First Sprinkler Day For The Summer

After a long winter the kids were itching to break out the sprinkler when the sun came out. There were many days they thought for sure it was warm enough to run around in swim suits and run under freezing cold water.

Well the day finally came and they were so excited that summer felt official!

On your mark ... get set ... GO!

Summer Lovin'

Shane thought it would be fun to torture his sisters by spraying them.

He doesn't look like he is having any fun does he?

Shane's Carnival

Shane was so excited for his last day of preschool because it was Carnival Day. There were all different stations set up through out his building and outside. We rotated every 15 minutes for a morning of fun.

1st stop .... the Animal Dance. We put a CD on of music and they had to act like different animals. Here Shane is being a snake.

Next we headed outside to the natural playground. It was such a beautiful morning.

Our 3rd stop was the Ball Drop game.

We then went to the slimy room. The kids had fun letting the slime slide through their fingers!

Next it was time for a little side walk chalk and hop scotch!

The kids couldn't wait for the jump house.

And finally some long jump!

We ended the morning with a fun concert with a local children's band. The kids had fun singing and dancing!

Last Day Of School

The girls had a wonderful school year. I can't believe the year is over and they are on their way to 1st and 2nd grade. They had amazing teachers and made amazing friends. It was so much fun to see them grow in such amazing ways this year academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. They are growing up way too fast!

Last year Alexa went to a different school for Kindergarten an

d at the end of the year she had a big graduation ceremony at the end of the year. Their new

school does a big preschool graduation instead. Needless to say Kindergarten graduation was something Emma was looking forward to so she was quite sad that she was going to be having a big graduation day. Grammy saved the day and made Emma's day special. She went to school the last day with me to pick them up and then we went to one of our favorite places for lunch.

We then went to the mall and the girls picked out some new sandals and some very hip sunglasses.

Grammy then took Emma for a special surprise. Emma go

t to go for her very 1st real pedicure and manicure. She was on cloud nine when she returned. It was right up her alley!

Eric and I gave Emma this necklace on her big day. We are so proud of her. She had such a wonderful year in Kindergarten. We also gave her a cross to symbolize the very special decision she made that changed her heart forever. It is a reminder to her of this year, the year she asked Jesus into her heart.

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

I love the park at my hometown. I love the background with the windmill, little stream, bridge and of course all the tulips!

On Saturday we headed to the park for some pictures before scrubbing the streets. The kids love getting their costumes on, getting brooms and buckets ready and meeting up with their cousins. They don't get so excited about all the pictures their mom wants to take. I think either it is getting harder with more kids, they are getting older and probably just getting sick of taking pictures by tulips every year!

The whole gang!

I just can't wait to see our new little addition in a Dutch costume next year!

Emma looks like such a little Dutch girl with her blond hair and blue eyes.

Next up the brown eyed, brown haired little dutch girl.

And finally our cute little Dutch boy!

I had to post these just so you could see how painful it was to get a picture of a cute little smiling Dutch boy! He is still pretty cute faces and all!

The kids and I smelling the tulips.

It is now time to head to the street to get ready to scrub them so they are clean and ready for the Tulip Queen and her court.

This is definitely what Shane was waiting for. Filling that bucket of water and throwing it on the street for the girls to scrub hoping to get wet in the process.

Emma concentrating and taking her job serious!

Shane was so cute. He would fill his bucket and then take it to the girls and pour the water out right by their brooms. He was at their service!

Checking where the girls were at. Notice I don't have any pictures of the big girls. We had told them they could go ahead if they stayed together. They thought it was so great they didn't need to stay by all the little ones that they took off and were way ahead of us!

Papa treated everyone to fruit smoothie after all their hard work.

A Weekend At Tulip Festival

Every year we head to my home town to the annual Tulip Festival. It is something the kids always look forward to. We try to head down on Friday evening we can spend some time watching the parade, eating that yummy festival food and going on rides. Saturday is a big day for the kids so it is nice to have a little time to relax and hang out with family on Friday night.

As you can see the highlight of Shane's evening was his big snow cone.

The girls love spending time with their cousins. They couldn't wait to watch the parade together.

After the parade we were off to the rides ....

I love Emma's face on this one!

Another reminder that Alexa is not my little girl anymore is her and her cousin were pretty sure the baby rides just wouldn't cut it this year. So they wanted to hit things like the scrambler and tilt er whirl. Watching them made my stomach turn for these two but they came out with big smiles and felt like such big girls!

Shane was just fine jumping on the horse for a nice calm ride.

More Tulip Festival fun to come!

Notes From The Heart

Eric often leaves notes around the house. The kids love it in the morning when I open the cupboard and there is a note from dad on the peanut butter or in the dishes. One morning I came downstairs after showering and this is what I found. Alexa had put some cute little pictures all over the kitchen for me to find! She was grinning from ear to ear as I found each one of them!

A Cooking Class With Preschoolers

I headed downtown with Shane's preschool class to restaurant K. The kids were going for a little cooking class.

The kids were very excited to sit at their table and discover they each had their own water with a bendable straw. Oh the things that make a preschoolers day!

Chef Kristina gave the kids a tour around her kitchen.

The kids thought the huge refrigerator was pretty cool!

There were some food allergies that they had to be careful of so the cooking class was an all natural salad.

Chef Kristina showed the kids how to wash and tear their lettuce by hand for their salad. She talked about how big to tear the pieces.

Then it was the kids turn to tear their lettuce into bite size pieces.

She then demonstrated how to grate carrots and cut cucumbers. They were able try a hand at both for their salad.

And finally it was time to make the dressing.

The kids took some oil and vinegar and then were able to pick the spices they wanted in their dressing.

They then took their dressing and gave it a good shake.

Then it was time to pour the dressing on and taste the finished product.

It was one of my favorite preschool field

trips.