The Puddles

We had a lot of fun on this campout.  All five of us!  Dad was sad to leave, but he had to work in the morning!  The kids swam, played frisbee, went on a hike, and had a good time.  We participated in the dutch oven cookoff!  Chris was a judge.  I’ve never had a dinner with all of the dishes made with dutch ovens.  It certainly was fun!  Can’t wait for next year!

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This spring I finally did a campfire with the girls.  The week before we learned about fire safety and  how to build a fire.  We learned the terminology and practiced building one with food.  And most importantly we made blinged out some bandanas for our campfire!

Then we made a campfire and made smores. It was so fun.  No one got hurt.  Everyone had several smores to eat!  It was a good day!

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Isn’t she beautiful?  She did a superb job after only a few months of lessons.  We watched the video the other day, and there was some cringing while we listened to it!  But she got up and did it!!  How cool is that?  She earned all of the praise she received.  She did excellent.  I am so proud of her!  (Aunt Sarah and Meagan came to the recital which is why we finally got a family photo.  We haven’t had a decent family photo in YEARS!  Didn’t realize that until I saw this one.  Thank you for taking the picture, Aunt Sarah!)

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This was a fun adventure.  Ainsley’s troop went to the Houston Arboretum. Eventhough the topic was about bugs (not Ainsley’s favorite!), it was still a ton of fun.  The girls got to touch bugs, take a walking tour (beautiful!), and then create a pretty butterfly craft.

You can tell by the smile on her face that she had a lot of fun.  By the end, she declared that this was the best day ever and asked, “do we have to go home with those other two?”  Crazy kid!  

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Now I can download all of the current pictures on my camera!  We have been so busy that I didn’t have time to stop and post photos.  There has been something EVERY WEEKEND!  No exaggeration.  It has been tough. It is the end of the school.  There seems to be something that I am preparing for all the time.  My shopping list keeps growing.  1st grade field day, 2nd grade picnic, 4th grade picnic, etc., etc.  Every group needs something.  Happy to provide, but geez . . . I feel like I’m always running to the store and stuffing items in the backpack!

I had my final conference with a teacher.  I met with Ben’s teacher.  We have a lot to work on over the summer.  Ben has to master the 8 minutes math fact test by the end of the summer.  He also needs to work on his fluency.  So we have our marching orders!  The other two are doing great, but we still have areas to work on.  The kids are doing awesome in school.  It is a little sad.  The school year ends and summer begins.  I am a little intimidated.  But we will get through it.

The last few weeks are all about ending and new beginnings.  Final grades. Last day of Sunday school. Clap off for Fourth Grade. 1st grade field day. 2nd grade picnic. 4th grade picnic. Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony and End of year party. And still more.  Then it is on to vacation, new director at church, tutoring for kids, swimming lessons, VBS, church camp, etc.  Before you know it, it will be August and time for school to start!

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I took the troop to spend the night on the Tall Ship Elissa.  This tall ship still sails! Although it will be going into dry dock (by now) for a million dollar hull, the goal is for another voyage in October (?).  I can’t remember.  I just think that an actual working tall ship is a really cool experience.  The girls had a great time.  Each group of girls had watch.  My group was from 4:00-5:00am with a wakeup time of 6:00am we had the WORSE time slot. But the girls made the best of it.  During the night the girls got to go over the ship with one of the volunteers, like way down in the bilge area and captain’s quarters.  Plus all of the girls slept on the deck.  It was really overcast, but I pulled out my iphone and stars app and we looked at the stars.  Since the girls have done the fundamentals, they get to go on the next overnight.  A pirate adventure.  They look for buried treasure on the ship!

All of the volunteers stayed in character from the 1880’s.  When I took a picture with my iphone, I was told to “put your devil machine away.” Eventhough we were tired, it was still fun.  Plus I had a really had a good time with Madie.  I slept on the deck next to her.  It was fun!  I can’t wait to go back!

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Ainsley is an adorable bumble bee (again). We used the same bee costume from last years costume.  But this is the LAST year to wear it. She strips were a little too tight this year.  It just means that she is growing!  She had a line in this year’s program. She was so excited that on the first night she sped through it!  In the morning she slowed it down and did a fabulous job at both programs. With those front two teeth missing, she was awesome!! Papa Grace and Dad was able to come in the morning and see her program. She loved being on stage.  Of course!

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After church we were joined by my family and friends. It was perfect.  Relaxing. simple. And everyone had a great time. The older cousins played Just Dance on the Wii. Then after dinner, the Easter Bunny showed up  . . . twice!  First in the front yard and then he texted Cousin Taylor to tell us that he left a surprise hunt in the backyard.  At the end of the hunt, the confetti eggs were brought out.  The kids really enjoyed getting the adults.  It was a good day.  Even Chris was smiling by the end of the day.

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Easter was great this year.  After the first picture of Ben with his bucket on his head, I never saw him again until church started.  He was like a flash at the egg hunt.  All of the kids got ton of candy and prizes, so it was a good day for all of them.

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