Brews, BBQ, and the Pool

The Saturday of our holiday weekend saw us hosting friends for a deck party to start summer. The kids played like crazy alternating between dress up, sand box fun, and trains, while the adults snacked, conversed, and sampled craft beers. We had a spread as always with the Saxtons providing hot dogs, chicken BBQ, and potato salad, and friends bringing sides and desserts. The weather could not have been more perfect for the weekend and despite the party ending with a few sprinkles (which actually worked out perfectly since everyone still around quickly cleaned up everything with us!) we had a great time ushering in the sun.

 

The weekend also brought the opening of the pool. We headed over to Rollingwood Sunday and Monday for a few hours and despite the water being pretty frosty, the kids had a great time swimming and splashing around. Noelle went from not putting her face in on Sunday to dunking herself over and over again and even taking a few strokes Monday so I think she'll be back to swimming again soon. Swim lessons start the end of June and I have high hopes for her swim success this summer! Kellen also put his face in multiple times Monday so if we can get him potty trained (looking not so promising for the summer) he too could be swimming nicely by September. We'll see!

We rounded out the weekend with a family hike, a walk and playtime at Centennial with the Hollywoods, lots of yummy food, sleep, and a freezer cooking afternoon. Such a fun and productive holiday weekend!

Zoo Part Deux

Our B&O membership got us in to the zoo for free during the months of April and May so since the weather was looking lovely two weekends ago and Bryan couldn't head down there with us in early May, we had a return trip on that Sunday after church. Our friends joined us for the outing and we had about 2.5 hours of fun in the petting zoo and Africa areas. Noelle and the boys all had a great time running around playing and viewing and we all enjoyed the gorgeous spring weather. Our NC aquarium membership no longer has reciprocity with the zoo, so this was probably our last trip there for some time so I'm glad it was a fun one!

My favorite moment of the zoo was seeing the cheetah come right over to the glass window to tease the kids. It was hysterical to watch them laugh and scream and roar at each other!

Pre-K Graduation

Today Noelle had her first of many graduation ceremonies - pre-K. While the transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten may be less dramatic then college to real life, these kids were pretty darn cute. And going from school three mornings a week to five full days a week is a pretty big game changer! So despite Noelle heading back to school next week for summer session (she is practicing with one full day a week this summer), we celebrated this milestone transition with a ceremony and lunch.

The ceremony began with a series of songs. Lets just say this was much more impressive than Noelle's spring dance recital thank goodness! The kids sang and also did some signing. Then the kids each got their little diploma certificate and then we had our lunch.

Each table had the kid's graduation and class picture, a placemat with pictures, their handprint in plaster, a graduation puppy for signature collection, and the name tag they traced throughout the year to begin each lesson. It was very cute.

Noelle insisted on getting signatures and pictures with her two best friends. The little boy lives nearby and will be going to the same school as Noelle for Kindergarten. Here's hoping he or someone else she knows will be in her class since there are 6 K classes at our local school!

I can't believe my baby girl is old enough for all of this! Mommy is so not ready for you to grow up this fast. Today I am thankful for my little guy's October birthday. He stays home for three more years before full-time school enters the picture!

Happy graduation day, Noelle!

Farm Field Trip

The Wednesday after our Disney adventure, I took a half day at work to accompany Noelle on her third and final field trip of the year. Her class spent a drizzly but fun morning at a local farm. The kids did a tour of the petting zoo, a pony ride, wagon ride, and had snack and play time before heading home. Noelle and I loved seeing the baby goats and petting some of the other baby animals and Noelle was so excited and proud to ride the pony. We have a birthday party coming up at the farm this weekend and I know Kellen will love heading over there too!

The Magic of Disney

We had the best trip ever. Everyone debates about what ages are best for kids to experience Disney, and I think we really nailed it at 4.5 and 2.5. Noelle was able to ride everything at the parks based on her height except for two rides. Kellen was small for many roller coaster or more adventurous rides, but had an almost constant smile and look of amazement on him throughout our trip.

It was great for my parents and brother to be able to join us again at Disney. Having extra sets of hands with the kids is always a blessing and it was fabulous to experience a lot of our vacation together. We also had time apart which was nice. Staying at two different hotels went really well, and while we met up each morning, we didn't always finish the day together which was a nice opportunity for us to do some things as smaller groups.

Some of the highlights of our trip were our character breakfast with pooh and friends, Kellen's first roller coaster ride on Barnstormer, meeting characters, Noelle braving Expedition Everest and Space Mountain (multiples times each), watching my kids walk hand in hand around the park and boardwalk, ice cream treats, the Saxton Test Track car that was a high scorer of the morning, and our Hayhoe adult night at Epcot that ended with the fireworks behind the tree in Morocco. Did every second go as planned? No. Were there a few rocky moments during the trip? Of course. Most starting with a child that was desperately ready for a nap. But all in all it was an amazing six days in my favorite place.

Bryan and I have one last trip on our annual passes for August and then the year of Disney will come to an end. Since we need a new roof, some painting, and also want to do outside work and get a new first floor, it is time to spend our money elsewhere in the near future. But we'll definitely be back to Disney - you know we can't stay away long!

Kellen loved the parades!

Noelle found out we were meeting Elsa and Anna after all!

The look alikes hydrating and sharing a pretzel in Germany. Pretty sure they look the part :)

This might have been a Noelle original. Admiring the flowers at the Epcot festival

Tiger country at the Animal Kingdom

Beaches and Cream Mickey Sundae

The whole gang before our character breakfast

Train to Planet Watch, aka Bryan's least favorite part of Disney

That kid sure does love petting zoos

The character topiaries at Epcot during the festival are so cool!

Kel loved the car stunt show at Hollywood Studios

And he even convinced Pop Pop to ride Barnstormer

Butterfly and Rapunzel love

The malfunctioning fountain at Epcot made the kids' day. They *may* have gone barefoot the rest of the night.

We absolutely loved our hotel, the Boardwalk

Ahoy, Captain!

So Much Fun! Disney Magic!