End of School!!!

Emily graduated kindergarten this past week!  I can't believe how grown up she is and excited we are for summer to start.  I will add that I made all of those graduation hats.... I'm one proud momma:)

Start of summer and slip-n-slide is in full effect!!

Emily's Kindergarten field trip!

Emily's class visited the MU Dairy Farm.  We learned how milk comes from calf to cow to pasteurizing to milk to ice cream!!!  Again I'm grateful I'm able to have days like this spent with my children:)

Aidan's 2nd grade field trip!

Aidan had his 2nd grade field trip to Central Dairy and then off to Runge Nature Center.  I was in charge of 3 boys and of course we took the longest paths and some that weren't 'paths' but had lots of fun exploring!  Here are a few pics from the day.  I am so blessed to be able to enjoy days like this with my children!  

Excited for ice cream in the AM!!

One of many reasons I love Missouri are the amazing oak and maple trees!  This tree was huge and had  so many branches, I thought it was beautiful.... the pic doesn't do it justice.

My group of boys, who are also Aidan's best buds in his class.  They thought it was awesome I let them follow the creek and wonder off the path.

Aidan was beat when we drove home, must have been a great field trip!

The BIG 3

My baby, big D, turned the BIG 3 a couple of weeks ago.  He wanted a Batman themed cake and here is what I came up with (homemade of course!!)...

 

And he enjoyed opening his Batman themed toys!!!

 And all he wanted for his birthday 'treat' was to have Aidan's friend over to play after school:)

He also chose to eat Mexican that night, which mom and dad were very excited about!  Who doesn't love Mexican food and margaritas to celebrate your baby turning 3!!

Dan the Man you are one funny kid, who is developing quite the personality with your silly antics!  Mom and Dad love you more than you will ever know, but we will try our hardest to show you:)  Currently here are some things you enjoy:  Batman, Indiana Jones, chicken fingers, popsicles, making your sisters scream, wrestling with your dad and brother, riding your car down the hill in our driveway and crashing into as many things possible, jumping from anything high up, and crawling in bed with your mom at 5am:)  Love you buddy!

Playing Catch up!

It's been a while but I'm playing catch up so here it goes......

In late April we attended Family Fun Fest.  Every third Wednesday of the month in spring and summer the city holds a FREE festival to stay active and fit.  The big hit of the night was the face painting and the hula hoops!  A close runner up with was the bounce house and bungee run.  Good times were had by all:)

Also in late April we attended the Vet School's Open House, another FREE event that is open to the public.  I can NOT describe how incredibly unique, educational, and fun this day was!!!  We only planned on going for a couple of hours but we were there all day! I didn't catch all of it on pics, we ended the day by watching an owl release, which was awesome!  The University is known for it's wild bird rescue and rehabilitation. 

Here Emily, Hannah and their friend are petting one of many dog's that were in attendance.  This Great Dane when standing on all fours was taller than Aidan!  It was the most gentle animal, the girls were crawling all over him and I of course was freaking out it was going to snap (mom's anxiety had to be checked at the door, ha ha)!!

 Popcorn break!  Aidan enjoyed the snakes, the skeletons of the horse, cow and chickens, and he enjoyed the animal lab where you identified cells under the microscope and paired them with the respective animal.

 Daniel and his buddy petting baby chicks!

Emily was the only one brave enough to reach inside a cow's stomach (1 of 6 chambers) and feel the food being digested.  It was quite gross but I'm so proud of her for giving it a try!

 Petting baby goats!!

Hannah's favorite, petting baby pigs!

Aidan attended his first Cardinal game of the season.  Yet again we scored FREE tickets and a parking pass!!  It was hot, hot, hot but fun, fun, fun!!!

As you can see the theme for this post was all things FREE..... actually it occurred to me how many free things we did in the past month and I'm very thankful to be able to enjoy these experiences with my family!!  More to come later!  For now I have my third field trip to attend in a week:)

D and Mom

Cuddle time!

Welcome!!

Lydia, our newest and tiniest friend, was born April 3!! We are so excited to watch you grow and keep up with these crazy kids! Congrats to our dearest friends!!