A Kindergarten Graduate

It's like the year came and went! Just yesterday we were off to our first day of kindergarten

and then today the last day of school…

Tripp was so happy to be with his Sister on her last day of school

Juliette and Mrs. Bean… what a wonderful year with the class!

Showing her baby brother the ropes of the school… "Come on Tripp, you can be a kindergartner just like me… let's go to the party!"

and as in Juliette style she always wants to include her brother… enjoying the last day with plenty of donuts…

Juliette and her reading buddy Grace! She has been the sweetest little girl to Juliette all year. As in Juliette style, find one a few years older and Juliette just adores her!

Juliette and Marielle

Juliette and her best friend Maya! 

I am SAD to see such a wonderful year go… in one school year we now have a reader! I know next year will be just as wonderful!

Summer here we come!

Twas the night before the lsat day of kindergarten...

A budding artist!

With enough paint all over the clothes to prove it!

Monkey see Monkey do....

Tripp is Monkey see Monkey do when it comes to his big Sister.... Tripp was watching Juliette sew crystals on to her new dress with Tessa and the next day Tripp is squeaking to sit at the sewing machine and "sew"

A special trip to the aquarium

Juliette's class this year were the turtles. If a child disrupted class or did something wrong Juliette would always say "So and So's turtle got moved"... at the end of the year they had a read-a-thon for their last big end of the year project. The class raised $600 for the turtle hospital and therefore raised enough to adopt a turtle for the year! That really is a big deal. The children were invited to the turtle hospital for a tour of the sick turtles and how they heal them and make them healthy again. Juliette was fascinated. 

They each were awards a turtle award for all of their efforts!

Juliette and her dear friends Maya and Hayden...

trying to feed the stingray... feeding the stingrays never gets old for her. It is her favorite part of the aquarium

The little classmates listening to the volunteer explain some of the urchins in the water

What a special day and special memories for Juliette and her classmates! We have loved Ms. Bean, Ms Yearout and Ms Evans! They have made a magical Kindergarten year for the children!

And with four days of school left....

We BREAK our arm! 

Last night Juliette did what she does 50 times a day and we warn her not to do.... she jumped and climbed up onto the counter in my office reaching for a stapler to create a book with.... well the balance was lost and there went Juliette straight to the floor! There was no screaming or anything like that because she is one of the toughest little girls when it comes to falling or bruising herself. She never cries. She did cry this time and her Daddy took a good look at the arm and was sure that it was broken. She had a huge field trip to the aquarium with her class the next morning that she really wanted to go on. Her Daddy made a splint out of a dishtowel and she slept the night in that and then went to the field trip the next morning. 

I brought her into Don's office the next day and they were ready to take an x-ray... she was actually quite brave in that large x-ray room.

Then we received the official diagnosis from Dr. Wilson that she had a fractured arm right above the wrist. It is called a buckle fracture and it was not in the growth plate area which was excellent. She was ready for cast... Mr. Richard, the cast tech in Don's office for 25 years did a wonderful job fixing her right up.

As her Daddy was at the hospital all day doing surgical cases, the staff took excellent care of us.

She was quite worn out from all of the excitement of the day!

She had stickers from the office making her an official member of the "Broken Bone Club." She enjoyed her experience so much at the office upon walking out she said, "Mommy, I can't wait to break my arm again or maybe next time I'll break my leg!"

The countdown begins...

It's Monday morning and we are on our last week of school. Hard to believe that another year is coming to an end! As I drop Tripp off and look at Juliette in the back seat this morning I am amazed at how much she has grown in a year!

A visit with the Keeley girls!

Juliette had a quite a special day yesterday playing with the Keeley girls at the beach and then on the boat. They all became mermaids and were completely buried!

And by 8:00 in the restaurant this was all she wrote!

Summertime mischief

I love summer days... yesterday we woke up with no plans and headed to the park. First we stopped at Tessa and Doh's house where Tripp was insistent on watering the garden and catching a butterfly...

Juliette made sure that Patches had some fresh greens from the garden...

We took the big wheel for a stroll to the park

Visited with Doh

And called it a super fun day!

Tripp's first swim lesson

Tripp had his first swim lesson today. Juliette's "Ms. Viv", the phenomenal older lady who taught her how to swim has since moved to a retirement village and is no longer teaching. We miss her so much! I feel bad that Tripp will never be able to have her. She was so old school in her teaching and had Juliette swimming on her first lesson just before turning three. Ms. Viv used to say that she'd take a girl to teach to swim any day over a boy. She always used to say the boys were such Mama's boys and would cry and run to their Mommies. I laugh because Viv would have been laughing today. Tripp did exactly as I thought... only what he wanted to do. He would fuss and say "tired" and "hold" when he was supposed to be blowing bubbles. He hated being on his back. This is what we call the "Tessa Float." There was one area of excellence for this sweet boy... jumping in the pool to me and walking up and down the stairs in the pool.

So tomorrow will bring a new lesson and a new laugh with this hilarious little boy!

Tripp at the pool as we walked in and looks at me, points and says "No Ocean"...

The baby pool was a treat for some good effort!

A very special Mother's Day

I hope all my wonderful friends and family had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine was super relaxing and that is actually what I really wanted the most. Don took the kids to the pool for the afternoon after brunch and I had the whole afternoon to myself to relax, read and even snooze. It was perfect. 

While I was relaxing Don sent me some photos from the pool...

Our future swimsuit model...

and future bartender!

Meanwhile... Mom had saved the pictures of the kids picking out a special gift for Mommy. How priceless and such wonderful memories to be cherished!

Apparently Tripp had to bribed with hershey kisses in the middle of the floor of Pandora to keep him still.

A very Happy Mother's day to all!