Last Day of School Fun

After the last day of school award ceremony, we enjoyed a picnic at the school with lots of friends.  It's always hard to say good-bye for summer!  Eventually though, it was time to go.  We perked the girls up some by surprising them with an afternoon adventure to check out Candytopia.  This was a really cool experience!  Everything here is made out of candy...it's a kid's dream!  It was so bright and colorful, and just really different from anything we'd seen before.  Oh, and there's free candy in every room.  Lindor chocolates in one, pixie sticks in another, marshmallows in a third, etc.  And they encourage you to enjoy.  It set the mood for a fun summer!

 Some of the candy structures hit you right you walk in.  The details and intricacies are pretty amazing!

 One of the rooms was like a playhouse.  Lots of fun things to see and do in here.

 I loved this color changing walkway!

 I thought this room was fascinating.  There were sculptures and replicas of famous paintings everywhere, and they were all made out of candy.  They were actually really impressive.

 Another room was made to look like you were scuba diving in the ocean.  These were some sweet animals though!

 The last room was outrageous.  Unicorns and pigs farting confetti were everywhere.

 Glitter was on and in everything.

 Seriously so much glitter.  You couldn't help but laugh!

 You had to use really powerful blowers at the end of the room to get (almost) all of the confetti off your body and out of your hair.  We all found extra confetti as we changed into pajamas that evening at home though!

 The last exhibit room was a big marshmallow pit.  We all had fun in it!

 A see saw to keep you entertained while you waited.

 Not too surprising, the last room was actually a gift shop.  While we managed to avoid buying any candy, there were a couple of cool pieces in here too, like this Braves' hat and baby elephant.

This was a really neat exhibit that I'm glad we experienced.  What a fun way to start off summer!

After this, we came home where there girls were very excited to continue another fun family tradition: summer baskets.  It's basically like Christmas for them!  We buy several books, toys, games and such for each girl and put them inside a big bag that they take turns pulling out.  It's not terribly expensive, but it's fun things for them to do over the summer.  One of the items I am most excited about it a new sketch book they each received.  Each day, I'm going to give them a writing or drawing prompt, and they'll use these books for their answers.  Just a fun way to get their creative juices going each day and to learn more about each of them.  It's a fun tradition that we all enjoy.

The girls specifically requested we go to Canoe for dinner that evening.  They both (actually all of us) really wanted to have the kangaroo appetizer we had when we went for my birthday back in March.  Unfortunately, it wasn't on the menu that evening, but no worries... Canoe never disappoints.  We still had a delicious dinner.  I had one of the best desserts ever too.  It was a sweet corn pie (but it tasted more like cheesecake with just the faintest hint of corn) with a layer of blueberry coulis on top with goat cheese, honey, and blueberries on the side.  I know this sounds ridiculous and probably not even good, but it was out of this world.  Happy last day of school!

End of 6th and 4th Grades!

The last couple weeks of school are always hectic; here's a few pictures from those two weeks of May.

Mia entered an art contest that focused on pets.  She drew this adorable picture of Decker at the park with details of a bench, cloud, sidewalk and sun.  The exhibition was at Rev Coffee in Smyrna.  She was disappointed she didn't win, but I was very proud of her for a beautiful drawing and the courage of entering.

Mia's class went to the Botanical Gardens on a field trip the last week of school.  I didn't get to chaperone, but a friend sent me this picture of her with Eliana, Layne, and Yabsera.  She has some very sweet friends!

The whole class around one of the exhibits.  We are so thankful for these kids!

 Lily's class party was at the Eberhard family's house which sits right on a beautiful lake.  Ryan being on this trip with these great 6th graders; we love this group!

Lily and Avery had fun playing with the Eberhard's dogs.

Ms. Keesee snapped this picture on field day of a few of her kids who "blossomed" this year with their reading.  After each book, the child would fill out a flower with the name of the book and author, decorate it, and hang it on the classroom wall.  These kids read quite a bit and were proud of it.  I love that both of my girls are voracious readers! 

 Unfortunately, Mia took quite a tumble near the end of school.  She was playing on the playground and while running full speed, tripped over a tree root which caused her to fall and slide down a hill.  She was rewarded with a busted up lip, scratched and bruised left cheek, and a huge scratch/cut from her right knee all the way down her shin.  It was a painful few days of healing for her.

 Lily's class went on a field trip to the Renaissance Festival too which they loved.  Lily and Avery got these matching henna tattoos which were really cool!

On the last day of school, it was time to say good-bye to Ms. Keesee!  She has been such an amazing teacher this year.  When asked, Mia said she was most thankful for "her forgiving spirit."  She is a great role model for these young ladies, and we appreciate all that she pours in to them.  While we had to tell Carson good-bye that afternoon, we should see him soon since they live down the street from us.

I think we can easily say this has been the best school year for both girls.  Academically, they did fantastic.  Both received only 1 B for the entire school year; otherwise, they made all A's.  They worked hard throughout the year.  They grew in knowledge and responsibility.  They read a lot of great books; I love how important good literature is here!  They deepened their friendships and welcomed new kids into their classes.  Almost every time a visiting child came to shadow their classes, Lily and Mia were asked by their teacher to be "the buddy" who helped them throughout the day.  Certainly, academic efforts are very important to us, but their character is even more important.  We want our girls to grow up serving Christ and letting His love fill them up and then pour over into others.  We are so thankful for Stonehaven, its administration, and its teachers who point these kids towards Christ at every opportunity!

Happy Mother's Day 2019!

Ryan and I are so thankful for our moms.  What wonderful ladies!  We were had a great weekend celebration.  Liz came over Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening.  We always love time with her!  On Sunday afternoon, we had Mom, Dad, and Wayne come over and join us for lunch.  Ryan prepared his homemade cacio e pepe pasta which is always so delicious!  I had prepared a side salad that I love made up of spinach, ramen, almonds, craisins and has a wonderful homemade vinaigrette with it.  We also had some yummy French bread and Irish butter too, and finished the meal off with Meme's lemonade pie that I made.  It was so great to simply enjoy time and a delicious meal together.  We three moms opened a few gifts afterwards, and then snapped a few pictures.  

I sure am thankful for the two precious (and silly) daughters that make me a mom!

 Later on Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I were showing Liz our pictures from Israel, and she captured this picture of Mia snuggling with me.  She is such a snuggly girl, and I love it!

What a wonderful weekend!