Cameron's Kindergarten Completion

 Cameron was so excited to see me for his Kindergarten Completion program yesterday morning.  I had put him in a nice polo shirt, but since it was chilly out he put on his sweater.  He agreed he would take it off when he got to school, though... yep.  Oh, well.  It's more accurate that he's in his Captain America sweater, I suppose.

 Anytime Cameron looked at me, he stopped singing and just gave me big grins instead.  I put my phone away after a second, thinking he was posing for a picture, but he still did it!

Here's a good clip of Cameron just smiling at me.  He still kept singing a bit, too, at least!

Cameron and his teacher, Mrs. Pulsipher.  He was so proud of himself.  He got a cookie and some punch, and we walked home together.  He told me all about how funny it was that they threw their hats at the end.  "Mine was just on the floor!"  He is growing up so quickly!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We finally uncovered the sandbox again for the season on Friday, and the boys this year really started digging.  They found sand toys we haven't seen in years!

My weekend project, the Before shot.  The deck was looking sad, as it had been a few years since I had stained it last.  

The After picture.  Saturday I spent all day painting the deck.  This is definitely not the color I picked out, either, but it works.  Parker reassured me, "It looks good, Mom, even if it's not blue!"  I should have picked blue paint instead!  

Then here is what happened to the deck the very next day!  A hailstorm! The new flowers were pummeled.  The paint was supposed to stay dry for 24 hours, so time will tell if that caused any damage, but I wasn't too excited to see the 30% chance of rain turn into leaves and hail all over the place.  

It wasn't all chores, though.  Here's Parker and Dad playing ladderball with the new set Parker got for his birthday.

An impromptu music session in the front room, where Parker decided to attempt the trumpet!

Lots of cartoons!

Cameron listening to music on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's on Monday.

Singing to Parker.  He wanted chocolate peanut butter brownies as his dessert of choice this year.  I liked this video for his pleased smile, and also Cameron's excitement as he came running.

Parker enjoying his brownie by the fire.

 Kenzie took Parker, Tatum, and Paige out for a ride in the paddle boat.  Just like that, the long weekend was over!

Kenzie's Last Band Concert (for 7th Grade)

Kenzers on her way to her last Beginning Band concert!

She has already signed up to be in band again next year.  We're glad she found something fun to do and that she's enjoyed the flute.

A short clip of one of their songs.  They're definitely making improvement from where they started!

Parker is 10!

Parker was so happy that it was his birthday yesterday!  He started off his day of celebration by having a stack of ten mini donuts.  (Cameron was pretty jealous that he "only" got six!)

This really makes the day seem like we did nothing but eat poorly, but for lunch, Cameron and I picked up Parker from school and took him to Wendy's.  Parker beamed the entire time.  He had just passed out treats to his classmates before he left, and his teacher had given him some quarters to use to buy a pop from the vending machine.  That "present" alone was enough for Parker to deem his birthday "the best day ever!"

Once everyone was home from work and school, Parker could get to present time (notice that he even put his special soda pop from his teacher right in the front for the picture!).  I thought that was funny.

Checking out his presents with his light-up magnifying glass.

Parker could not get past this book from his grandparents featuring different animals, such as shark versus killer whale, and which would win in a battle?  Parker was already making guesses and was very interested.  I had to encourage him to put the book down and finish opening his presents!

For his last act as Birthday Boy, Parker wanted to go to Chuck a Rama for dinner.  I think he loves the freedom of getting to put whatever he wants on his own plate (and washing it down with two Icees didn't hurt, either!).  When the day was done and we said goodnight, he sadly said, "It went so fast!  I don't want my birthday to end!"  I'm glad he enjoyed his birthday.  Our family would definitely not be the same without Parker to keep us in line and tell us random facts! Happy Birthday, Parkee Bud!

Parker's Birthday Party

Parker will be 10 on Tuesday, and he had his birthday party yesterday.  He wanted a shark cake.  I tried to show him some cartoony, happy sharks as an idea, but he insisted on a more ferocious one.

I was feeling frustrated, and mumbled to myself, "Ugh, it looks more like a whale than a shark," and Parker looked over and said in a matter-of-fact way, "No, whales aren't white on the underside and dark on the top!  Sharks are."  I really laughed at that reassurance!

Parker was able to have a pretty neat party at the aquarium this year because late last fall I won a prize in a contest.  I submitted a name for the new baby penguin.  My name wasn't chosen, but the runner-up prize was a birthday party package at the aquarium, which they normally charge $300 for.  I was able to get 20 people in, and they provided use of their party room and play area, provided two pizzas, drinks, all the paper products, and even cleaned it all up.  I really didn't want to be in charge of a huge group of kids at the aquarium, so instead we just invited the families of a few of Parker's friends, and also Chris's parents.  They were all able to enjoy the aquarium at their leisure, and we met up from time to time.  

Kenzie wound up having a good group of older sisters to walk around the aquarium with, so that was fun for her, too.  

Parker ready to have a piece of cake.  He wanted the piece with all the teeth!

Once we had to leave the party area and the play place, we walked around the aquarium.  Here Parker is checking out the spotted leopard, asleep up above.

  Cameron and Parker posing on the orcas.

 Cameron played so hard on the play place - he ran and climbed for the full two hours, only stopping briefly for his pizza and cake.  He got super tired and wound up needing to be carried around.  He wouldn't agree to a picture in the shark tank.  We were supposed to be watching the sharks being fed, but it really wasn't as exciting as it sounded.  Even the worker said the sharks sometimes fight over the food, and other times it's not too exciting.  This was one of those non-exciting times, sadly, but it was still neat to sit in the tunnel and watch the sharks, rays, eels, turtle, and fish go by for a while. 

 Parker with his grandparents.

 Parker had really been looking forward to his party.  He hugged everyone as they showed up, and was over the moon just to get a birthday button (with a shark on it!) from the aquarium.  I am glad he had such a fun day!

Cameron's Kindergarten Field Trip

Cameron was so excited to ride the bus to the zoo for his first field trip yesterday!

Cameron's favorite thing at the zoo was apparently climbing on to the head of any animal statue.  He would laugh and say, "I'm sitting on its noggin!  Take a picture of me!"  We only had to be part of a big group for the first little bit, and then Cameron and I walked around the zoo together.

I didn't realize what he was doing here until long after I took the picture - he's giving the otter "bunny ears."  He had gotten up early in his excitement, so he was already getting a little whiny at this point.  It was time for a break.

He ate a snack and watched the seal and sea lion swim by for quite some time, and that seemed to give him a second wind.

He insisted I take a picture of him sitting on the head of the bear statue, but besides that, all he wanted to do was -

- play on the playground!  He visited here before and after our lunch break, and ran back and forth across this bridge approximately 689 times.  Enough of the other kindergartners were also here that several parents agreed we should have just gone to the park for their field trip!

After lunch, and visiting the playground yet again, Cameron really wanted to ride the carousel.  He took his decision seriously as he walked and looked at the animals, and finally decided to ride the leopard (or is it a cheetah?  This zoo only has a leopard, but on the carousel it could be either I guess).  Either way, he had this huge smile on his face the entire time.

The red pandas are back at the Hogle Zoo.  I think they're great.  We stopped by a few times to watch this guy walk around.

We were at the zoo from 10:00am to 1:00pm, and that's a long time for a kindergartner to walk around!  Usually when we visit the zoo, we can see everything in under two hours, so by about 12:20 we had seen everything and Cameron was getting tired.  He got a little whiny before he realized we were in line for an ice cream cone for him.  We sat on a bench and waved to all the other parents who were getting in line for the very same reason!  It was about 80 degrees out, so that with all the walking made the ice cream cone worth getting.  It cooled him down and gave him a rest.

We were able to check out the lions a bit on our way back towards the exit.

One last statue to climb on the head of!

It was an exhausting day, and I didn't even really have to help any kid except Cameron!  We rode the bus back, and Cameron laid down on the couch when we got home!

Parker's Utah Program

 

Parker was so excited on Thursday for Mom and Cameron to come watch him perform his 4th Grade Utah Program.  The night before, he even stressed to me which side of the room to sit on, and that he would hold up a sign at one point and I should be sure not to miss it.  At first some heads were in the way, so Parker couldn't see us.  He obviously was looking for us, and when he finally spotted us in the audience, he had a big smile.  He watched us instead of his teacher the whole time, too, which was funny. (Parker's head is directly under the left edge of the beehive).

A quick clip of some of the singing to show Parker smiling over at us.

Playing the recorder.

Here's proof I did not miss him holding up his sign! 

Afterwards, Cameron yelled, "Go, Parkee!" and clapped.  We gave him a hug, and he got to check out 20 minutes early and come home with us, so that made it even more special!