Let the season begin!

We couldn't come back from the beach to a three day weekend and stay home!  So off to Busch Gardens we went!  Preschool passes: Yes please!  It was a blast and a good time to have with the kids after being away.

We went straight to the Elmo roller coaster that Lily wasn't tall enough for last summer and she could ride it!!  Fun times!  She was super excited and after it was over I asked her if it was fun or scary and she said "A little bit of both!"

 She rode the horses while Mike and Peter did the Loch Ness Monster.  Cuteness.

 We ended up running into friends so went around with then for the second half of our time there.   We had fun on the swings with them!!  

They twisted our arms to stay for dinner and then an evening roller coaster.  It was a bonus to have time to catch up with a friend while we waited in line!  :)  Peter was my partner for Verbolten.  WE LOVED IT!  It was hilarious... I had no idea what to expect and there were several fun surprises!  A good Sat night adrenaline rush.

 We went back for a short trip the following day.  Love them.

 Peter agreed to go on the Loch Ness Monster with me.  I may have been afraid without him.  ;)

 We all did the cradle boats and then the kids did this.

 Mike had the kids get wet from a water ride so P rode him shirtless... aw,aw!  

Nice body, Pete.

Kiawah Phone Pics

We headed to the beach the day after the kids finished preschool... perfect, right?!

The kids loved napping behind their pillows.  Also perfect.

 Then lollipops for snacks that they'd gotten from Peter's preschool teacher.

 The trip down was surprisingly fun (and easy) with then!

Not so much on the way home.  I have a feeling that might just be the way vacations work.

The first three days were cloudy but we made it to the beach everyday.

It was our first time to Kiawah.  It was wonderful in every way.  One of our favorite things was the tidal pool in the middle of the wide beach at low tide.

 Paw arrives with a horshoe crab.  Another favorite thing was the abundant sea life!

 ...And shallow grade to the beach, so gentle waves.

 We had fun with Will, Emmy, and Elizabeth.

 Lily loved being the little mama and helping with the little girls.

 Elizabeth loved crawling on the beach!  No fear.

How cool is this little series.  Google automatically did it for me?!?

 My kids loved sharing the little dormer room off of our room.  Sleeping Sweetness.

We all know Peter is our early riser so we'd send him into this closet every morning to play legos.  Lily sleeps in.  :)  I think she was just in playing with him some other time of day.

 Mom and I ran into the CUTE shopping area one day and snagged these at the end of our grocery run.

I, like Jessica, am also waiting on some help from my IT department to provide more space for me to upload pics.  :)

Preschool Graduate!!

After 3 years of preschool, 

{first days of years one, two (one week after getting his tonsils and adenoids out) and three!}

Peter had his preschool graduation this morning!  

Here are the about to be graduates waiting outside the chapel.

I love all of the smiles... esp on the teachers.  :)

Peter's preschool teacher is also a photographer.  So she took and edited black and white pics of each of the kids in the 4-5 year old classes.  See them on the wall.  They were AMAZING!

A closer shot... most of these are in Peter's class.  Wow, such an added bonus, huh?!  Gorgeous.

My handsome boy.

There will be a lot of pictures here.  Partially because I dropped the ball on my communication with Maw.  There have been a lot of balls in the air this week.  I may have told her 11 as the arrival time.  The preschool wide picnic was at 11 but the graduation was at 10:15.  And we know Maw isn't ever late.  So I was worried when she was "late".  So she missed the graduation.  I felt really lame.  Then I'd told Lily I'd come pick her up from her class so she could see Peter graduate.  And I forgot.  But I ran out during and got her in time.  To my credit, I was coordinating a few other aspects of the morning.  And you mean people can read my mind???

They sang a song.

Then they called each kid to come up....  Peter RAN!

Mrs Notley (and every one of his teachers) has been so SWEET to him!

She has 3 boys so we have been thankful for someone who understands and loves boys so well.

Running back.  When he saw me squatted to take pics, he gave me a BIG hug.  So sweet.

Mrs Notley and Ms Wood's 4-5 year olds!

We went to pick Peter up from his class afterwards.  It still just amazes me to see teachers get the kids to just SIT in a circle like that... magical powers!

Then we had the preschool-wide picnic.

Some of Peter's favorite friends.

Peter LOVES these boys.  One was in his class last year and the other this year.

They were adopted from Ethiopia two years ago and they have been such a blessing to us.  I know I say it over and over but I am so thankful for the gift of my kids seeing the world, learning love and compassion.  And seeing tangible ways that we can love others and know we care for and welcome the needy, just as God welcomes us (also the needy) in Christ and makes us a family through Jesus.  

The kids have a little surprise waiting for them but they still haven't seen it.  I had to have a way to bribe them for a nap.  Sand toys, bubbles, games, candy, etc for summer fun!

Proof that Maw was there!!

and bearing Lego gifts!  "'Cause Peter likes cool things"!

Way to go, buddy boy!  We are proud of you!!

ps- we also had a little kindergarten orientation at his elementary school this am... fun times!

We Are Finished!

Otherwise titled "X stands for /ks/".  (I don't think I knew that before this week!)

On our to-do list this week before the end of school was to finish V, W, X, Y and Z!  We have been using this book and writing them too with worksheets I find online.  We are D.O.N.E!  We've done all our letters!

We've only finished 2 chapters of the book so we'll keep moving this summer!

WooHoo!