On Friday, June 3rd (the last day of school!), Carter had another belt promotion. He was so excited to get his orange belt! We're proud of his hard work and continued growth and improvement. His coach had some very nice things to say about Carter during his promotion.... it's always nice to hear someone else sing your child's praises!
Last picture as a yellow belt
Getting a few words of encouragement from Coach before everything starts
Watching and waiting patiently for his turn
Ella & Cole on the mat, trying to stay attentive and support their big brother... but not really being successful ;)
Carter's turn to show his grappling skills
Ok... getting pretty bored.
Going again...
Getting belted by Coach
New orange belt!
Proud of this guy!
Smiling with Coach
Carter grappling with Halie, who is a year older and one belt above him. She's one tough cookie, too!
Coach says he thinks Carter is the most improved in his class! I'm so glad he sees it, because we do, too!
Very proud of your hard work, bud! Keep it up, and you'll get that black belt in no time!!
Ella finished up another great year of pre-school at the end of May! I think she's really going to miss her class and teachers this summer. When I picked her up on the last day of school, she was saying her goodbyes, and begged me to plan a playdate at her teacher Ms. Julie's house! HAHA!
Here is Ella posing it up on the last day of school!
Cole had to get in the picture too
She's grown a foot, and looks like a pre-teen!
Take a look at the difference from the first day of school last September!
She is more than ready for Pre-K. Truth be told, she is so mature that she could probably go on to kindergarten next year and do just fine...... but with an October birthday, she'll have one more year at home with me! I'm ok with that! Watch out Pre-K.... get ready for Ella!!
Two days before school got out, 1st grade parent's and PTA members organized a wrap party for our kids at Urban Air. This is an annual tradition, and it's usually a picnic at the park by the school, but with lots of rain, we moved it indoors. Carter had a blast with all of his friends this evening! And look at that awesome cake!! Love our school and close knit neighborhood!
This is about half of 1st grade
On the last day of school, they had a party in the gym, basically a free-for-all, where they just played and rotated stations before having popcorn and popsicles for a snack. It was pretty chaotic, but the kids loved running amuck!
There he is, center, shooting the ball.
So happy
Snack time back in the classroom
The class gave his wonderful teacher a gift card wreath...... tons of gift cards to awesome places attached. She loved it! I mean, really, who wouldn't?
Group hug for them all!
We loved this class, and we'll miss it next year!
I was happy to join him alone.... left Cole and Ella to play at home with a babysitter!!
The wonderful and amazing Ms. Green. We'll miss her!
Walking home, Carter had to stop and take a picture at his chalk art that he and a few friends did earlier in the day.
About a month ago, we took a trip to Broken Bow for the weekend, and stayed in a big cabin with several of our neighborhood friends!! 23 people in all, 13 of them being kids, ages 20 months to 8 years! You'd think it would have been crazy town, but it was actually a really fun, mellow weekend! Each family cooked 1 meal, so that was made pretty easy. And the kids all got along amazingly well, spent most of their time poking around outside, and we lucked out with the most gorgeous weather! Here are some pictures from out weekend.
Just getting there and checking the whole place out. Please note that Cole has already found the remote, and is attempting to control what the girls watch.
Cutie posing on the stairs the first morning (with remote in hand)
Big brother jumped in there too
Hiking up the long driveway
This is all the kiddos!
8 girls, 5 boys... lots of fun!
Pretty girls in their matching shirts! They say 'Happy Camper'
Cool guys..... too cool for matching shirts!
Playing inside before our big hike
About to head out
Cole got himself a walking stick!
Heading up!
Picking flowers for me on our hike, sweet girl!
Loving all the big kids!
Time for some water fun outside!
After some time out in the heat, it was time to rest. We put on a movie, and everyone chilled out for a while!
After a nice rest, we headed out to do a duck tour on the lake! The kids were excited about this!
Sweet boy hanging with us while Carter and Ella hung with the kids
About to go in the water!
And we're in.... Cole definitely looks confused about this!
Lots of fun!
Here are some videos, too. :)
And here is where my pictures get a little mixed up. I did so much saving of other's pictures, so they're out of order and I'm not shuffling them around.... so enjoy some duplicates and some other pictures!
Pano of us on the boat
All the kids got to drive.... even Cole!
Bubbles & Horseshoes
Think they're a little wiped out on the drive home?! For the record, so were Eric and I!
Rest time on Saturday.....
More group shots!
How precious are these sleepy best friends?!
Kids in jammies!
Back to the hike
Our group on the Duck
Eric was proud of his fire!!
So much fun with such great families, and sweet kids!! We may have to make this an annual trip!
I'm a wife to Eric, and a Mommy to Carter, Ella & Cole, the most precious gifts we have ever received. I use this blog mainly as a digital scrapbook to keep track of our family happenings and the kids' milestones, but also to keep you in the loop! Enjoy!!
