Camp Thunderbird

Phil and Makena recently went on a camping trip with their Adventure Guides group. Their group went to Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie, SC. Phil will be the first to admit that he isn't the camping sort of guy. There are many reasons for this, one of the biggest ones being that he is allergic to pretty much everything. Despite his feelings about camping, he was happy he went because Makena had a great time. She came out of her shell and tried all sorts of things. And it was a wonderful bonding experience for the two of them. Megan will hopefully be joining their group in the fall. I'm so glad that they're able to be apart of this group together. All of our kids get plenty of mommy time and (depending on the work schedule) not nearly enough daddy time.

Phil and Makena before leaving for Camp Thunderbird

One of the dads shared the pictures he took at the camp. He took some of all of everyone and I'm happy he did. He got some good ones of our two! Phil said the zipline was one of the first things they did when they arrived. Everyone went up two at a time and Makena, who is one of the youngest in the group, went up with one of the other really young girls. Standing at the bottom with the other dads, they decided there was no way those two were going on the zipline. As you can see, they proved them wrong!

Makena is on the left

 Phil is in the middle wearing his NASA shirt 

 Makena is the second from the back 

 

End of Soccer & Last Day of Preschool

Makena and Megan recently had the their last soccer games. That was a quick Spring season! They got their soccer pictures and trophies after the games and Makena's team had a pizza party to celebrate the season.

Megan and Everett had their last day of preschool last week. I'm relieved that they're done for the summer even though it will be challenging to keep them entertained. Here they are holding a picture of themselves taken on the first day of school. Everett has changed quite a bit! 

 

Mother's Day Tea

Megan's preschool class hosted a Mother's Day tea the Friday before Mother's Day. It was really sweet. The kids sang a song about Moms to the tune of Jesus Loves Me. Then we had juice, sandwiches, coffee cake, pretzels and fruit. They also presented the moms with a sun catchers they made for us in class.

 I can't believe our sweet Megan only has one more year of preschool before she's off to kindergarten. It's a good thing we're adding one more to the group....these kids are growing up way too fast! 

Budweiser Clydesdales

The wife of one of Phil's partners keeps a couple of horses at a local barn. She let us know that their barn would be hosting the Budweiser Clydesdales while they were in town for some local events. We were excited to see these famous horses up close!

These horses are massive and immaculate. The moment one of them "used the bathroom" someone was in there shoveling it up.

 Brewer, their Dalmatian, was also there. He had a stall in barn all to himself. The kids were as interested in the dog as they were in the horses.

 We told the girls that the horses were famous and didn't even try to explain the Budweiser part. I told them we would have to look for them on TV.  

 There were at least 3 big trucks that brought the horses. One of the guys caring for the horses told us that there are three Budweiser Clydesdale teams in the US: east coast, west coast and mid west. And they're on the road over 300 days of the year. What busy horses!

Dance Recital Preview

Makena and Megan recently had dance pictures. So we did what we usually do and did our own photo shoot at home and then ordered the cheapest package available. Their costumes are super cute this year! Their recitals are in mid-June. And unless I'm in the hospital with #4 I'll be there. The thought of Phil trying to fix their hair if I'm not available makes me giggle a little. As usual, the girls came up with these poses on their own. :)

  And just so he's not left out, here is the little man during one of the girls' dance classes. We do whatever we need to do to keep busy....including taking pictures just to look at them.

Makena's Kindergarten Performance

The kindergartners recently put on big performance at school. They got to perform during school hours for the whole school and again that evening after a PTA meeting. The sang holiday songs from every month of the year.

Makena's class was responsible for December, which explains the Santa hats. One of Makena's best friends, Lillia, is infront of her. They sit together at lunch everyday. Her family is Greek and Makena tells us about Lillia trying to teach her Greek words. Sweet girls. 

 Some of the kids had to memorize lines to say during the performance. Makena was excited to speak into the microphone. She said, "Let's rock out with Jingle Bells. Would you like to sing along?" She said that when she said her line during the school-time performance everyone yelled, "yeah!" 

 

 Here is the happy girl after the performance...