Father's Day!

Today was Father'sy an like every other Father's Day, my baby daddy had to work. So to celebrate our hard-working family member, we took lunch to Menard's!

 

The kids couldn't wait to give Daddy their gifts.  The little ones made him cards and Gracie made him a book.

 

But of course we also had to get him a Nerf Super Soaker, a Wolverine t-shirt and a Thor water bottle.

 

After lunch with Daddy, it was time to meet Grandpa for some mini golf.  The kids had never played before and they LOVED it.

 

Grandpa showed them the ropes.

 

We went to Haunted Trails and the kids had a blast.

 

We also had to ride some rides. This one spun around like crazy but the kids loved it.  I was a bit dizzy afterward.

 

We had presents for Grandpa too including some peanuts because we are "nuts about grandpa", a Sox t-shirt and some water guns.

 

We ended the night by eating at a fabulous restaurant here called Merichka's.  They have the best poorboys! 

It was  great day and we have been blessed with the world's greatest daddy and grandpa!

Blackberry Farm!

Today was such a beautiful day so we headed to Blackberry Farm!

 

The kids were so excited.  They all needed maps to help us find our way around.

 

We visited the one-room schoolhouse.

 

The kids sat in the desks and listened to the teacher.

 

But from the windows of the school, we could see the ponies.  So we left school early and went to ride them.

 

Riding the ponies made us want to ride some boats. 

 

Riding the boats around the lake made us want to ride around the merry-go-round.

 

All that riding around made us want to go down slides.

 

Going down the slides made us want to play at this cool park.

 

All the running around on the park made us want to zoom down the zip line.

 

And we wanted to zoom some more.

 

The zooming made us want to climb bridges.

 

And cross rivers.

 

Being by the water made us cold so we needed to snuggle.

 

And put our arms around each other.

 

And make silly faces.

 

And snuggle some more.

 

After we snuggled, it was time to buy train tickets!

 

Then go on a hay ride.

 

On the hayride, we enjoyed the beauty of nature.

 

Being pulled on wagon, made us want to ride the ponies again.

 

And again.

 

Being on the ponies, made us want to check out the other animals.

 

Including the 6 week old piggies.

 

And our Thanksgiving turkey.

 

Seeing all the animals made us want to play farm so we drove our own tractors.

 

And all that fun made us tired so we headed home.  But it was great day!

Last Day of First Grade!

Well summer is here and I'm already slacking. Last Friday was the last day of school for Gracie and me.  Gracie's last day of first grade hit me a little hard.

 

She grew SO much in this past year.  She learned so much and is always stating facts that she learned especially in science about the sun, the moon, the planets, and caterpillers and butterflies.  She went from being barely being able to read to reading chapter books her own.  She loves the Puppy Place series. She suceeded in math knowing all her addition and subtraction facts.  I even had her write her own board this time.  Yes, we need a little help with handwriting (she gets that from me) and we will work on it this summer.

 

She made lots of new friends this year and even grew socially. She even got on yellow once for talking!

 

She had a great teacher.  Her love for the kids and passion to teach them was incedible.

 

She even made a new BFF this year, Miss Jackie.  The girls had so much fun together.

 

Thank you for a great first grade year Miss Stewart!  You will be missed.  You have done more than prepare my daughter for first grade, you gave her a love of school and learning.  I can't believe I have a second grader already!  How is that possible?