Graduation

In all honesty, I personally think that Kindergarten Graduation is a little bit silly, but... perhaps it is the precedence that the education system is trying to set, "see how great that was now do it again, and again"??? But that is beside the point. The boys were so excited, I dropped them off early so they could get in their cap and gowns.

The auditorium was packed with barely standing room, I watched as Brendan kept scanning the audience, his eyes lit up with satisfaction when he finally found us.

Mrs. Anderson, their teacher, presented the kindergarten diploma's.

And the awards just keep coming. Academic Warrior, Reader of the Month for May, Perfect Attendance, Letter Club, Sound Club. Brendan received just about every award they gave. Only one or two other children received as many awards and no one received more.

So even though, in theory I think kindergarten graduation is silly, I was still a very proud parent of my boys.

Waiting

Waiting, waiting, waiting. Mom and Dad were loading the van and all there was to do was to wait. It is so hard to wait when your little.

The Ocean

Mostly it just makes me cold to type this blog.

The kids did great though and loved the water.

In and out in and out.

Kinsey had just been pulled under, she bounced right back up laughing.

Brendan is going to ride the waves.

They were very, very brave.

The Beach!!!

Nobody had the patience to build a castle, but they made lots of maritime molds.

The sand was warm after being in the freezing water so creating sand angels was a popular activity.

We buried...

... and were buried

More sweet angels

Mr. August.

Love letters in the sand????

It's almost time to go... cold, sandy, and wet but thrilled with their day and the whole way home the car was filled with "when can we go to the beach again?" It was a good day.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears... thanks to Cami

It was Cami's first birthday and all the wild things came out to play.

There was a scary tiger...

and a pretty little kitty...

Brendan drew a self portrait.

I'm still not exactly sure what Kiki drew.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an important day for my family. It has always been important for us to "remember" So even though I had just finished a 12 hour night shift, we loaded the kids in the car and headed to a local cemetery just like we have every year.

There the local veterans group was busy putting up flags and crosses to honor our fallen soldiers.

The kids, thrilled at the prospect, grabbed handfuls of flags and crosses and headed out to find the headstones of our veterans.

The identifying markers were a V or a STAR, they went row by row til every grave of our service men and women had been marked with the appropriate honor.

I was so proud of the kids, they asked lots of questions and it proved to be a great teaching opportunity.

And when we left I think they had just a little more respect and appreciation for those people who bled and died to give them the opportunity to enjoy what they have. Even though I was tired and almost didn't go, I am glad we did and I think the kids were too.

Fathers and Sons

Dad took his boys on a "Fathers and Sons" campout.

Everyone loved the special "boy time", there was lots of dirt and no one to tell you to wash your face or change your clothes, at night there were weinie roasts over the fire and spooky stories in the dark. They got to stay up as late as they wanted and eat junk!!! It was great!

They played lots and lots of football and a few games of badmitton.

Boyce's grandpa was there and whittled everyone a whistle. Which happily made it home,the boys had great fun piercing the air with the shrill noise. Needless to say mean mom threatened to throw away all whistles and insited that they all get into the shower immediatly. They were so happy to be home again.