The Saddest Day (Last day of Alice being 6)

On the day before her birthday, we beautified Alice's nails with sparkly gold nail polish. She even did some of them herself.

Then we ran a few errands, and I let her pick out her birthday balloon: A giant unicorn.

She also picked out her birthday cake mix: bright blue.  We then made the cakes and she got to lick the batter.  Zac will decorate it tonight.

New neighbors moving in!

A huge truck arrived this morning to move the neighbor's stuff in. Zac met the parents one day, who were here to do some painting. They said they have 4 kids, aged 4-11, so there should be some good playmates for our kids in there. We're just so happy someone with kids is moving in! I think their kids are still in school and won't arrive for another week or two though.

Simon's art

Here are some of Simon's latest creations.

Boating on Lake Wellingborough

Our new neighbors have a little jon boat from when they lived on a slightly larger pond and had a dock. They had some family visiting, so they put it in the pond, and then offered to let us take our kids out in it later. No one can pass up a boat ride! So after supper, Zac took the kids out for a cruise.

Pool playdate with Emory

The kids still watch the time change. Here, it is 8:59, soon to be the very exciting 9:00.

Zac arranged a playdate with his coworker's son (and our neighbor) Emory for Sunday morning at the pool. The three kids had the pool to themselves for quite a while, and Alice and Emory played well together. They are both high energy, so they're a good match.

Nothing better than ordering pizza at the pool!

First day at the pool!

Alice's Last Day of 1st Grade

It's hard to believe, but today is Alice's last day as a first grader. Her reading improved a lot this year, but her writing and spelling are still terrible. There's always next year!

Here are the thank-you cards she made for her teacher (Ms. Jones) and the teaching assistant (Ms. Morris).

And here is one of the many gazillion pieces of work sent home on the last day:

And her report card for the year. Seems she's proficient.

Watching trees fall

Simon and Alice were enthralled watching the neighbors take down some trees in their yard.

Simon and Elizabeth

Simon greets his good friend Elizabeth at drop off this morning.

Then the required wave goodbye at door window.

Simon on TWO wheels!

Here are a few videos of Simon learning to ride his bike without training wheels.

ONE DAY LATER.....

Look at the confidence and joy in this little guy!

I would like to note that it was less than a year ago that he even started riding a bike at all.  But once he started, he loved it.  Seems to be the trend with this guy...start late but then work towards mastery quickly.

Morning out

I arranged to meet with Chris (Lukas's mom) and Natasha (Izzy's mom) at this Gluten-free restaurant in north Raleigh where the kids can play outside. My kids did not care for the food, but they had a lot of fun running around. Alice and Izzy paired off, and Simon made friends with a random little girl. It was super cute but I forgot to get a picture. But it was so fun to chat with the ladies while the kids played happily.

Armored Animal

Another early morning creation: body armor for her stuffed animal made out of the magnets.

Defying Gravity

Alice was so proud to show us what she did this morning while we were still sleeping: She taped her stuffed animal to the wall.

Meanwhile, Simon is also trying to defy gravity without the aid of tape, just brute strength.

And, unrelatedly, they both had fun making cars at the free Home Depot Workshop this morning.

Beauties at the bus stop

Both girls looked so beautiful at the bus stop this morning in their summer dresses. 

Today is Friday, so one week from today will the the last day of school. Hard to believe!

Father's Day Celebration at Daycare

Zac had his last Father's day celebration at daycare this morning. Here's a cute little video he made of Simon during the circle time presentation.

I think Simon's projecting a bit on the fish. Simon's favorite food is fish and is so excited every time we have it. Zac does make some great grilled salmon!

It's almost 6:00!

Here the kids are watching the time in the van because it's 5:59 and will next be 6:00 and they really don't want to miss it.  So yes, Simon is still obsessed with time. But his enthusiasm is contagious and we all start looking out for those special times.

Fun in Durham

We never get tired of taking the kids to the Durham Museum of Life and Science because it is just so much fun.  We just wish it were a bit closer (35 min drive). Zac took the kids there on Monday.

I always knew they were wild creatures, unfit for civilization!

In this video, I love how Simon is pretending to be lost and Alice is taking it literally. Sums them up.

Simon's desk

Simon had been asking for a desk in his bedroom for a long time, but we were hesitant because that was back when Simon was still having a lot of trouble staying in bed at night, and we didn't want to encourage it by enabling him to stay up all night drawing pictures. We were also trying to use it as a reward for him staying in bed and not waking us up in the middle of the night.

Finally, after over a year of his nighttime antics, Simon pretty much stays in bed at night and wakes us up rarely. We figured that was good enough, and we were tired of having the desk in our room (we'd bought it used in April on one of our shopping dates while my parents watched the kids).

Simon was pretty thrilled to have his own desk, and got right to work decorating it and populating it with all the supplies he thought he would need.

  

Alice's Artwork

This first picture she made at home.

These other three she brought home from school.

Camping at Izzy's

Our annual campout at Izzy's was a blast. The kids ran around and played, and we didn't really have to keep an eye on Alice at all anymore. Simon stuck by the fire most of the time, burning sticks which he called his candles. It was a bit chaotic at times with so many kids and sticks and fire, but somehow we all got through it unscathed.

Jess even gave the kids a pick up truck ride around the driveway loop, much to their delight.

We had to tear Alice away when it was time to go.