Sweet Dreams

I really, really love how Amelia spent the last 4 months or so of Kindergarten falling asleep with her class (picture) every night.  School has been so good to her and what a great start to her professional school career!  She loves her teachers and classmates and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

Lunch with my Lady

Near the end of the school year, we decided to surprise Amelia at school during lunch time.  We brought her a Moe's quesadilla (her favorite). Henry was surprisingly cooperative!  And Amelia was pleasantly surprised.  It's hard to believe the end of Kindergarten is here!!

Creve Coeur Quadricycle

 One beautiful Sunday in May, we headed out to Creve Coeur Park to rent a quadricycle.  I've seen these countless times visiting the park and thought it would be fun for the 4 of us to take one out together. 

A friend of mine had recently mentioned enjoying a visit to the Creve Coeur Lakehouse, so we headed that direction. It was a nice ride and not too difficult despite the two in the front slacking quite a bit!

We got a couple of beers, a soft pretzel appetizer and enjoyed some live music out on the porch.  The perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

 

Henry tried to hijack the 'cycle all by himself, but luckily he couldn't quite reach the pedals.  Honestly, I would have gladly given him spot, though.  It was quite a bit trickier to pedal back to the bike rental station after a couple of beers, but we finally made it.  

I will need to remember this place for the Fall.  It would be perfect when the leaves are changing and the weather is cooler!

End of Year Teacher Gifts

Having been a teacher myself for a few years, it has always been a top priority to me to make sure my kid's teachers feel appreciated!  It can get very, very tricky though when there are so many who need appreciating!  In kindergarten, Amelia had her classroom teacher and SIX teacher aides.  Not to mention art, music, computer, etc. teachers!

Thankfully with some help from pinterest, careful planning, and a load of coupons we were able to give a little gift to everyone.

The teacher aides got a nice reusable cup with lemonade packets inside.  I found these super cute printables that say, "Thank you for quenching my thirst for knowledge" and "Thank you for being a great "ade" for our class".  Fun and perfect for the start of summer! 

 For Amelia's classroom teacher, I decided to give a flower and Bread Co. gift certificates.  I found this cute idea also on pinterest and decided to give these folded flower "tag" a try.  After reading through the somewhat complicated directions, I decided to just try to do it my own way.  Luckily (eventually) I won, but it is not a project that I am eager to recreate.  I like the way it turned out though!  The inside of the flower tag says, "Thanks for helping me GROW up great!".  I would have liked to have been able to edit out the "up great" part, but couldn't quite figure it out before I was out of time--so, it stayed.

All in all, I was happy with the outcome and really felt the teachers appreciated the personal touch.  And my pinterest board is already buzzing with some ideas for the first grade year!

Spirit Week 2012

We had our first experience with Spirit Week at the end of the kindergarten year!  It all started with crazy hair day...

 Our version was very easy to implement and relatively painless. It also involved glitter hairspray--a definite plus.  I had the pleasure of working lunch duty on Crazy Hair Day, so I have lots of ideas for next year!  The rest of Spirit Week involved days like St. Joe Sports Uniform day! And Cardinals Jersey Day! Nothing too exciting to bother dragging the camera out for.

But no worries, I made up for it on the last day of Spirit Week.  Each grade was assigned a country for the annual St. Joseph Spirit Week Parade through the streets of Cottleville.  This turned out to be great fun and we had the perfect day for it!  The kindergarteners were assigned the country of China.  Since I somehow got volunteered to hold the Kindergarten Banner during the parade, almost all of my pictures are from before and after we marched.

 Best Buds: Kylie, Amelia, and Natalie.

 That outfit we brought back from San Francisco's China Town came in handy after all!

Jacob and Amelia

When Amelia was asked about her favorite part of kindergarten, her response was "Megan and Ava".  Here are the three of them together: Megan, Amelia, and Ava.

GG was awesome enough to bring Henry to the parade and he loved every minute of it.  Even months later, he still talks about the giant shopping cart he saw at least once a week.  Apparently, he cried when the parade was over :(

Because my mom is so awesome, she also agreed to take Henry for the rest of the day so that I could enjoy the afternoon with Amelia at school.  All the kids had lunch in the classroom before heading out for the Spirit Day carnival.

Mrs. Bell's kindergarten class.  2011-2012

First stop once outdoors was face painting!  This was right at the beginning of Amelia's Harry Potter obsession (which is still in full swing).  We had finished Book One just a few days before.  The poor parent volunteer who painted Amelia's face wasn't at all familiar with Harry Potter (huh?) and didn't get it quite right.  Luckily, Amelia was thrilled with the result and enjoyed sporting her new face for the remainder of the afternoon.

McDonald's gave out free smoothies...mmmmm!

The water fight was a popular spot and no surprises that Amelia came away soaking wet!  I have video of her and another little boy drenching each other. Nothing like trying to get shoes and socks back on little wet feet.

I think our little group had a great time together! They were so cute! I really loved Amelia's kindergarten class.  There were some great kids and great parents.  I am hoping for an equally fun next 8 years!

Ga Ga turns 61!

The kids had a great time celebrated GG's 61st birthday!  They were especially fond of the build your own sundae set up the restaurant includes with the kid's meals.  And while the all of her grandkids call her GG, Henry prefers the term "Ga Ga".  As in Lady GaGa.  Lucky her!

Group Gardening

At our house, gardening is a family affair.

Everyone has input on what gets planted.  Jason buys the supplies and prepares the soil.  Amelia and Henry poke their fingers in the soil to make small holes for the seeds.  

When it is time to harvest an early crop of strawberries, everyone does their part to pull them from the plant.  

Henry eagerly does his part to consume the newly picked strawberries.  He is quite quick and efficient.

Now if only everyone could get on board with watering, our garden may be successful once again!

Ten Years Down

 Jason and I celebrated TEN years of marriage on April 27 this year.  We had started saving for a big anniversary trip the previous year.  We didn't know where we'd go, but we knew we wanted to go somewhere.

Being the procrastinators we are, we ended up booking a last minute deal to a lovely all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We were gone for 5 days and 4 nights.  It was hard to leave the kids, especially when Henry started throwing up the night before we left....

But, left we did.  Vomit or no vomit the trip had to go on.  Henry ended up coming down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and our parents combined efforts to take fantastic care of him.  Amelia got to school on time, studied for her spelling test, and completed her homework.  She took a field trip to the Zoo with her class while we were away and survived it!  (Although, she ended up getting sent home early after she threw up while on the field trip).  It was nice to know that in a "worst case" scenario that everyone survived.  Hopefully our next trip away will be easier on everyone involved!

Our only real agenda on the trip was to have no agenda.  We loaded up on books we wanted to read and planned to spend our days drinking, eating, napping, and reading poolside. Upon our arrival, it was very clear that we were somewhere far away from the hustle and bustle of home.  It was very steamy departing from the plane and the open air airport was an interesting change.

Upon arrival, we checked in, looked around and grabbed some dinner.  It was pretty much perfection.  Nothing says romance like towel swans.  Am I right?

 

Our lovely jacuzzi tub.  Inside view and outside view.

Part of what we really loved about this resort was that everything was really included.  Even the mini bar and room service!  So, we started the first morning with breakfast in bed (or on the patio more accurately).  I like how this photo shows Jason taking full advantage of the slippers included with the room.

Everyday we were poolside.  Being the early risers that we are, we were always up to secure a cabana in the morning before heading to breakfast.  We are big shade people so that was a huge advantage.  Some days our view was like this:

 Other days it was more like this:

Or this:

And one day it looked like this: 

Drink service started at 10 AM sharp, so everyday looked like this:

We were able to walk the beach to shop for little gifts for the kids.  Drinks in hand. It was amazing! The water was so beautiful.  Jason is not a big beach person, but he braved it for the sake of the kids and their souvenirs.

We even worked out! On vacation!

At night, we would eat dinner--usually at one of the themed restaurants.

 

And almost every night we saw the show.  The Michael Jackson night was by FAR our favorite.

After dark, the underneath of this boat turns into a disco.  We tried going one night with a couple we met.  It wasn't really that great.

Often, we found ourselves drinking with strange folks.  Like the Tin Man....

It was a wonderful trip! I can't wait to see where the next 10 years bring us!

I bought a new hat for our trip.....

and Amelia promptly claimed it for herself.

Museum of Transportation--Round One

I seem to remember when Amelia was little visiting the Museum of Transportation monthly, if not more often.  We were members for awhile and she enjoyed every trip so thoroughly that it was hard not to keep going back.

Fast forward a few years and I am in the exact same place with Henry.  Thanks to a Groupon-like deal, we are members again and he REALLY can't get enough.  I love how the Museum is constantly improving and the new Creation Station is beautiful!

Of ALL the toys to choose from, upon entry to the Creation Station Henry immediately chose the cleaning tools.  He swept and mopped with great intensity.

Then it was on to dress up.  He loved being the mailman or "may-mane" if you're Henry.

He was pretty attached to the outfit even after the letters had all been delivered.

Eventually we made it outside for a train ride around the property.  Too bad he didn't really enjoy himself....

He kept going and going until we were both warn out and ready for home.  He headed out and saw this ominous looking weather and headed right back in for some snacks.  And when the weather headed out, so did we!

 

And we still got our rest....