Family Vacation in Okoboji

Was a tad wet and drizzly this year. But we made the most of it!

Hello, good-bye Kindergarten

From his 1st day...


to his last...


Jack rocked kindergarten! I can't believe it's already over, and that he's onto 1st grade in 3 months. And that we'll have a new kindergartener in the family!

Last day of preschool

Benjamin and Gavin has their last day of preschool yesterday. Now begins summer break! Jack's last day of school is on Friday, then we will all officially be on summer break together. Wow. That year went crazy fast. After Benji's preschool graduation, we picnicked outside with some of his buddies. He looks forward to the preschool playdates that we'll attend this summer so he can continue to see his old friends.

GROW!

I am beside myself with both excitement, and anxiety, as we have all of our garden beds in and planted, as well as some herb pots. I have a well-known black thumb, but want to learn to grow some of our own vegetables. I also want the boys to see where food comes from, from start to finish. So, here's hoping the soil, and weather, and plants will all cooperate, and we will watch them GROW!

Strawberry plot is on the left, and that is the boys's garden. Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and eggplant on the right.


Herb gardens and two extra banana pepper plants are in pots. (Cat not included).


After two years of heeing and hawing about not wanting to drill through the siding, I finally convinced Mike to put up my sun. And I'm loving it!


My lovely husband spent last Saturday building the kids a giant sandbox. He did a great job, and after visiting a gravel pit for 1.3 tons of fill sand, it's ready to go. So far, so good. We are hoping this will help us reclaim the patio for some seating, where adults can actually hang out a bit (it was covered with sand and toys from our small, mobile sandbox). I do see some sand explosions in our future when it gets carried around and thrown out of the box, but hopefully the benefits of having a fun place to play and imagine will outweigh the mess.

Nature, Nature

The boys and I have been enjoying taking spring outings to some nearby parks with flowering beauty. They have really taken to "nature hikes," and enjoy collecting small items to take home when possible. We typically leave with a small bag of pinecones, feathers, sticks, rocks, and other sorts.



Benji's preschool class took a class field trip to Jester Park for a nature hike with a naturalist, and a visit to the bison/elk enclosure and natural playscape. It's one of our favorite summer outings, and I was excited to chaperone this time. They had so much fun digging through a decomposing log and finding millipedes and larvae, finding orioles in the trees, and getting WET at the playscape.