Welcome to Middle School! Or, Hello 2016!

Well, if you've made it this far you've made it to 2016. The year that I finished 5th grade and started Middle School! The year was actually super busy, busier than any of the others that I've written about. I omitted some of more ordinary things that we did or things that we did that were fun but where the photos were awful. I think that what's been posted represents 2016 pretty well. 

January 2016: It's a big treat when one of my parents picks me up at school on the blacktop. Even though I probably could have met them in the car in the pick up circle, I love it that they still park and wait for me on the blacktop. Even if its for an appointment, I'm always happy to see them.

January 2016: Not sure exactly what I was doing here but I seem to really be enjoying some ol' fashioned silliness. It reminds my mom of a luche libre wrestler. It's also what my Mom calls "Classic Willa." And, I'm still wearing most of my school uniform. The under part at least. 

February 2016: We could dress up for the 100th day of school in 5th grade. Here is my interpretation of what that looks like. 

February 2016: My Uncle Joe and his family visited from Chicago and we went to one of our favorite restaurants - Steak-n-Shake.

April 2016: One of the days of spirit week was "Decades" where you could dress in the clothing from a certain decade. I picked the 1950's. Not sure where my shoes were......

June 2016: Last day of 5th grade! Popsicles for everyone! 

June 2016: We went Westminster College to visit the Churchill Museum and see the sculpture "Breakthrough" by Edwina Sandys, Churchill's granddaughter. "Breakthrough" is made from 8 sections of the Berlin Wall. 

June 2016: My friend, Rita, and I took a ballroom dancing camp this summer. It was with our instructors from the Dancing Classrooms program that we did during the school year. 

June 2016: I also spent a little time in search of some great art. In St. Louis, we're lucky because we have many place to find great art. St. Louis has cool street art and cool museums. 

In the Grove. Cowboy Honey Bear by fnnch.   

My favorite painting at the Museum of the Dog. Horatio Henry Couldery, The President, 1868, Breed: Newfoundland, oil on canvas 

August 2016: If you want to see the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers you can at the Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area. The shore was pretty muddy, not sandy. Got me thinking about the Missouri River's nickname, "Big Muddy." It's fitting.  

August 2016: There is a flower nicknamed the Corpse Flower due to the rotting odor that it emits when it blooms. In addition to their unusual odor, they have another rare behavior, they don't bloom very often, it's like every 10 years or something. And, it's only at night. Our botanical garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden, has one of these plants and it was showing signs that it was going to bloom. It was a big deal, everyone was on high alert, waiting for the news that it was in bloom. Then, once it finally did, everyone headed over to the Garden to wait in line to view it. It was really fun. Too bad they didn't sell t-shirts.  

August 2016: Since day one, I had always gone to some kind of aftercare at my school. First, with the YMCA. Then, with a few teachers that my parents paid to watch me. Right before I started 6th grade, my school decided to start their own aftercare program using teachers from the school as employees. The teacher, Ms. Pelikan (now Mrs Clark) that had been watching me was going to be one of these employees which meant that she could only continue watching me if I officially enrolled through the aftercare program. Quite a dilemma for me. Should I be the really big Middle School kid (and probably only really big Middle School kid) in aftercare? Or, should I walk home with a group of friends from school that live in the same neighborhood BUT have to be at home alone for a bit until my parents returned from work? My parents chose for me because I couldn't make my mind up (it was all very upsetting!). They chose the walking. But, surprise, it also meant that I got my first phone! Even though I was very nervous about the new routine, I was very excited about the new phone.

September 2016: I'm still playing violin. I forget why now but we had our weekly lessons for awhile in the old rehearsal space for Winter Opera St. Louis. My teacher, Miss Hannah, is concertmaster for the Winter Opera so, you know, privileges. She's in the photo with me here.

September 2016: Along the Mississippi River, there is a flood wall that graffiti artists have tagged. Some of the graffiti art is really, really spectacular, some just so-so. So in an effort to try and attract the most talented artists an event is held annually (or almost every year) called "Paint Louis." Graffiti artists from all over the region come from sun up to sun down over a weekend to paint the wall, which is a couple of miles long.  My Mom and I went down to check it out.

October 2016: During 6th grade it is required that all students have a 2-night sleep away camp experience at Camp Sherwood Forest for fun and team building activities. I never really liked sleepovers so this was something that I was NOT looking forward to having to do. Here I am on the morning that we left. Still tired. Still not wanting to go. But, guess what? I survived! No tears. No phone calls home. And, it was even kind of fun.

October 2016: Every October on or near the feast day of St Francis of Assisi our school holds a pet blessing. It's a really big deal at my school. But, with my parents being teachers it's hard for them to get time off of school for stuff like this - things that require just a hour of time.  My Dad pulled it off this year and made arrangements to go in late so that I could have my dog, Clara, at school for the blessing. I'm SO happy that my Dad did this for me and that I finally got to have my dog at school.   

November 2016: Some of the teachers at Mom's school take groups of their students to see plays and musicals around St. Louis. This year, I went to see Fun Home with my Mom and one group.