Laura's Birthday

I don't think I usually do a birthday post for myself, but this year Golly and Granddad came down to take us out to eat! We also have a funny story to go with my gift. The boys asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year. I told them I would like a pony. Wesley knew right away that I was joking, but Curtis took this request seriously and had a secret meeting with John Mark and Wesley to figure out how they could get me a pony. Well, Curtis had to break it to me after the meeting that I would not be getting a pony because we didn't have enough space, etc, but I did get a pony puzzle! :) It was a cute gift and the boys and I had fun putting it together. The boys also put on a "magical show" for us while Golly and Granddad were here. I laughed out loud a lot!

Wesley's Last Days of 2nd Grade

 Wesley's last week of second grade was full of fun things. He had a field day that was forced to the inside gym due to lots of rain. They got to enter events of their choice. Wesley entered the 50 yard dash, the long jump, and the potato roll. I only made it in time to watch him do the long jump. At the end, they had a big tug-of-war tournament where classes competed against each other. Wesley's class only won once, but they put a lot of effort into it! They also had an outdoor party that John Mark attended. It included bounce houses, face painting, a dunking booth, and lots of different games.

He sure did change from the first to last day of second grade

Wesley focusing on his teacher coaching him
during tug-of-war

Daddy and Wesley at the party day

Last day with his great teacher. Glad we get her again
next year for third grade!

Curtis' Last Day of Pre-K and Graduation

 Curtis is done with Pre-K! He really loved his class and his teacher, and he is SO excited about kindergarten. When we took him for his kindergarten evaluation, he asked where his class was so he could go ahead and go. :) He doesn't understand this summer thing we have to get through before he can start kindergarten. Here are his first and last day photos. The dry erase markers obviously got a lot of use during the year! We need to replace those before school starts again. He grew two inches during Pre-K according to the class growth chart measurements. He ended up at 49 inches. We made it through with the same pair of shoes, though!

Curtis loved his teacher, Miss Carella

Graduation Ceremony Perfomance

Receiving his "diploma"
Ridiculous, but still cute

Wesley's Field Trip to Natural Bridge

I got to accompany Wesley's class (and four other 2nd grade classes) on a field trip to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch and Caverns in New Braunfels right before school was out. It was a LONG trip to fit into one day, but it was full of fun. Thankfully, our transportation was a coach bus, and we got to sleep a little after leaving at 5:30 am! Our first stop was the famous Buc-ee's for a bathroom break. It was Wesley's and my first experience there, and it is indeed huge.

The first part of the trip was the Wildlife Ranch. We took a long drive through a wildlife exhibit on the huge bus, so we didn't get to feed the animals and have them stick their heads in our windows. We did get to see them do some funny things to the cars in front of us, though. We saw zebras, ostriches, watusis, antelope, buffalo, rhinos, and much more. The ostriches used their long necks to peer into the bus windows and make all the kids laugh. After the drive through the park, we got to visit the giraffe and check out some antlers and horns on display.

After lunch, we visited the other animals at the park and fed lots of fat goats at the petting zoo. There was also a monkey putting on an amazing gymnastics show in that area.

Wesley and Grant with their souvenirs

The second part of the trip was the amazing cavern. The kids loved walking around the cave. The tour guide was interesting and funny, so he kept the kids' attention well during the long tour. 

The kids' last activity was "mining for gems." This may have been Wesley's favorite! Each kid got a bag of dirt. They would dump small amounts into their sieve pan, put it in the running water, and gems would appear when they pulled their pan out of the water!

Excitement!

Wesley and his friends comparing their findings

On the way back, we stopped in Tyler to eat supper and then finished the trip home. We got home about 11:00 pm and Wesley got to sleep in a little the next morning before heading back up to school.

Aunt Brenda's Birthday Celebration

In May, we met for lunch in Waco with John Mark's family to celebrate his Aunt Brenda's 70th birthday. We brought in quite a crowd to a restaurant and enjoyed lunch and cake. Wesley and Curtis loved getting to see Sadie, Micah and their 2nd cousins that they have only met one other time. We had a good time with family we don't get to see very often.

Wesley getting tickled by Uncle Bruce

Micah and Wesley

First Cousins