Stuck: The Sequel!

This is Charlie still on a daily basis and it STILL cracks me up how totally ok he is with being stuck under the furniture!

Birthday #8

So here's the face on a brand new 8 year old that got everything she wanted for her birthday--new glasses and a hamster!

It is hard to believe that Amelia is 8!  It has been a really crazy last few weeks with First Communion, End of School and now her birthday.  Luckily, she seemed to be a little burned out on crazy partying too. 

We picked up her birthday gift a couple days early at the pet store.  We wanted her to be able to pick out exactly what she wanted.  We went in thinking it we would probably be leaving with a fish, but a hamster won out in the end.  Her name is "Emily", in case you were wondering.

 On her actual birthday,  she wanted to start the day with monkey bread for breakfast (and a math problem to boot).  Please don't ask me why she's naked--it is how we sleep around here in the summer.  Sheesh.

Her only other request for the day was to visit the American Girl doll store to drop some money that had been burning a hole in her pocket.  Literally, this girl had been saving for like a year to get a new doll and she was ready to spend it!  A rather pushy sales associate practically made Amelia pose with the doll of the year, Isabella.  Can you tell how uncomfortable she is?  I had to get that documented with a picture.

 

In the end, she surprised and impressed me by ditching the AG store and heading to Claire's for a new pair of (fake) glasses.  (Although I'm not supposed to tell you they are fake).  So, instead of spending roughly $120 on a new doll, we got out with $4.99 glasses instead.

For her birthday celebration this year, we spent a lot of time thinking of how to do something special with a few close friends.  In the end, we decided on a trip to the drive in movies with 4 of her closest friends followed by a sleepover.

It was perfection!  She requested a make-your-own-nachos bar (at which every single girl other than Amelia chose chips and cheese) and then we had cake, opened presents, and changed into PJs.  Jason burned a little birthday CD that we enjoyed on the long ride to IL.  For many of the girls it was the first time they had been to the drive in. I'm not sure how much of How to Train Your Dragon II they really saw, but it was fun nonetheless.

It was really a blast and the girls got all junked up on goodies.  A few even fell asleep on the way home.  We fed them some breakfast in the morning and then everyone was on their way home! Not a bad way to party!

Summer Kick Off!

We LOVE our friends, the Rectors!  Henry met Lincoln way back when they were both 2 in the Time for Twos storytime.  They are both second born boys after a first born girl and they are two peas in a pod!  They have spent the last 3 years of preschool together and although they will be going to separate schools once kindergarten starts, I have a feeling they will be lifelong friends.

Their older daughter and Amelia got along great AND they have a baby girl born just 2 days after Charlie.  It is so nice to share all of the stages of life with my friend Amber.

We decided to kick off summer with a trip to the park with our friends, followed by some slushies to cool down.  (Henry opted out of the photo.  He was too busy hunting sticks to stop and pose).

The Many Faces of Five Months

Baby's First Cardinal's Game

We made a last minute decision to jump on some really cheap seats (read: nosebleeds) and try our luck at the Cardinal's game with 3 kids. 

Luckily our cheap seats were close enough to the top to shield us from the sun (and eventually the rain).  The rain popped up unexpectedly and made it difficult to wake around with two stir crazy and one tired kid.

We attempted to wait it out for awhile, but eventually decided to cut our losses and leave a little early.

All in all, I'd say it was a great first game---at least what Charlie remembered!

Last Day of Second Grade

Well, as the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end".  It has been a fantastic year with so much growth: physically, spiritually, and academically. Amelia was blessed with an amazing teacher who she loved so much.  We are sad to see her go since she is switching to public special education next year.  But we are thankful for a great year regardless.

The pictures from Amelia's last day of school are almost painful for me to look at.  I can hardly believe how much she has grown and how old she looks. Wow.

I mean, really.

The last day of school is super short, they are usually released by 9:30 or so.  But it is fully of meaningful symbolism starting with the all school mass where they "graduate" to the next year's spot to sit in church.  Unfortunately, the third graders get a bit of a demotion as far as church seating goes. With second grade being a sacramental year, they were seated right up front!

Charlie got to join me on the last day since we can't be apart for more than an hour or two.  Too bad he didn't get any attention from Amelia's classmates...

This friend of Amelia's wanted a picture of her and Amelia and Charlie.  That was a little tricky. Charlie just wanted to pull on her dress.

Sweet girls excited about the end of school and the start of summer!

We didn't waste any time getting started on our summer fun list.  Amelia changed clothes and then we were off to start our cake hunt.  We set a rather lofty goal to find 90 this summer.

We found 5 that first day (but only photographed 4), it was a great start to summer!

Pre Pre-School Graduation

Henry's school is a bit unique in that the classrooms are all mixed ages.  That means the kids range from age 3-5.  Some of the kids are headed to kindergarten and some have another year of pre-school before the big K.  Henry was one of the younger ones this year and got to participate in the graduation ceremony for those of his friends heading to kindergarten next year.

The kids all made tambourines, which they played upon entering the room.  I'm disappointed this picture wasn't more clear.  He was just so darn excited!

The kids did a couple of super cute songs...

Henry's a bit of a ham.  No surprises there.

Charlie was looking quite dapper for the occasion.  Seriously not sure what is going on with this picture, but it was too cute to exclude.

 

GG and Grandma came for the celebration!

Henry's teacher, Ms. Theresa, for the last two years has been nothing short of amazing!  She helped transform Henry from a moderately difficult 2 year old to a 4 year old star student!

I set out two different outfit choices for Henry the morning of graduation.  He chose neither and came up with his own combination.  It was pretty good so we went with it.  Not a day goes by that this kid doesn't crack me up about something. 

Amelia missed the big celebration because she had her own end of the year party going on at her school.  All the kids pitched in their spare shirts to make a t-shirt quilt for their teacher.  It turned out so great and she loved it!  It was an extra special year with First Reconciliation and First Communion.  Mrs. Marino is a crier---and she didn't disappoint! 

Baby's First Road Trip

We decided to test the road trip waters a bit over Memorial Day weekend.  I found a groupon for a hotel in Springfield, IL and the package included breakfast, admission to the Lincoln Museum, and dinner at a local restaurant.  It was too good to pass up, so we didn't!

We picked Amelia up a few minutes early from school on Friday.  I didn't tell her ahead of time that we were going out of town and when she came down from her room to the office, she was quite surprised to see me there.  Her first question was "Are we going to Florida?".  When she was in kindergarten, we took her out early one day to surprise her with a trip to Disneyworld and now that is always her first question on early release days.  It still makes me giggle.

Once we were on our way, the ride went pretty quickly--just under 2 hours.  Our hotel was right across from the capitol building which was fun for the kids to see and near a train track which Henry loved (I loved it less at 3 am, though).  We walked to dinner (where we took pictures atop a Clydesdale) and explored the area around our hotel.

After we got back, we snuggled in for some tv time before heading to play some mini golf.  Turns out that wasn't the best idea with Henry.  It is a miracle that no one was injured that night given that Henry's strategy was to hit the ball as hard as possible to get it to the hole.  Yikes!  We left both kids hit some balls in the driving range and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning, we were up bright and early and decided to take a trip to the Farmer's Market near our hotel.  Amelia had some money burning a hole in her pocket and she wanted to visit every single booth in an effort to find the perfect souvenir.  She couldn't find anything that fit the bill, so then it was on to the Lincoln Museum.

I thought the museum was fantastic!  Henry disagreed.  Even several months later, he still insists that he did not enjoy the Lincoln Museum.  I think it started with this. Henry was not on board once he set eyes on the Lincolns.

As you may be able to tell, he really did NOT want to stand by them.

Thankfully, there was a little playroom area with some things to keep him busy.  Otherwise I am pretty sure our visit would have lasted about 30 minutes.

 Amelia, on the other hand, loved all of it.  She roamed around with eyes wide open asking all kinds of questions.  I thought she might enjoy seeing the 4D movie with special sounds, smells, and other effects.  Turns out I was wrong!  After hear the surround sound gunshots of the Civil War and seeing the theater fill with "smoke", she was read to high tail it out of the movie. And so we did! But not before a (very long) trip to the gift shop.  Henry finally decided on a cannon pencil sharpener and Amelia opted for a giant pencil.

We attempted a visit to President Lincoln's home, but the tours were all full for the day.  A quick visit to his tomb and then we were headed home.  All the kids did pretty good!  Good enough to consider another road trip soon(ish).