Canada

The kids and I made our yearly summer trip to Canada in July.  Alex and Ava could not wait to go and as always, they had a blast!  We had so much fun at the zoo, going to the water park, swimming with friends, picking blueberries, visiting Montreal, and spending time with family.

At the Granby Zoo.

Feeding birds at the zoo.

At the Montreal Science Center. Alex concentrating hard in order to move the ball to the opponent's side.

Bubble girl.

At the Montreal Science Center with friends Aiden and Jacob.

Star Wars exhibit at the MSC.

Celebrating Uncle Tristan's birthday at Gibby's in Montreal.

At my mom's annual summer picnic.  Someone brought a couple of puppies.  Ava was in heaven!

In Montreal.

Picking blueberries.

Holding a baby duckling.

Holding a bunny-at Granby Day.

Pony ride!

Summer so far

Well, we are a month into our summer vacation and the kids and I wasted no time in having some fun.  First up was the beach.  Perfect day, perfect weather, and perfectly calm water.  Next was the movies.  Our local theater has dollar movies twice a week all summer long.  Happy Feet 2 for $3 total and the bonus was that none of us had seen it.  Mini-golf was also on our to-do list.  It was fun and all of us got a hole-in-one!  Alex also finished martial arts for the summer and earned his orange belt.  Finally, we went back to the movies-this time the drive-in.  We have lived here 8 years and this is the first time we have gone.  The kids loved it and thought it was so much fun to sit in the car and watch a movie.  We've had a great summer so far and squeezed in with all these things we have been doing was a week a cub scout camp for Alex, a pack meeting where Alex received his Wolf badge and 2 weeks of day camp for both kids.  Tomorrow we leave for our trip to Canada, ready for more fun!

Buried in the sand.

Ava's turn.

Loving the beach!

Mini-golf.

Orange belt!

Waiting for "Brave" to start.

Scout Camp

This year was Alex's 2nd year at cub scout camp and he was really looking forward to it.  I signed up to walk with the den for 2 days and I picked the best 2 days to walk.  The first day the temperature was in the mid 90's and the second day we got rained on (at least it didn't start pouring until lunchtime).  However, despite the heat and rain, Alex had a great time (and so did I).  He got to shoot a BB gun, learned to play ultimate frisbee, caught a couple of fish, shot a bow and arrow, learned about different constellations, whittled something out of soap, and made a stand for his Pinewood Derby car.

Our boys-Pack 989.

Aiming for the target.

Alex with his friend, Dallin.

With fish #1 (magnifying glass required).

Trying to keep dry.

Graduation

I always thought that preschool graduations were kind of silly-I mean seriously, is it really necessary?  That is until I saw my own children in their makeshift caps and then it was the cutest thing ever.  This was Ava's third and last year of preschool-she was kind of like a 5th year senior in some ways.  She barely missed the kindergarten cutoff (21 days but who's counting?) and so it was another year at Little Lamb Preschool.  I have to admit that I really wanted Ava to start kindergarten this past year.  She was ready.  However, I also had the feeling that she should do another year of preschool.  I'm so glad that I listened to that prompting!  Ava had a fantastic year.  She had a wonderful class and great teachers.  All the kids really got along with each other and Ava made some great friends.  She has become a much more confident child and I think keeping her in preschool really has made all the difference.  I know Ava will miss her school and friends but she is also excited and very ready for kindergarten.

Getting her diploma.

With her teacher, Mrs. Bokma.

With her other teacher, Mrs. Baughman.

With her BFF, Kenzie.

My little graduate!

9!

 Alex turned 9 last month and to celebrate, he had a birthday party.  I have to admit that I'm not a fan of birthday parties-the planning and the stress, I just prefer birthdays to be more low key.  However, Alex had been talking about a party for months, so I gave in.  He invited a few friends from school and church over to our house for some pizza, ice cream cake, and games.  I believe in the simpler, the better and do you know what, it was a lot of fun!  The kids had a great time.  Happy birthday, Alex!

A little embarrassed with all the attention.

Opening presents.

Some things about Alex...His favorite color is green, he likes the Wimpy Kid books and books about weird facts and world records.  He likes Lego's, transformers, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and Beyblades.  He likes to eat pizza, chicken nuggets, fruit, and loves root beer.  He has his yellow belt in martial arts, started taking piano lessons, wants to be a scientist, and loves to play outside.  He is very helpful and is a great big brother.

Easter

This year's Easter was pretty low key-some egg dying, Easter morning egg hunt, and baskets.  The kids went with Shane and his dad for Easter dinner and came back with a whole bunch of goodies.  The Easter Bunny does not disappoint!  I think it is now time to throw out the Halloween candy.

Ava's egg hunt at her school.

Dying Easter eggs.  The kids really enjoyed it and Alex wants to make this a family tradition.

Alex and Ava Easter morning with their baskets and goodies-books, chocolate,and gum.

Looking for Easter eggs.

Spring Break

Usually for spring break the kids and I hang around Valpo and I plan day trips for us to go on.  Not this year!  At first we were planning on visiting my mom and step-dad in Canada and then my mom suggested that we go somewhere warm.  Like I was going to say no to that.  We decided on a Caribbean cruise but didn't tell Alex and Ava; we wanted it to be a surprise and they were definitely surprised.  The kids loved being on the ship and we had so much fun-swimming, magic show, movies, ice cream twice a day everyday (them, not me).  The ship also had a great kids program, so I got a bunch of free time to go to the spa for a facial and massage.  I don't think I can top this year's spring break.  The kids are hooked and are asking to go on another cruise!

On the ship

Snorkeling in Grand Turks

Puerto Rico

St. Thomas

St. Thomas

Swimming in the Caribbean