Old route

I Decided to drive into downtown Berkeley today. And took the route to my boys middle school which I drove for 5 years. The fall trees were stunning. Turning left though made me choke up. Such good memories. How is it I made it through two boys going through middle school and I enjoyed the whole experience. Rebellion or reckless behavior skipped my boys in middle school and for that I am grateful. 

Mother Son Dance

Was the annual mother / son dance at the boys high school last night. Both of them getting over mono meant they did not have as much energy as one would hope, but they went along. We danced the entire night. Music was fairly good but no music that made us jump up and down which I missed. 

Wellness Panel

Last night I was a parent on a panel filled with students and parents. The students spoke so honestly. They chocked me up. The first one said he did not care about school until his junior year when he fell in love with drama. Mr. Forte's son talked about not getting enough sleep and to be easier on himself. The 3rd talked about not being seen at home by his family and he is on his own. Last was Grace who talked about taking 2 ap's last year which were too much for her with her learning differences. So vulnerable. 

I felt I should not be on the panel. So I kept mine short and sweet. One question was asked of us what was our best parent king moment and our worst. The best that came to mind was after Riley was jumped. I was mad wanted to fix the situation. Wanted to cry. And when I sat down with Riley a calm came over me and I told Riley that as his mother I loved him more than anything. That I hated he had to go through this situation. But he had. He survived. And he was going to learn what to do if something even close to that ever happened again. 

The worst parenting. Wow manybut probably  whenever I felt so angry and had just lost my cool. 

First mobile attempt

Well actually the first attempt was lost. So second we try. 

My anxiety is high. Both the boys are home with what the doctor says is mono. And they are sick. So far Riley has missed about two weeks of school and Sawyer one. Riley seems a bit sicker to me but then I do not know how they feel inside. 

What they will remember

Yes, I know they will remember the skeleton at the castle. In fact, the older one said it had made the entire trip worth it.

Heading toward Italy

The drive from Germany to Italy was not as scary as I had thought it might be. In fact, I found driving in Europe was easy except for some very narrow old roads every once in awile. We only stopped for a few short minutes in Austria and headed toward our favorite destination of the trip which will take me several days to cover.

Nuremberg

Why this photo - because the boys so enjoyed seeing all the bugs aglow over the river. It was late in the evening while we were wondering around. It was warm and it the sun sets so late you do not realize that it is after 10:00pm.