Zane, Emerson, and Smith: A LOT!

With the combination of school ending, moving to a new house, and my computer breaking, it's been a VERY LONG time since I've posted anything on my blog. I also lost a chunk of pictures when my hard drive crashed, which I'm bummed about. But I still have a lot of pictures!!

I clumped a bunch together on this post and then will divide the rest up into a few separate posts.

The end of the school year was a blur of a million activities. Field trips, field days, picnics, parties, etc. We had so much fun but May was crazy. During May, I was also trying to pack up the house. It was crazy.

We went to visit a pond with Emmy's preschool class. They used a checklist to mark off all the things they found at the pond. Emmy took it very seriously.

Smith and Molly got out a few times to help explore for animals and plants.

This was Zane's last day of Kindergarten. He really had a great year and loved school. He can't wait for first grade! He learned a lot - the biggest I think, was to make good friends. He also read the first 40 Magic Tree House chapter books by himself and read probably 100s of other picture books. His writing and spelling improved a ton and he's always figuring out math problems everywhere he goes. He's so smart and motivated to learn and learn. His favorite subject was art - he loved his teacher and now says he wants to be an artist when he grows up. :)

This was also Emmy's last day of preschool in her 3's class. Next year she'll go 3 mornings a week with 4-year-olds. :)

Zane's class - only 16 kids!

With Ms. Erika, his student teacher

Zane and his silly buddies on the last day

With Mrs. Holley, his teacher.

Here's Emmy with her teacher, Ms. Serani, who she absolutely loved and adored. She had a wonderful year in there!

Here's what Smith did the last day!

We ordered caterpillars to watch grow and change into butterflies. I always love the day we set them free. We had grown pretty attached to them so watching them go gives us mixed emotions.

I love this picture of them just watching their butterfly.

And Molly with a dandelion in her mouth. Haha.

Hanging out in the front yard - bikes, water bottles, snacks, oh we love summer.

Here are some pictures from when we went to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs when we stayed for the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. We had all our kids plus Molly with us!

Quick diaper change in the trunk before our hike...

My mom and Dave loved being there with all of us.

Smith got stuck in this little crack and Zack had to reach in and pull him out.

Nice hiking outfit

Here's the end - Emmy was pooped

Afterwards, they had to get a ride in the wheelbarrow from Grandpa Dave

A few park pics - in our neighbor's backyard

I lost the rest of these, but I had some super cute pictures of when I took the 4 kids to a nearby park one day. Here's the 4 of them swinging.

Riding bikes across the street from our new house - there's a safe little sidewalk that goes in a circle. We love it.

Swimming - I lost these pictures too, but had this one of Zane and Smith in their towel robes.

We walked over to a nearby pond to look for frogs the other day. Simple adventures like this are so much fun for them!

Tam with Miller and Smith

Random undies pic - this was when our new house didn't have a/c yet and we were soooooo hot!!!

Some baseball pictures - getting ready for his first game. Zane is playing "adult pitch" baseball this year. Zack is coaching the team with a friend's Dad.

Free cookies and driving in the grocery cart!!

Cute little Molly loved playing in the slip-n-slide. Swimsuit? Nah, we just went for it!

On May 26th, my Grandma Fran passed away completely unexpectedly. She suffered a major heart attack and the even though she was already in the hospital, they could not save her. Our family was totally devastated and our hearts were/are broken and hurting. She was such a big part of our family and we are going to miss her more than words can say.
We got the chance to go to Ohio, where she grew up, to visit her hometown and also to bury her remains. Although the trip was emotionally hard and sad, it was so good to get to be with family for a weekend. I will write more about Grandma later.

We went to her favorite store and bought a bunch of food that she always brought back for us.

Here's Grandma Fran in elementary school - the girl in the middle.

Here she is when she was closer to my age - lot's of people have told me they think I look similar to her. :)

We got a new pool for the summer and the only way to fit it was to put it over the kids' heads. They held it up to say hello and then put it back down. :) It was like a secret fort for them, I kind of want to do it more often.

Playdate with friends - our friends Tammy, Abhi, Ella, and Miller just moved to Portland, OR and this was our good-bye day with them. The kids played flawlessly together and just love each other. They played outside for hours!!

Smith and his friend Miller, who is only 20 days younger.

All the kids from oldest to youngest. Emmy's right in the middle of the girls and they are her best buds.

I cried so hard saying goodbye to my best friend (for almost 18 years). I know we'll stay in touch, but I'll miss seeing her and her kids as often as we did. I'm hoping she loves her new place in Portland.