And Then All 3 Were Out of School for Summer!

Jack has been enjoying summer vacation for a week and a half already, but the girls have still been in school. This week was their last week though, so it was full of much fun & more celebrations! Darcy finished her first year of preschool & Sophie her year in TK. Both girls had fantastic years! We have been so pleased with all of the teachers our kids have had & we thank God for the many ways they have loved and taught our children!

Darcy's last day in the 2s was Thursday. Her class celebrated with a pizza party & fun water play outside! Darcy's teachers handed out awards to each boy and girl for a special characteristic they displayed throughout the year. Darcy received the "Biggest Heart" award because they said she was always caring & concerned when someone was hurt or sad & tried to cheer them up.

Of course, in all of the end-of-school busy-ness, I forgot to take my camera, so I only was able to snap a few photos with my phone. I hate that I didn't get a photo of Darcy with her teachers, they were SO sweet & I know she is going to miss them bunches!

Here is Darcy outside having fun in the sprinkler!

Drew had a great time, too!

Yay, I had a great year in the 2s!

Sophie's last day was Friday & her class did a little party & awards ceremony. Sophie's teachers also had a special award for each child. Sophie's award was the very first presented & she earned the Bible Award! The Bible Award went to one girl and one boy who always learned their verses & recited them to the teacher, who learned/knew the Bible stories, and who actively participated in Bible time. The teacher said that the 2 children receiving this award had recently impressed her by being the only 2 kids to raise their hand when she asked "Who knows what the Fruit of the Spirit is?" We are so proud of our sweet Sophie for desiring to hide God's Word in her heart. Here she is humbly accepting her award, she had the sweetest look on her face when her name was called!

Daddy & Darcy watching Sophie get her award.

This is only about half of the class, there were so many people in the room, I couldn't get a shot of the whole group!

After awards it was time for CAKE, at 10:30 in the morning!

Drew definitely just came for the cake!

Oh, and a little bit of playing, too!

Here is Sophie with her wonderful teachers! We love both of Sophie's teachers so much!! They worked so hard to help the children learn & accomplish SO much all the while pouring out love & attention on the kids. 

Again with the teachers & some of her sweet friends.

Another special thing that both of the girls' teachers did was make a wonderful photo scrapbook for each child so that they will be able to remember their year.
Here is Darcy's book, it included pictures from every month & little poems that they learned throughout the year.

The pictures below are from their "snow day" when they set up a center with lots of cotton "snow" for the kids to play in! So creative & fun!

Sophie's book is like a TK scrapbook that includes pictures, Bible verses, and some of Sophie's own artwork.

It is fun to look back & see how much the girls have grown this year, changing before our eyes! Already both girls have enjoyed looking at their books over & over again. I will find them sitting with each other or with Jack and they will be talking about their friends in the photos or about the fun things they did at school. What a precious gift that we will cherish for years to come!

I was just looking back at photos & realized that in the craziness of the last few weeks, I forgot to post pictures from Sophie's class Fun Day & Family Picnic, so here are a few. Jeff helped out that morning with the field day games. He has also volunteered for field day at Jack's school for the last 2 years. I'm so thankful that he is able & desires to participate in activities at the kids' schools!

Once again, Drew came for the food...this time popsicles!

Betcha didn't know that popsicles work great as a teether when you turn them upside down...but they are a bit messier that way.

Drew & Daddy head-butt kisses.

And so that wraps up our end-of-school year activities! Summer Break is finally here & we are ALL so very excited & looking forward to the change of pace!

Season Opener

We took full advantage of the long holiday weekend and kicked the summer off to a great start at the Lake! We spent the whole weekend there with Jeff's parents & his sister's family. The kids all had a fabulous time together with their cousins. The weather was gorgeous all weekend with a shower here & there, but no real rain until Monday. That worked out well because we needed to get the house cleaned up & laundry done, so we weren't tempted to be out on the water! Boy, I can't tell you how nice it is to come home from vacation with all clean laundry! Can I get an Amen?!

I was thinking on the drive home in the pouring rain that one of the very best things about the lake is the time we spend there with family & friends. Some of my best & most vivid childhood memories involve my cousins & the fun we would get into at each other's houses or on our grandparents farm. We are so blessed to have cousins that live locally. We don't actually get to see a lot of each other during the school year, pretty much just on birthdays, holidays & a few other random times...but we sure try to make up for that during the summer. Whenever we tell the kids that we are going to the lake, of course they get excited, but their first question is always, "Will our Cousins be there???" And they positively light-up when the answer is, "Yes!"

Here are a few lot of pictures of the fun we had this weekend! We are looking forward to a great season there & hope to enjoy many more lazy days on the river with our family & friends!

And, I apologize in advance for the series of posts sure to follow this summer of the kids boating, swimming, tubing, etc...I know you are probably thinking, "How many pictures of kids on a tube can she post?" Be forewarned, the answer to that question is, "A LOT!"

Sophie is ready for the sun!

Darcy with Em & Molly

Darcy likes being in the water more this year. Taking her first jet ski ride of the season with Aunt Kelly & Em.

Row, row, row your boat...

Heading out for some water sports on the pontoon boat

Drew is not happy to be in that life jacket. It rather sqooshes his cheeks! He also will NOT keep a hat on his head! We have a lot of work to do this summer! 

Drew is a bit more relaxed when the boat is moving, he gets antsy when we are getting everything loaded & there is a lot of commotion.

Jack & Molly on the tube, they talk the whole time! 

Mallory, Darcy, Sophie & Emily 

Jack is always making weird faces at the camera or hiding his face!

Drew almost liking boating!

Jack & Drew watching the girls tubing! Drew did enjoy watching them & would point like, "Hey, what are they doing out there?"

Mal, Jack, Kelly & Molly

Headin' for home! Drew is Daddy's little navigator!

After dropping Drew off to nap with Pop & Nana watching, we headed back out!

Here are Mallory & Sophie on a wild ride!

I took this photo as proof that I was, indeed, at the lake with everyone else this weekend! I'm wearing Sophie's "Race Angel" hat! I need to work on my self-portrait skills!

Emily knee-boarding. I hate I didn't get any photos of Sophie, but she learned how to knee-board this weekend & did great!

Jeff & Jack on the tube...Jack giving the thumbs-up which means go faster & zig-zag...

So we did...

And they got a pretty wild ride!

Watch the landing!

Drew enjoys swinging with Pop

We also had plenty of fun on dry land...like roasting marshmallows & making s'mores after dinner!

Darcy loves roasted marshmallows, but not the "black stuff" so she asks me to pick it off!

Drew enjoying some Nana time!

And some Daddy time! It is pretty funny because "Daddy" is his favorite word to say. He will not say "Mama", but he LOVES his Daddy!

Whenever Drew gives Jeff kisses, they do this cute little head-butt, too.

Doesn't get much better than a hammock in the shade!

Day 2, look at the gorgeous sky! It was beautiful out!

Darcy with Uncle Tom & Em

Jack & Molly on the tube again!

Darcy wants to drive the boat!

We anchored the boat near some little beaches & did a little exploring. We didn't stay too long though because the sky started getting very dark & it looked like a storm was coming in.

More swinging!

We enjoyed several great family meals together!

It rained all day Monday, but that worked out well because we weren't tempted to go back out on the water...we were able to tidy things up, do laundry & house-keeping while the cousins all snuggled on the cough watching TV.

And then it was time to go home! Ah, it was a wonderful weekend & already we are counting the days until our next trip back to the lake!