Kindergarten Graduation

Such a big day for Ellie, such a hard day for mom and dad. Ellie had her kindergarten graduation program and she did beautifully.  She was so great at singing and performing for the parents.  I wish I could say the same.  It is a hard thing for a mom to see her "baby" growing up.  I am so proud of you Ellie!! We love you little girl.

I remember learning this same song in grade school.

Ellie has made some really great friends in her class. She did such a good job of making new friends when she got separated from all her neighborhood girls. Ellie, Bostyn, Charly, Avery and Lucy.

Congratulations baby! Sorry I pulled your hair back and made you look bald, I had no idea you would be wearing a cap. 

Neighborhood friends.  All the girls are in the other class, which left just Bryson and Ellie.  Thank heavens for recess so they could still see eachother and play.  Bryson, Alesha, Ellie, Ellena, and Brynn.

Kindergarten Field Day

Kindergarten Field day was another first for Ellie.  This year they had games outside followed by popsicles.  Ellie loved it, and I loved being there with her.

Ellie with her class all lined up and ready to go. 

Duck, duck, goose with a squirt bottle. It felt so good, it was a really hot day!

Memorial Day Weekend

This year for Memorial Day weekend we decided to go camping with Troy and Karrie and Jodie and Bryan's families. John was so great and went and purchased a new tent and a bunch of camping gear.  He is now wondering if we will ever use it again. The jury is still out! Actually the trip was really fun despite the serious amount of rain we had.  Plus, my kids loved it!!! We stayed in Manti and this was the sign  we saw as we pulled up. Too funny!

It was a little rainy when we went fishing but it was still so much fun. Ellie and Samuel both had their own fishing pole.  No fish this year!

I love this picture! Such a dad and son moment.

Not the best picture, but Sam couldn't walk because the mud on his shoes was so heavy! And yes, he had to get in the car with all that mud.

We went to Yern(?) Lake for some more fishing and paddle boats.  It was a really beautiful day but still a little cold.

This is what makes it worth all the mud, rain, allergies and no sleep.  Ellie and Sam absolutely loved the trip.  Thank to my family for a really fun weekend and to Troy for playing cards in the rain with me!

Kindergarten Field Trip

Ellie's class went to the zoo for their year end field trip.  I was so happy I was able to go...thank you Christine!

I loved my group: Ellie, Paige, Kenzie, Lucy!  

Hmmm....

Love these girls! Ellie is so glad to have Lucy back in Utah.

Thank you Ellie for such a fun day! I love experiencing "firsts" with you.

Soccer Mania

Both Ellie and Samuel played soccer again this spring.  Ellie is really getting good and usually scores at least 1 goal per game! I love to watch her on the field, it is truly a different side to her personality.

Ellie with her good friend Alesha.  These two girls are so cute together!

GOAL!  Way to go Ellie

This is the first season that Samuel has really got the idea of soccer.  He actually played quite well and score a few goals himself!  Good job buddy.

Samuel and Henry, such good friends!

California Here We Come!

DAY 1

We love California! We started out our trip with Disneyland!

Samuel on the Jungle Cruise!

Tea Cups! We love this ride (except John, it makes him really sick)

The only "kid" ride we went on (winnie the pooh) and it broke down!

Highlight of Samuel's day - Jedi Training!!

I love this little Jedi!

 

Congratulations Samuel, it is official, you ARE a Jedi Master!

DAY 2 San Diego

The day started off really early.  Samuel woke up at 5:00 am and couldn't breathe.  Thank you Croupe! John had to rush him to the emergency room where he was given breathing treatments and steroids (2 shots in the leg).  The crazy thing was he was just fine after that. He honestly acted like his normal self, who knows????

Here is the view of the resort we stayed in, it was beautiful!

We spent the morning swimming at our hotel.  It was so fun and relaxing.

After swimming we headed to Coronado.  I love this place! I could seriously live here.  We ate at the cutest little pizza restaurant.  All the shops and restaurants are so quaint and fun.

We love the beach. The kids are so happy to play in the sand and water.

Minus the rough start to the day, this was our favorite.  Nothing like relaxing in the sand and sun!!!

DAY 3  Legoland!!

There was a building where you could build your own race car and then see how it worked.  Samuel loved this, Ellie.... not so much!

Overall, Legoland was our least favorite outing of the trip.  It is geared for pretty small kids. The rides seemed really young compared to Disneyland.

We had the best restaurant at our hotel that overlooked the ocean.  It also had a natural "aquarium" surrounding it with sea rays and sharks.  

 

Ellie was so funny at the restaurant, what happened to her being shy??

DAY 4

The San Diego Zoo is absolutely beautiful and amazing.  Kind of makes me think twice about my season pass to Hogle Zoo, not quite the same!

What the???  Half zebra, giraffe, and horse maybe?

After the zoo, we went to La Jolla for dinner and fun.  This place is so fun.  It has a long board walk with the most amazing views.

Every year seals come to this beach between December and May to have their babies.  The kids thought this was the greatest.  It was a very small area for so many seals.

After La Jolla we went back to our hotel and the kids collected sea shells.  Did mention we could walk to the beach from our room?  It was a bay so there weren't any big waves.

Roasting marshmellows on the beach!!!

DAY 5

Today we drove up from San Diego to Newport Beach and had lunch at Tommy Bahama's grill.  The food was really good and they even had live entertainment.  Thank you Crayola for saving me in restaurants!

After Newport we went to our "new" hotel.  They had a really incredible water area for kids.  Plus, it was all shallow so John and I could relax and just read our books!

This big bucket would fill up and just dump all over the water area.  The kids loved it!!

After we got done swimming it was time to go to Downtown Disney.  I love this place!  John took Samuel and Ellie to pick out some Lego's at their huge store so I got a little me time.  It is Mother's Day afterall!  Hello Sephora!

Ellie went to Build A Bear in Downtown Disney and her dog Lizzy was born!  After we were all done shopping we went to MiMi's to eat.  It was right by our hotel (which also happened to be right by Disney) we could even see all the fireworks that night!

DAY 6

California Adventure and back to Disneyland!  My kids have always loved California Adventure.  It is perfect for little kids.  However, this time they are older and can ride bigger rides, so Disneyland is more appealing. Ellie was finally big enough to ride California Screamin'!  We did Soarin' over California and a few small rides for Sam (Tower of Terror is his favorite) and then went back over to Disney.

C is for California, we love it here!

Perfect Disney treat! Pretty much anything chocolate is a perfect treat for Ellie.

Ellie was such a good sport to ride on the  "smaller rides" with Sam.

Space Mountain was one of Samuel's favorites!  Anything that has to do with space, rockets, star wars.... you get the picture.

It was such a fun vacation, we loved it and I am sure we will be doing this one again!