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Thursday, May 31, 2018

graduations and last day

Spring is the time for graduations!  This year we had 2 special people we know graduate.
One weekend we went back to our old town to our favorite baby sitter Olivia's graduation party.
This was our old neighbor Brookyln.  These two loved reconnecting!
And these were two of Andrew's best teachers of all time. His first and second grade teachers, Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Friday.  It was so fun to see them!
We reconnected with old friends at a new jumping place in town.  They had a blast!
That night Kerigan and Avery had a sleepover.  They always write these lists and I have to document them! So cute!
Another weekend we made our way to northern Iowa to my cousin Kolton's graduation.
The kids had fun looking back at all the pictures and stories.
This wasn't your typical graduation party- they had pony rides!
Kerigan learned to ride by herself!
Andrew did too!
My kids love my aunt and uncle's farm!
Look at these newborn kittens!
They went for a four wheeler ride and picked flowers!
That night we stayed in a hotel with Ga Ga and got to swim!
The next day we went to Kolton's graduation ceremony.
I love this guy!  When he was a baby he was my favorite little person ever.  
My mom and her nephew
My kids are so lucky to have such a good big cousin and role model
Craig's grandma had to go into a nursing home for a little while so the kids and I stopped to see her on our way home as it was right on the way. She was so surprised and happy to see us.  She is the sweetest lady.
Moving into the last week of school, this girl had dance rehearsals all week.
She loves dancing with her BFF!
The kids brought these for their teachers on the last day of school!  They were so excited.  We filled them with popcorn, movie treats and a movie gift card.
Can you sense the excitement?  Ha!
I can't believe how fast time flies
Kerigan had the best first grade year.  She is an avid reader and reads at an upper 3rd grade level.  She loves everything about school- learning, friends, recess, etc.
She is miss social and is friends with every kid that she knows.  She is a bright spot in my day and I am so blessed to get to see her at school every day.  But oh how I miss that toothless grin!
Andrew is my homebody.  He loves getting to school early so he can talk to his friends, but then he'd prefer to come back home. Ha ha.  He makes me proud of what a respectful boy he is.  He is kind to everyone and respectful to his teachers in class.  I couldn't ask for more!
Math may be a challenge, but his character shines!  Andrew has always been an excellent reader and continues to love books.  He had a great year with a teacher that really cared.  He would say he had a little too much homework though!  Ha ha.
Here they are enjoying their last day breakfast!  Can you tell they were just slightly excited?
When they got home this is what they did!  I love that they wanted to keep reading even though it was the first day of summer break!

Kerigan made a little tent for a sleepover
And this is what my backyard looked like!  I love nothing more!
Later in the summer, I'll refer back to this.  Ha ha!  You have to be careful with those open windows!


Tuesday, May 29, 2018

memorial day road trip

On Saturday we headed to a very special cousin's birthday party!  They did laser tag and had a blast!
Andrew wrote the most heartfelt card for Jayden- he loves him so much! They are more like brothers and best friends.  
I'm so glad they have each other
After laser tag they went to a park for cake and a water fight!
While the boys were at the party, my girl and I got pedicures!
I will never pass up a little girly time!
Next I took her to Ga Ga's since Andrew was spending the night with Jayden. 
On Sunday we went to this little walking trail around a lake where they had so many goats!  They had them there to eat the grass!  She thought it was so neat.
Do you see them all behind us?
Then we went for a nice bike ride around the lake

Meanwhile, my sister in law sent these pictures to me of the boys having more fun!
This was the first weekend the pools opened!  Andrew took no time getting used to the water again!
Later that day we picked up Andrew and went back to Ga Ga's to celebrate Memorial Day!
They had so much fun running through the sprinkler!

These pictures were cracking me up!
After playing and grilling out, we took Andrew to see the goats!
He was impressed

It was a beautiful night for a bike ride!
Then we headed to the cemetery and put flowers on Grandpa Bill's grave
We always let them play on and around his headstone. We know he'd love it!
On Monday we had breakfast and headed out on a little road trip to visit my grandparents and great grandparents graves.
On the way we stopped to see the little country church that my mom attended as a little girl
The kids had fun exploring!
Hello from above!
We signed the guest book
Then we headed to the little cemetery.  We've made this a tradition and we seem to always get lost on the way there and always have to call my uncle!  So this year I took a picture!
These are my grandparents.  And I'm pretty sure they were laughing about a bird chasing Ga Ga in this picture- Ha!

Andrew putting flowers by his Great-Great Grandpa Andrew's grave, his namesake

Kerigan put flowers by her Great-Great Grandma Mabel's headstone.  My mom adored Mabel (her grandma) so much and always tells us stories about how much Kerigan reminds her of Mabel. We even call Kerigan "Mabel" sometimes because their personalities were so similar!

The cemeteries are always so pretty with all the flags
We always stop at A&W for lunch and ice cream on the way home!
As always, it was a special Memorial Day!