Parade

W marched in a local Memorial Day parade today! He was really excited to meet up with his new cub scout friends again. We met in front of the meeting hall at around noon and walked over to the parade area. The boys got lollipops, American flags, and lined up behind the older boy scouts with the big banner. I love parades. I was especially moved today watching all the veterans. They walked, they marched, they were in wheelchairs or on floats. The parade-goers all clapped and yelled out "Thank You" as they went by. They did this for the current military men and women, too. W's group walked with their heads high and showed their pride the whole quarter-mile down the avenue. One thing I notice about some of the towns in Queens is that they have a great sense of community and a real small-town feel to them. I love that. NY Senator Charles Schumer marched with us as well. He kept saying "Thanks for remembering!". That made me teary, too. I think US veterans should be put on a pedestal. To spend years of your life protecting and fighting for our country deserves so much respect and thanks. I'm grateful to all of them.

We bought a new computer today - I couldn't stand the HP we had. We bought a Dell and so far I'm loving it. I played around a lot today, getting the connections working, transferring files, and getting a feel for this Windows Vista. One thing I did was go over the kids' new schedules. They seem to have a lot on their plates. We'll be starting this week and will just have to tweak it as we go along. I know they're ambitious and determined, but we'll see how much actually gets checked off. I'll be posting about the academic stuff several times a week. It certainly makes it easy for me to write up the district paperwork that way. We'll be utilizing the libraries and bookstores a lot. The next book on J's list is Tom Sawyer. I'm pretty sure W will love that one, too.