Summer Photo Dump: June Edition

When you have approximately 1000 pictures from the summer, you're going to have to do a 'dump' to get them all on there in a timely manner, right?!  Ha!  So let's do a month at a time...and they're not going to be chronologically in order, but they'll do... ;) 

Before school got out, Riley and I had a lot of Mommy/Riley time.  We did crafts, sang in the carline, and did some running together.  I loved these days...

Daddy's pick for Father's Day this year was to head downtown and do a picnic at a park and just hang out - we played soccer, checked out the flowers and bunnies, did our first attempt at geocaching, and walked around our little town.  It was a great day, and he was really happy on his special day, which is what matters! 

 

We checked a lot off our Summer Bucket List in June, like a visit to Amazeum...

...and we went bowling.  And they both beat me. Seriously. 

Riley continued in gymnastics and loved it.  She became really good, and loved going.  This summer, she moved up from Tots 1 to Tots 2, but we decided to take a break from gymnastics when kindergarten started.  

Some days were so busy that we took naps on the floor... :)

Daddy traveled a lot this summer for work, so we had a lot of sleepovers in Mommy's bed.  I always knew the day would come that this wouldn't be the 'cool' thing to do, and we're beginning to reach that point with Gavin.  He wasn't as excited for this tradition this summer, and only slept in my bed a handful of times. :(  He's growing up...  We went into the airport to pick him up once. Riley especially liked that.  

We had some fun at Target...

....and made Easy Bake Oven cookies.  This batch was actually for Father's Day.

We went swimming with friends any time we were invited.  This time, we were at Will's house.  I'm not sure who had more fun...Gavin with Will, or Riley with his little sister.

 We talked mommy into buying Borax and doing crafts that we found on YouTube Kids app.

I found A LOT of selfies and videos on my phone this summer.  Silly kids...

And we headed to a creek for the first time to some swimming.  We've been to some creeks around here before to find crawdads and get our toes wet, but we've never found one deep enough to swim in.  It was pretty neat, despite the pesky smokers and foul language we kept trying to escape from.  

And once, I was having a really rough morning and the kids were driving me bananas, so we went for a long drive with coffee in hand and a movie on the DVD for them, just so I could get some quiet.  :)

June was busy, and lots of fun.  I really wanted to make the last summer before Riley went off to school memorable.  I wanted them to have a lot of laughs, a lot of memories, and a lot of family time.  I hope I succeeded...

Here we go.... Let's look back at 2nd Grade!

Well, here we are, a week into the 2016-17 school year.  It's a whole new routine for all of us - Riley's started kindergarten and we're at a brand new school.  With that new routine, I'm hoping to spend a lot more time blogging again, and so...we need to do  A LOT of catching up.  Hopefully, this will be our last big catch up and I can get back to this more regularly.

So, even though he's now a third grader, let's look back at the end of Gavin's 2nd grade year.  I already blogged about Riley's preschool graduation, so it's time to give Gavin some of the spotlight, too.  

Gavin had a rocky end of the year after his teacher began having health issues and missed the last six weeks or so of school.  He had a lot of substitutes coming and going, and because of that, there was a lot of chaos in the classroom - because, you know, kids can't behave for subs...  But, he kept working, kept reading, and even completed his first diorama!  They had to pick something Arkansas related to research and create a diorama/write a paper about, and he chose Bill Clinton.  

We were all kind of processing the fact that as the school year ended, so did our time at Elm Tree.  We loved the school and really LOVED the calendar, but with our town growing so rapidly, the school board felt the need to get all elementary schools on the same calendar, and thus rezoned everyone.  That meant no more year-round school and no more Elm Tree.    I received this key chain from the PTO for volunteering, and I love it.  The kids recited a student creed every single day, and this is how it started.  It's a good reminder that you get a fresh start with every sunrise.  We all need that reminder sometimes...

On a scorching hot day, Riley and I headed to ETE to help out with the 2nd grade end-of-the-year party, which was a sports/Olympics themed event.  It was HOT, but we still had fun.

And the class was SO excited to Ms. Behnke come back for a visit.  They had missed their teacher, you could tell.

And, of course, mama had to get her traditional last day pictures before we left 2nd grade in the dust....

Thankfully, he obliged.  It's not often I get good pics of this one these days...

Riley helped me hang the end of the year decorations to celebrate the start of summer, and instead of baking something, they asked if we could do ice cream this year, so we headed to Yum Yos after our last Elm Tree carline.

Elm Tree was good to us.  The three years we were Wildcats helped shape Gavin.  He matured, and slowly worked on becoming more confident, more outgoing, and more social.  I remember dropping him off at kindergarten like it was yesterday...  We are so thankful for our two years with Mrs. Ruffner and our last year with Ms. Behnke.  He had wonderful teachers that helped him grow, continued to nurture his love of learning, and inspired him to keep going.  He made amazing friends, and I know that the true friends will hang around even though we're leaving for a new school.  He tried out Cub Scouts, and learned that he loves Running Club and soccer.  He learned to read, and left 2nd grade reading on a 5th grade level.  He is growing into an amazing young man.  And we love him.

Goodbye, 2nd Grade.  Goodbye, Elm Tree.  We'll miss you both, but we have bigger things ahead, and new adventures to be had.  <3 font="">

A Preschool Graduate

We're already a month post-graduation, but it still gets me all teary eyed when I think about Riley finishing up her time at Tiny Tots preschool.  

She was so excited for me to straighten her hair the morning of her graduation and wear her new dress and jellies (which was the only time she wore them before Phoebe ate one...)  I remembered at the last minute to print off the 'Last Day of PreK' sign and get pictures just before we walked out the door.  Of course, Big Brother had to do some photobombing. 

We headed in and snapped some pictures with two very special ladies before school started.  I'm sure I've mentioned the story before, but Miss Tricia stepped in and took over the classroom in January after a sudden resignation by her teacher and it truly was the best thing that could have happened to our preschool 4s experience.  We are so thankful for her! She helped Riley find that love of learning that she seemed to be losing during the first half of the year.

And Miss Misty...oh, how can we ever thank Miss Misty enough?  She was Riley's teacher last year and made such a huge impact on her.  Riley hated leaving her classroom for a new teacher in her preK 4s class and missed Miss Misty terribly.  We were very grateful to have her as the new preschool director this year, and I hope that she is able to stay in our lives in some way over the years because she is such a special person.

 I learned my lesson with Gavin's preschool graduation program.  They cram a ton of people in the small classroom ad I knew I had to get there early, so I showed up about 30 minutes early and helped set up chairs so I could claim a front row seat.  While the kids were still getting ready and in their places, I got a sweet little gesture from my little BFF.  A couple years ago, we were going through a rough patch with an angry little girl, and these precious little moments remind me of how far we've come.

The program was a quick little recap of the school year with song songs and dancing (and eventually I'll get the videos on YouTube!).

And then, of course, there has to be a 'diploma'! 

Jarrod and I are so proud of this little spitfire.  She has grown up so much and is destined to do great things.  Deciding to send her to kindergarten was really tough on me, but I'm so excited to see where her new journey takes her. 

We love you so much, Riley Savannah!