring duties, and Emily agreed that Evie could stay with me. On Wednesday, Evie and Will were helpful in getting things put away and communicating with Addie about our departure.

We met Ryan about 4:15 at the airport, and after goodbyes, we headed off for Memphis. From then until about 8:45, Evie kept me entertained as she told me about the games she was playing, practiced French with Duolingo, and helped complain about the 15 minute slowdown on the first leg of our return. We talked about some of her classmates, her dance, and whatever she brought up. She told me she liked talking to me one-on-one because it's easier to know she is not interrupting, which she finds harder when other adults are around. She chose to stop at McDonald's for a bathroom break and supper to eat in the car and head on, a very grownup decision. When we stopped for gas near Birmingham about 8:30, she moved her things to the back seat so that she could go to sleep. Our evening together was a pleasant end to our beach trip!

We got back about 12:30, and her parents were asleep (understandably). She woke up when I got back in the car after not waking them by knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell. We decided I would try again, and if they didn't wake up, we would go to my house. When I got back in the car, she was spamming their phones with dog pictures, and I couldn't keep from laughing as she said, "This is what they get for not waiting up for me." And I think they have a fun time ahead with the teenage Evie. We got about 5 minutes away to head to our house, and Emily woke up, so I took Evie back home, where she really wanted to be for the night.