A Long-Awaited Graduation

After Emilia left us in late April, we were then in the homestretch for the end of the school year.  However, this, of course, was no ordinary ‘end of the school year’ for us.  We were in the homestretch for Abigail’s graduation.  We thus had six weeks ahead of us which were characterized by excitement for the big day, and all the much anticipated (though illusory?) freedom awaiting her just on the other side of that rite of passage. It was also, somehow, simultaneously characterized by pure torture as Abigail’s senoritis set in, and made all the tasks required for graduation  - like, for instance, school work - almost impossible to execute.  

Let us not forget that we have five other children.  They had end of the year activities, too.  They just weren’t as psychologically thrilling or debilitating.  But I digress.  Samuel wound up his 7^th grade soccer season in April, taking second in their big end of season tournament.  Samuel, let us note, is not really built like a soccer player.  He inherited the Hamilton build, which means he is well on his way to being a pretty big guy.  But we’re grateful that his soccer career still has some life in it.  He starts the fall soccer season soon, so we will just ride this wave as long as we can.

Samuel and the OPMS Soccer Team, 2016

Samuel also had an end-of-year bug collection project.  He made a poison chamber for his caught bugs by soaking a piece of cardboard in nail polish remover, and then sticking it in an airtight mason jar.  After a few days of baking in the sun, the jar seemed pretty lethal for humans, too, so I was happy when the project was over.  And one would be surprised how difficult it is to find a grasshopper in northeast San Diego county when one actually needs one.

Georgie, for her part, had an end-of year school play, The Sound of Music.  Her friend Sarah Sommers played the role of Maria beautifully.  Georgie was very excited to play one of the nuns from Maria’s convent.

Georgie with Sarah Sommers, the nun turned nanny ...

We had an end-of-year ‘children’s night’ at Ramona Community School, for Georgie, Eleanor and Verity.  We were able to visit with the children’s teachers, and the kids showed us their work and talked to us about some of the things they do in school.  It was a proud parent night, and I shall not gloat, but I’m very grateful that all three little girls are loving their school experience.

Imogen finished up her sophomore year at Rancho Bernardo High School, and she was one busy energizer bunny.  She ran on the track team, and had track meets nearly every Thursday and every Saturday for about three months.  She ran the 800m, 1600m, and sometimes the 3200m.  She performed pretty consistently throughout the season and was a solid member of the team.

Go Imogen!

 

Imogen strides out.

She also had a great end-of-year season with her music.  There were endless school orchestra rehearsals, which paid off with ‘superior’ ratings in various music festival performances, and an excellent end-of-year orchestra performance.   She was also able, finally, to take her grade 5 ABRSM exam.  After several setbacks over the past three years, we were at last able to find a violin teacher who was willing and able to help her prepare for the exam.  The examiner came over from Britain especially to conduct the exams.  It was nerve-wracking, but I think she also felt rather at home with a British examiner.  She even used her British passport as her ID for the exam, just ‘cause she could.  She played……  She got very high marks on her pieces, but not-so-high marks on her scales.  Something to work on for next time!

Now onto Abigail.  She suffered a setback, in that she found out in the spring that she had developed nodes on her vocal cords.  This was very bad news, as the diagnosis meant that she wasn’t supposed to sing again until the nodes had healed, and that takes a while.  In the short term, it meant that she needed to reduce her involvement in Madrigals as much as possible, which was difficult since there were end-of-year competitions and performances in which she needed to perform.  It also meant that she would not be considered for a solo in the Rancho Bernardo Broadway Concert, a fabulous show which only happens once every two years.  And, if all this wasn’t bad enough, she also would not be considered for a solo at graduation –something Abigail had her heart set on doing for the past year. 

So, all this was a lot of disappointment to take in the final weeks before graduation.  She tried to make the best of everything, and I was proud of the way she coped with this pretty devastating situation.  She still travelled with the Madrigals on their important trip to San Francisco, where they sang in a choir competition that included choirs from all over the country.  Abigail did sing with them, and the Rancho Bernardo Madrigals did an amazing job.  They placed first in several parts of the competition! 

And first place goes to ... RBHS!

 

The fabulous RBHS Madrigals Choir

 Besides the competition, they were able to take in some of the sights of San Francisco, including Pier 39, and Grace Cathedral, where they also gave a performance.

Abigail and friends at Pier 39

 

Abigail in some rather large shoes on Pier 39!

Abigail and Maddy enjoying some shopping



RBHS Madrigals choir outside Grace Cathedral

 

The nave inside Grace Cathedral

And to top it all off ... they got to Great America, and watch Wicked!!! 

Great America, or 'Make America Great Again?'



Future stars of Broadway??

Prom also happened somewhere in the midst of all this.  Abigail went with her friend Sam, but we also have some rather glamorous shots of her posing with her other friend, Paywand.

Sam asking Abigail to prom



Abigail and Sam, at Balboa Park




Abigail and Sam



California dreamin' ... or something



Abigail's entourage?  No, just the prom party ...



The prom party at the Greenhouse, Balboa Park

 

Abigail with Paywand and Maddy

Abigail and Paywand, friends forever ...



The Retro Abigail and Paywand

After a whirl of stress, anxiety, early mornings, late nights, hard work and avoidance tactics, we finally got to graduation.  We had seminary graduation on the Sunday evening before high school graduation.  This, too, was nothing short of a miracle.  Seminary is a daily religion class which Mormon students attend in addition to their high school classes, during grades 9-12.  Abigail has been through almost every iteration of the seminary experience, since she attended four different high schools, but it was always an early morning class.  That means for four years she has had to be ready for school in time for her 6am seminary class.  It was anything but easy, and she was late most mornings, but she never gave up - at least in theory.  So seminary graduation was, well, a relief.

What would Devan and Dallin Dunn Do?  WWDDD?

Abigail and Imogen with President Clyde

Later in the week, Grandpa and Grandma Hamilton came down from Idaho for Abigail’s big day.  As part of Abigail’s graduation present, they took us all to Sea World!   The kids got distracted at the front of the park where you can stick your hands into the pool and let the minnows nibble away at your dead skin, and I really think they would have happily stayed there all day if we hadn’t urged them to consider a somewhat broader Sea World experience.   
 

Samuel getting the perfect manicure

 
We saw three animal shows.  The first was with two seals and an otter, and the animals did some amazing tricks.  We also saw an incredible dolphin show.  I think this was my favorite.  The dolphins and the Sea World swimmers interacted perfectly together; the swimmers basically rode on the dolphins, which I thought was so cool. 

Dolphins on command.  I think I might want a dolphin as a pet ...

 

I did actually take this picture. I shall not recount all the other failed photos I took in order to get this shot.

Lastly, we saw the now infamous whale show.  This is the last season that Sea World is doing their whale show, and I think nearly everyone in the park attended it on the day we were there.  The whale show was a bit cheesy for me.  It was part show/part environmental lecture.  But during the show the swimmers gave the whales the signal to splash the audience, and that was pretty cool.



It's Shamu and Co!

Killer whales lurking just beneath the surface

 

I have witnessed the synchronization of the Shamus.  Rather awesome.

 

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!!

Graduation Day was Thursday, June 9th.  It took place in the Broncos football stadium, at 5pm. 

 

The Procession, with Pomp and Circumstance, of course

Abigail was allowed to sing the national anthem with the Madrigals at the beginning of the ceremony, so that was good. 

RBHS Madrigals sing the National Anthem

The bleachers were very hard, and the speeches respectfully short, but still moving.  Rancho Bernardo has a fabulous principal, David LeMaster.  The school has faced some significant challenges this year and to my mind, he has done an excellent job keeping the school community together. So I am always happy to hear what Dave LeMaster has to say, and his graduation speech was not exception.

Abigail just after receiving her diploma

 

Imogen congratulating Abigail on a very long haul. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Abigail with her good friend, Maddy

A congratulatory kiss from Sam the beau.

Where there is Abigail, there will always be Paywand

Abigail with the lovely Matt Woolley



Diploma received, relationship intact.  Mission Accomplished.

And the award for enduring the most temper tantrums over homework goes to ....

Tim, Holly, Abigail, Imogen, Samuel Georgiana, Eleanor and Verity Bleakly with Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton, May 2016.

It would be fair to say that the path to graduation was not always easy for Abigail.  She attended four high schools in four years, and had to cope not only with changing state school systems, but also national school systems.  All these were significant difficulties.  Nothing has been straightforward in this process of getting her across the finish line, and all my assumptions about what constitutes ‘successful’ teenage years have been challenged repeatedly over the past four years.  Despite all these difficulties, I am - at the moment at least - hopeful about the future.  College is next.  Bring it on.

Abigail and Verity