A Sad Week

Dear Boys,

It has been a hard week for me. Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. He was elected on the basis of fear and anger. Many of his supporters are average Americans who felt they were not represented in our government, many feel they are entitled to something, and many are tired of the politics as usual. I understand a lot of what they are going through, but there is a disturbing element to his supporters. Leading up to the election he said many things to incite many of his supporters to say and do things that are not acceptable to my way of life. He made campaign promises to reverse laws and policies that support women’s and LGBTQ rights; to round up millions of people to deport them; and to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. There are so many other things that he said that I don’t agree with that you will learn about or by the time you read this you will have learned. Mr. Trump got elected by playing to the racism, sexism, homophobia, and extreme nationalism that exists in our society. These are the aspects of our world that we must be aware of in order to fight against them. We must fight against them by standing up people who need our help, by giving back to our community, and by voting. These actions must be taken to ensure that someone like Donald Trump does not get elected again and that someone like him doesn’t even come into existence because if we are being thoughtful, inclusive, and good then there is no need for his type of representation in our government. Hopefully four years from now there will be another post to this journal that is about a more positive vision of our future. Until then we fight!

Green Kyu Testing

Here we all are at Frosty Acres Campground for your green kyu test. The day started out with a thunderstorm complete with lots of rain and lightning. Mom and you drive to the test ahead of Tyler and I. Tyler and I arrived just after the warm up after picking up water and chips for the cookout and an iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts for mom. The test itself was quite short compared to the last green belt test. There were also lots of demonstrations of other forms of martial arts, including some swords and archery. We had a hot dog at the cookout and you received a certificate for the green kyu level. Awesome job!

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The Egypt Brochure

The Egypt brochure was a project that you researched and designed with the help of mom. You also took part in the cultural fair at school where you brought hummus with pita chips and yummy sweet Zalabya. We got the recipe from mom’s friend Rachel who was teaching in Egypt for the past few years.

egypt-project

Last Day of Kindergarten

It’s been quite a year for you in this first year of school. Lots of learning about reading, writing, math, physical education, and making new friends. Mrs. Schuler, your teacher, was encouraging, but needed greater control over the classroom. You made improvements from the beginning of the year. One item we will be working on this summer is listening skills. Some of the friends you made this year were bron, dante, james, emma, kaliegh, and ari.

On this last day, a monday, mom and I picked you up at lunch time. We had lunch in downtown Sarasota and then went to see Kung Fu Panda 2. Not only the sequel to Kung Fu Panda, but the sequel to the first movie you ever saw in the theater.

wall-e

today mom and i took you to see the new pixar movie wall-e. we intended this to be your first movie but when the hotel room got a little crowded in seattle you and i went to see kung fu panda. you enjoyed the movie and asked a lot of questions during the movie. after we had lunch in the food court (the movie theater was in the sarasota mall) and then we walked around. okay, mom and dad walked, you rode in one of those red car kid carts. you were a little tired at that time of day which explains wanting to ride in the cart and being cranky later in the day.