We Like To Party

Living so close to APG, we have many friends who are military. Most of them are only here for 3-5 years, which seems like a long time until they start getting ready to leave. We have four families (three military, one job change) leaving this summer. We decided we needed to have a big party to say goodbye. Thankfully our ridiculous backyard was the perfect location to host 170+ people!

Amazingly, we had no serious trampoline injuries and no neighbors throwing fits about the music.

It was awesome to be able to say goodbye in such a fun way!

Second Grade

There should be no school after Memorial Day.

It's all a joke after that.

But we persisted and pretended the kids were actually learning until June 15th.

Gabe & Seth at a field trip to Herr's Potato Chip Factory

Mrs. Morehouse with her class

And then, finally, school was out! 

Seth headed straight for the devices:

Sadly for him, Mom quickly instigated a daily list of chores/learning that had to be completed before devices came out. Life is rough for my kids.

Rita's to celebrate the end of school

Clearly it was too bright for everyone to look at the camera at once.

Thank heaven for summer! I am thoroughly enjoying the break from schedules and homework.

Seth's Class Party

Seth's school always has an end of the year "celebration." They keep calling it a picnic, but there's no food involved, so I don't get it. They basically play games outside, which seems odd since Field Day was just a few days earlier. Clearly I am not in charge of these things.

He was so excited to have me there!

Relay race

Freckle-face selfie

They had a freeze dance game, which Seth took very seriously:

He clearly gets his moves from me.

Mrs. Morehouse's second grade class:

Blue popsicle tongue:

Elise, the "discouraged sibling":

I hate our school's policy of "no siblings allowed." It makes it really hard for people like me, with three little ones at home, to come to all these things. Plus I think it's just plain dumb that siblings can't come to things like Field Day or outdoor class celebrations. And not allowing nursing infants? Ridiculous. Luckily this time siblings weren't forbidden, just "discouraged". So Elise got to come and be carried around by Bente the entire time. Seth was so proud of his baby sister, despite the school's worry that my focus should be entirely on Seth and making him feel special. Guess what? Having his sister there made him feel pretty special!

We Are Special

Special Selfie Princess

Special Family Home Evening lesson with sleeping baby prop

Special Aaron hair--Jon calls this "The Donald"

Another special Aaron hair.

Catherine and I got bows--he insisted he needed one as well.

Zoo Trip

I'm not currently homeschooling, but I seriously consider it about every other month. So I keep close tabs on the local homeschoolers. When one posted about a super cheap zoo trip, I jumped. I also might have invited all the local Mormons to come with me.

Seth opted to ditch school for this trip, which was pretty impressive since it was his field day. It helped that Gabe ditched, too. 

I swear they were actually having fun.

Got Gabe looking, but lost the other two.

Aaron liked the zoo more than I expected:

Elise was thrilled by the zoo:

Kudos to Jon for hauling her around the entire time.

Also for coming to the zoo on his day off instead of staying home to do projects.

A wild Aaron on the loose:

Gabe, Seth & Giraffe:

Elise opted for Jon's arms the entire time, so Catherine took advantage of the empty car seat:

Clearly she fit perfectly:

Aaron was thrilled to have Bekah there to entertain him:

Catherine plays leap frog:

Seth leap frogs as well:

Aaron finally does it solo:

And my kids are suckers and pay money for the carousel:

Happy to be wasting their money:

The weather was perfect, the friends were perfect, the price was right--here's to hoping we do this again next year!

Preschool Graduation

I have loved Catherine's preschool so much. I was nervous about sending her. She was pretty attached to me and I wasn't sure how she would handle being away. Plus Catherine is picky about who she likes. She's like a cat: only certain people gain her love, and the worst thing you can do is try to force her to like you. Luckily, her teacher was PERFECT for Catherine. She adores Miss Crystal. When preschool was ending, she was so sad. "What if I forget her face?" Thank heaven Miss Crystal is on Facebook! Catherine might have carried around my phone with a picture of Miss Crystal on it for quite a while the day after graduation.

Graduation was a much fancier event than I anticipated. Jon & I are not huge fans of the "graduating from every grade" trend, but this was pretty adorable. My pictures aren't super impressive: it's hard to get good pictures while simultaneously wrangling a toddler and newborn.

Performing all their songs

Both classes of preschoolers

Walking up to receive her diploma and cap from Miss Crystal

Not sure where she was looking, but it wasn't at me!

Miss Crystal with her class

So grateful for such a wonderful teacher!

With her best school buddy, Italy.

I can't believe this little girl is heading to kindergarten in the fall!

I tried to put Catherine's cap on Aaron's head.

Wasn't even close to fitting.

Strawberry Picking

It was 86 degrees that day. 55% humidity. Temperature felt like 97 degrees.

I was by myself with the three little ones. And wearing a white shirt that I really like.

But the strawberries were ripe and we were driving right past the fields. How can you not stop?

Catherine was a professional.

Aaron kept picking green ones and throwing them.

All the strawberries we could pick in the ten minutes before we melted.

Best new way to enjoy our fresh strawberries? Homemade strawberry milkshakes!