Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Lauren's Kindergarten Graduation

It has been a super busy few days and full of wonderful memories.  THE DAY finally arrived.  Lauren has been asking for months when her graduation was going to be...and here it is!  This was her graduating kindergarten class of 2015 (3 kindergarten classes of 40 kids each) Can you find her? She's sitting on the left side of the stage.

This was one of three performances that she did at graduation.  All of the kids sang 3 songs together, her class did an orchestra style performance (see below), Lauren played the triangle and the tambourine...it was really better than I anticipated, and then the girls did the dance above "Da Yanjing" and the boys did a separate dance.  She absolutely LOVED every second of it.  The principal of her school came to her class on Monday (graduation was on Friday) and presented Lauren with a special award/gift for her performance at the graduation.  The principal only gave 2 kids in the school this gift. I was so proud of her.  Any times she hears any kind of music, she just can't help but dance. It brings a smile to my face every time.
Lauren is in the front, second to the right

 Lauren is also in the dance class at her school. They had their end of the year performance on Monday afternoon.  She did so good.  I can't believe how determined she is.  She had a fever of 102 and insisted that she still dance.  She did great, but I could see it in her eyes that she didn't feel good.  That normal spunkiness was not there.
 This one was some Indian style dance.
 She had the lead in this dance.
One of my favorite parts of this dance...not sure how she does that.

This was walking home after the dance. She was asleep by 7:00 and stayed in her pj's and watched movies all the next day.  She needed a down day.  
We ordered Japanese take-out and Katherine ordered a hefty order of hot dogs and french fries. Yes, she did eat all of that!  And with chopsticks, too ;)
 Now this was the surprise of the century!  Jonathan decided that he would surprise the kids with this adorable little kitten that they have been looking at since it was born.  If you know Jonathan, he is not a cat person.  The kids said that they didn't think he would ever get a cat because they that he didn't like them.  He said he still doesn't like them, but he loves them :)  What a sweet Daddy (I like the kitten, too) :)  Charlie on the other hand is trying to pretend that nothing is beside him.

 So, the kitten still has no name.  It is fascinated with Regan's iPad.  We thought about naming it Apple..haha!  The kids just haven't been able to settle on a name that they can all agree on.  So far they have come up with Baby, Tiny Typhoon, Luna, Ziva, Gracie, Molly, and Galaxy.  We will have to settle on something soon or it will remain "Baby Charlie" as Hudson calls her.
 She is just as cute as can be...
 ...and I love the belly
 She's so tiny and playful.  Now we just have to get Charlie to like her.

 The kids had their belt test this weekend.  They all broke their boards with ease and did their routines.  Lauren is now a yellow and green belt and Regan and Benjamin are now green and blue belts.  They also gave a few special awards to a handful of kids for how hard they work during class times.  Regan and Lauren both got one! :)
 Strike a pose.
 Someone was so tired that he actually fell asleep on the couch!  There is a first for everything.

 Katherine and Benjamin started swim class.  They are doing great and having a blast.
 Hudson and Regan get to enjoy the pool while the others are in class as well.  Hudson is getting better in the pool and it is good for his coordination.
 Jonathan's work had a party for all the teachers and kids at McDonald's.  The kids all learned how to make cheeseburgers.
 We left McDonald's to find a taxi and just outside the mall were some inflatables and things.
 We let all the kids choose one thing.
 Three of them chose the trampolines.
 Lauren chose the slide.
Hudson also chose the bounce house.  Not a bad trip for a dollar each :)
 Lauren went to a robot restaurant with one of her best buddies for dinner.  They are in the same class at school and he lives in our complex.  She just loves going out to eat with them because they always take them to crazy restaurants.
Here's a familiar seen every day...men on the streets playing cards.
 Happy Father's Day, Jonathan! The kids ordered him a waffle maker online and it came just in time!  This was the best group picture that I could get...there was always someone looking somewhere else :)
 And we enjoyed the waffles!!!! YUM!!
 Ok, this is one of my favorites.  No, she is not singing in the rain as it looks.  It was raining earlier and she refused to use the umbrella. Then the sun came out and the umbrella came flying over head and she said, "Oh no! The sun is out! I need my umbrella!" Only here. :)
A friend took us fishing.  The kids really wanted to catch something.
 Regan caught 1 shrimp and Benjamin caught 2 shrimp! YEAH!  It was quite funny to see Benjamin catch the shrimp. As soon as he caught it, he would drop the pole and run.  The groups of guys sitting behind him (eating all their shrimp that they had caught) would just laugh and laugh and then get up and get it for him.  This was as close to the shrimp that we could get him...and he didn't even like being that close.
 We ate dinner with our friends and had many interesting things, including but not limited to fish, turtle, chicken, pigeon, squid, shrimp, peanuts, and more.  I was surprised that I actually likes a few of them.
 Katherine using a water lily for a hat on the way home.
 I love seeing this.  Sweet friendships.
 The other thing the kids did was swing on some ropes.  So, as you can see.  Our days have been full...and these were just the things we took pictures of!!

Friday, June 19, 2015

First Swim

 Since school is still in session and it was not the weekend, I figured it was the perfect time to take Lauren out of school for a day and all of us go to a swim park.  The kids were beyond excited.  WE heard there was one about 30 minutes away so we decided to try it out.  Hudson was excited, too, but didn't fully understand what it would be like.  When we asked him, he said that he has never been swimming before....so, this was his first swim :)
 The first thing he did was sit down in the water and just laugh. He said that it was a lot of fun! :)
 I love to see joy on these kiddos faces!  I didn't think that I would be able to get any pictures while we were there, but they had these plastic phone holders that you could wear around your neck while you were at the park that would protect your phone.  I had no idea if any of the pictures would turn out because the sun was so bright I could not see anything AND the phone was inside plastic with water droplets all around.  I was so excited that I got a few shots to remember the day.
 This little girl LOVED the water slides.  She saw them and she was off!  The only issue we had was at a certain section of the park when they said she was not tall enough.  She was momentarily heart broken, but then we returned to the favorites for her.
Regan has always been one to sit up on the slides instead of laying down.  Come to think of it, I think I used to go down the same way :)  The kids had me go down one that was completely enclosed (it was there favorite).  I had in my head the slides at WhiteWater in Georgia. You know, complete darkness and you have no idea where you are going.  So, I was a little surprised that they said it was their favorite until I rode it myself.  It was dark, but they had painted the ceilings with a glow in the dark paint, so it looked like stars and swirls and gave just enough light for you to know what was coming.
 These two were enjoying the wave pool!  This was one of the few places we have been that did not require a swim cap.  Jonathan decided to wear one anyway to protect his head.  I think it was a wise move.  Poor little Katherine got really burned (even with the super expensive, SPF 70, imported sunscreen that we bought) The rest of us got a little bit of sun...only Hudson didn't burn :)
 Playing in the waves
 Enjoying the fountains (sorry Jonathan for cutting you head off...I really couldn't see what I was doing)
 surfing USA...
 love the different surf styles...
 he's got the hair for it...
 a little karate action on the board...
 don't forget the peace sign while you surf...
 wipe out...  :)
 They never stopped for a minute.  It was so much fun.
 Oh, this is the glow in the dark one.  They give you a push down to make sure you go fast :)
 This is after the HUGE bucket of water dumped on his head.  I wasn't sure he was going to be happy about it, but you can see by this picture that he loved it!
 My attempt at a selfie while waiting for the waves to start.
I FINALLY got a haircut this week! YEAH! It was much needed and feels so much better. 

 We went to the expensive grocery store (because Katherine just knew she saw a Father's Day card there...it was Hallmark, but not Father's Day) and the girls went to town on the cantaloupe.  They said it was the best fruit ever. I tried to explain the concept of samples...they only got it a little...they kept leaving and going back for another sample.
 Katherine leaving the park and already feeling the burn.  She walked out with a towel on her head and face.  I'm glad we had some Aloe from last year.  She keeps asking for the green stuff.  She's looking better though.
And yes, I broke down and did it.  I ordered some Dr. Pepper on the internet! :)  Haha!  One happy Mama :)  I put one in the fridge and the rest are in the closet for a rainy day :)