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).

Touch-A-Truck

We stumbled upon O'Fallon's Public Works Vehicle Day quite by accident.  But, it was perfect as Henry had just finished speech therapy and I was racking my brain for a tiny special treat to celebrate another job well done.

There's not much else to say other than the kid was beside himself when we walked up.  We stayed about 2.5 hours, but only because Charlie and I were DONE.  Henry could have stayed for weeks (months?) and still not have been ready to go.

#hegetsthatfromhisdad

Spirit Day 2014

One of the few days that Amelia gets to let loose at school each year is Spirit Day.  It is a super fun day filled with a morning parade, an entertainer, picnic lunch, and an afternoon carnival.  Each year there is a theme.  This year each grade level was given a color they were to incorporate into their parade costumes.  2nd grade was given green and after much deliberation, Amelia decided she would like to dress up as the Statue of Liberty! (As a side note, I have always secretly hoped she would want to be the Statue of Liberty for Halloween one year, so I was thrilled!).

For the past 3 years I have walked with Amelia's class in the parade and my mom has brought Henry to come and watch.  We pretty much followed the same plan this year (with the addition of Charlie).  The weather was beautiful and the kids were so obnoxious excited!

Unfortunately, I don't have a single picture from the afternoon because I was ready to get out of there before the real chaos hit! But, Amelia came home with snow cone stained lips and a bag filled with ridiculously cheap toys so suffice it to say that she had a blast!