May was a busy month with the kids ending their school year and all that does along with that!
Pinewood Derby
This was Carter’s second year doing the Pinewood derby. Our cub scout pack is very small and it even consists of 3 wards combined. I think we had 4 or 5 cars participate which was kind of sad. We have great leaders who go to a lot of work, its just too bad we don’t have many boys in this area. We kind of threw his car together at the last minute and glued some Legos on it. He still had fun even thought his car wasn’t very fast.
Slip and Slide
We broke out the Slip and Slide one hot day after school. The weather was a perfect 97 degrees for playing in the water outside! I got these amazing shots of Sawyer with my phone! He is crazy! This kid simply amazes us with the things he can do with his body. We can’t wait to see what he does in his future!
Disneyland
You’d think I’d have enough with Disneyland after all the times I’ve gone with Libby! I have loved having those few hours in the park with her to ride a few rides, shop and eat at some fun restaurants. Sadly I think the mystery shopping may have come to an end. Last month (July) we received an email saying that they are restructuring the program and there won’t be any Mystery shops available at Disneyland until further notice. I’m crossing my fingers this doesn’t come to an end but it may
Here are some pictures from a fun day Libby and I had at the park.
Riding the tram in
My cute lunch date
On her favorite ride: The Carousel (She always picks the same horse)
Enjoying her virgin margarita
Lucky Girl!
Libby and I on Dumbo. I introduced Libby to the Storybook Canal boats and she loved them! She had never been on them because the whale looked so scary. It is now one of her favorites.
Red Bull X-Fighters
In May Chris’ company did a big Moto-cross event called X-Fighters. A week before the event they set up a huge ramp at Victoria Gardens where several guys were going to do tricks. We went to the event and even got to meet them but the wind picked up and they didn’t end up doing it for safety reasons. They boys were bummed but they got signed t-shirts.
Sawyer and Carter with Wes Agee
The following weekend was the big event. Chris and I took Carter with us and we got to sit in the VIP area. Carter enjoyed getting endless Shirley Temples and food. After the event was delayed 2 hours due to the high winds they ended up calling the entire event off! People were really upset and Red Bull lost a lot of money but it was a safety issue. Carter was pretty bummed he didn’t get to see any tricks but he was happy to have some one on one time with him mom and dad!
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Dr. Jones
My little brother Chris graduated from Podiatry School in May. We are so proud of him! It was a long road and he still has his residency ahead of him but he is officially a Doctor. First one in the family! It will be nice to have someone to go to for advice when I have running injuries. We are so happy that his residency is right here in Southern California. He is at Long Beach Memorial and they live in Huntington Beach. Way to go Chris!
Mother’s Day
I had a wonderful Mother’s Day with breakfast in bed, and a lovely dinner at my parents house with the family, the men cooked of course. I didn’t have to lift a finger all day and I loved it. Chris always does a great job spoiling me for mothers day! I took advantage of it and bought myself a new dress, shoes and earrings the night before.
Parents Day
The Kindergarten program at the kids school has a wonderful tradition. Every May they invite all the parents to the school for a darling program honoring the parents.
The backdrop behind the children were pictures of all the parents. Here is a picture of us that Sawyer painted. I think I turned out a little better than Chris.
After the program we went to the kindergarten playground and had our pictures taken. Sawyer presented us with an adorable plate he made.
End of School Year Festivities
The end of the school year brings lots of fun events and is extremely busy. I took these pictures of Maddie at her open house with her teacher Ms. Huber.
This school has another great tradition and that is Kindergarten Scrapbooks. I stopped working in February and asked Sawyer’s teacher if there was anything I could do to help out from home since I can’t help out in the classroom with Libby. She was so excited and hugged me when she told me she was desperate for someone to do the Kindergarten scrapbooks. I was committed before I could even say no. Boy did I have no idea what I was getting myself into. I had about 3 1/2 months to make 30 scrapbooks that contained artwork and photos of them throughout the school year. Usually a parent or group of parents takes on this task in August when school starts and works on it throughout the year but someone flaked out and there was literally nothing done. Luckily I had a few parents offer to take home some pages to do but I did the majority of it myself. I also had several parents donate money which was very nice since I had to develop all the pictures myself and I bought a gazillion glue sticks. Here is a picture of all the pages being organized and assembled. The book ended up being 31 pages and we made 30 of them! I think I spent at least 100 hours working on it from February to May. Boy was I relieved when it was done. I was so happy with the finished product and I think it meant a lot to Sawyer that I did it too!
Hard to see the individual pages but it gives an idea of the work involved. This is Sawyer’s book. His teacher had me print pictures of it so she could have her own little sample book for the next year!
The kids had their end of year awards ceremonies. Carter always gets an award for reading counts. He got the most points in his class (750) but just missed winning the trophy for reading the most in his grade.
I made Maddie dress up for her 6th grade awards assembly since I thought it was going to be a bigger deal. I was disappointed the school doesn’t do more to honor the 6th graders since they are leaving the school. The only thing they did do which was different from the other awards ceremonies was give the Presidential Academic Excellence award. In order to receive this award they have to receive all A’s in 6th grade and A’s and B’s in 4-5th grades. They also have to score Advanced on their state tests. Maddie was very honored to receive this award. We are very proud of her!
On the last day of School the PTA puts on a fun carnival for all the kids. Each grade gets to come down and spend an hour at the carnival playing games and having a great time. I got to watch Sawyer’s class at the carnival and he had a blast!
Maddie was on the Spirit team this year and part of that means that she got to dress up in the Husky Mascot costume at the Carnival. She had so much fun!
I also got to see the 6th graders at the Carnival. They had a photo booth for the kids to dress up and take pictures. Here’s Maddie with her best friend Sabrina.
BYU Father and Son’s Camp
This post should be written by Chris since I was not there but I will do my best. For several years BYU Basketball has put on a Father and Son’s camp during Memorial Day weekend. Chris has been wanting to go for a few years now and this year he and Carter were able to go. The boys have to be at least 8 to attend so Sawyer was too young. Carter and Chris both anticipated this fun weekend for some time. They drove up together and spent tons of quality time together in the dorms and on the court. They were pretty busy as you can see on this schedule Chris sent me. Here are some fun pictures of their trip. These were sent to me throughout the weekend from Chris iPhone. He was tired of taking pictures by the time the weekend was over!
Admiring the BYU sports legends… dreaming of becoming one someday!
Teach me how to Jimmer…
Taking a picture in front of his second cousin Nate’s locker… (my cousin Leslie’s son)
Shooting hoops in the Marriott Center…
Throwing the ball around at LaVell Edwards Stadium and kicking a 20 yard field goal!
Eating beloved BYU brownies in the Cannon Center…
Sunday at Temple Square for Music and the Spoken Word. Sacrament Meeting with 900 fathers and sons in the Assembly hall, President Eyring and his son were the speakers!
Face time with Mommy each night…
Mother-Son Date night with Sawyer
Since Sawyer did not get to go to BYU Camp this year I thought I’d take him out for our own special night while Chris and Carter were up in Utah. We went miniature golfing and he actually beat me!
Afterward we went to get frozen yogurt and then to Target to buy him a new swim suit for summer. We had a great time and it reminded me how much I enjoy my kids when I get to spend time alone with them individually.
Dance Recital
While Chris was gone Maddie had her Dance recital. She has been dancing with Just Dance for 3 years now and has really enjoyed it. She is such a cute little dancer and has such stage presence.
Her Dance teacher Trisha is just darling and Maddie loves her so much! We are so lucky to have such an energetic and fun dance instructor for Maddie.
Grandma Faye and Grandma Debbie both got to come watch Maddie dance. Uncle David came too but he was taking the picture. It was a bit windy outside as you can tell by the grandmas hair!
Memorial Day
Memorial day was really low key. Chris and Carter were finishing up their BYU Camp in Utah and we didn’t have anything planned so we went for a bike ride and had a little picnic in the park. The picnic was really simple and consisted of PB&J sandwiches and chips. The kids had fun anyway!
As we rode our bikes home I smelled other people’s barbecue the whole way. When we got home I had some corn in the fridge and I decided to barbecue some of it. It hit the spot!
Disneyland with the Family
As if May wasn’t already such a busy month we threw in a trip to Disneyland just before the month was over. Our kids get out much earlier than other schools in Southern California or the rest of the country for that matter. We got out May 21 this year. I like to plan a trip to Disneyland before all of the crowds start showing up and it happened to fall on the day after Chris and Carter got back from Utah. Chris just took one more day off and we all had a blast! I love it when we all get to go together. Its fun when its just Libby and I, but its usually so short and we don’t get to do a lot. When we go as a family we spend the entire day and do both parks. Its exhausting but the kids love it.
Starting off the day on our favorite ride… Toy Story’s Midway Mania!
Another family favorite is Silly Symphony Swings. Libby’s still just a tad bit too short to ride. Maybe next time. I love this picture of Carter.
The kids (especially Maddie) are anticipating the new Monsters University movie so they were very excited to see that they had a fun photo op area in California Adventure.
I don’t know how I have been coming to Disneyland for 34 years and have never been on the canoes but its true. I never really had a desire to go on them and they are closed during weekdays when its not crowded so when I saw the short line and Splash Mountain was shut down I thought what the heck, lets try it. What a fun adventure it was! I loved it! The kids loved it too and even got us a little wet with their crazy paddling. I think the thing I loved about it most is that there’s no animatronics, no flashy lights or anything electronic. Its just good old fashioned fun and its so authentic.
We will definitely be riding the canoes on our next visit to Disneyland…
Summer Fun at the Pool
I do this every year. We start out the Summer with a bang and then I burn out. We started our summer out with a bang doing stuff almost every day. Luckily we have a pool in our condos which makes it nice when we just want to cool off. Here are the kids at the end of May having a fun pool day!
By the time Summer ends, I am exhausted and ready for back to school!
