End of Year Party for C

The Fours class celebrated the end of the school year with a party at a North Cary park. Not our normal territory, but it was actually really fun! The kids and parents had fun hanging out, and the kids got to explore this neat park with a cool accessory...

For their craft. they made their own walking stick!

which the kids immediately put to good use and thought was very cool.

"Just call us the hiking girls!". So glad Collins became good friends with Caroline and Neema this year.

An amazing discovery was found on Patterson's walking stick...

baby praying mantises! The kids could not believe their eyes!

The girls tackled the big climbing rock...

and were pretty pleased with themselves for it. 

The parents attempted a class photo, but in true five-year-old style, we didn't get many winning smiles. :)

 

A fun morning with a cute group of almost-kindergartners!

End of Gymnastics

Both girls have LOVED their gymnastics classes this year. So much so, they would argue over whose turn it was to go that day (Addie on Mondays and Collins on Tuesdays). Did I love driving 20+ minutes to North Raleigh each class? Not really. But they were so excited to go to class, that it made it worth the drive. They both recently had their final class, and I was able to snap a few pictures.

Addie had tried the rope swing a few months ago and nailed it, but then she became afraid of it somehow. Then the last class, she rediscovered it and spent the rest of her time swinging her heart out. She was having so much fun, other kids came over because they had to give it a try too. :)

I don't know that Collins learned all that much technique-wise this year in preschool gymnastics, but she did get a lot stronger physically. It made her a more confident climber and jumper, and she had a lot of fun being silly with the other kids in her class. 

She is so close to nailing a cartwheel...

On to the next level! Both girls have asked to do gymnastics again next year so we will be at the gym in the Fall. Until then, we'll be practicing lots of cartwheels. :)

Daddy Takes Over for the Weekend

Brian had some major Daddy duties a few weeks back as I was busy with some fun girly plans like going to a concert and throwing a baby shower. Obviously, he rose to the challenge and actually went for "Daddy of the Year" award with his impressive plans for the girls. He took them on a dinner date that included pizza at Amedeo's and ice cream at Howling Cow. The next day he took them to the ultimate kid park, Pullen, AND took them out on the paddle boats for the first time. Then they got to ride bikes around the neighborhood. They were all smiles when I got home.

 And us big girls had a fabulous time at the Kenny Chesney concert! It was the perfect way to kick off Summer. Rachel came into town, Missy organized a great southern tailgate, and luckily the skies cleared for the occasion. It was really fun to hang out, and then listen to one of country's best. However, next time, we will probably opt for the premium seats to avoid rowdy/lewd country fans and to avoid heavy rain showers. We are just too old for the lawn seats. :)

On Sunday, Rachel, Mandy and I were so excited to throw a baby shower for Andrea. Her baby girl arrives in July, and we celebrated with a great group of friends, a lot of cute pink things, and a huge chocolate cake!

It was a fun weekend for everybody!

Choir Finale

Our church always goes big. After growing up in a smaller church, I am still constantly amazed at the talent, size, and scale of all of our church activities. Collins's final choir performance of the year is a perfect example. Not only did her preschool choir sing- they performed with the elementary school choir, the full adult choir, the Lighthouse band and a FULL ORCHESTRA. It was the church's 80th birthday and Pentecost so apparently there was a lot to celebrate!

I was worried that she would be nervous to sing in front of 500 congregation members with a full orchestra blaring behind her. I was wrong. She sang out and did a great job! She really had a hard time adjusting to choir practice this year (she had trouble separating from me), but this anxiety never kept her from loving the songs they sang and belting them out.

The group sang a song called, "Sunday School Spectacular" (a compilation of all the classic Sunday School Bible songs), and it was awesome! I really hope she grew and learned something from her choir experience this year and that she gets excited to sing again in the Fall.

A Visit from Poppy and Nana

We love our visits from Poppy and Nana. When they come into town, that means all kinds of fun is going to happen. This trip was no different. We started things off with a fabulous meal at Gonza's Tacos at their new Hillsborough Street location. Thanks to great seats right in the open air window, we had a cool view of State's bell tower. 

I got the Mexican flag enchiladas. So pretty I had to snap a picture.

Addie and Poppy had the chance to get silly at dinner, and she loved it. 

 

Had to get up close and personal with the bell tower after dinner. All was going well until Addie accidentally got her finger smashed in the gigantic iron door knocker. Not good!

On Saturday morning, Poppy and Nana invited the girls to come over and swim at their hotel pool. That idea received lots of squeals and jumps. :)

Next on the agenda? A really neat documentary at IMAX about space. It was fascinating! It was Addie's first official movie (and 3-D at that) and she wiggled the whole way through doing lots of snacking and moving around of her 3-D glasses. Wish I had gotten a picture of her with the glasses on- pretty funny.

We walked over to Joule for lunch, and were disappointed to find they were only serving brunch. But turns out, it was a good decision to stay. The food was awesome- ate the best BLT of my life! 

Our visit was too short (they had to get back for church the next day), but what fun we packed into our time with them. We all had a great time!

Swim Lesson Highs

Excitement levels for the girls were at an all-time high in May thanks to one thing: swim lessons. I'm not sure why getting in a pool is so thrilling for kids, but it is! We did four weeks of swim lessons, and both of their weeks revolved around how soon they could get back to the pool.

I felt bad because Addie's lessons were her first-ever. Guess that is the problem with being a second child? She was one of the older kids in her class and learned how to kick on the kick board, jump off the side of the pool and get splashed in the face. After every lesson ended, she demanded, "more!".

Collins took semi-private lessons with Reeves, and it's amazing how much progress they each made. I'm not sure if it's because they had a great teacher or because they had peer pressure to push them along. They both learned to dive to the bottom of the pool to get a swim toy, how to swim from the middle of the pool to the side, and how to flip over in the water. 

Collins is almost there! She is really close to swimming. We're going to have a few more lessons, and then have lots of practice in the pool this summer. Both girls were pretty bummed to see the May swim lessons come and go!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day this year. After church, we went to my fave pizza place Trophy for lunch, we got to watch Collins ride her bike for the first time, and we spent a gorgeous late afternoon at the Rose Garden and park. Oh, and there was ice cream involved. The perfect way to celebrate my favorite thing- being a Mother!

 

A Beautiful Wedding

Alli had a cool opportunity recently- she got to shoot her first wedding! She came to Raleigh the first weekend of May to photograph her friend Alyssa's wedding at the Raleigh Rose Garden. She was nervous going into the job- just hoping she could live up to the bride's expectations. I think you will agree with me- she blew those expectations out of the water! Her photos are stunning. I'm so proud of her. What's even cooler- another friend saw her work from this wedding and was so impressed she booked her to shoot her wedding next May! So excited for my talented sister.