Our Day Out With Thomas

The weekend after Jack finished school, we spent a fun family day with Thomas.  THE Thomas.  We were all really excited, and I'm so thankful that the day went well.  The weather was beautiful and everybody had a great time.

Train ride through beautiful Heber Valley:

(Cat gets the credit for the above picture.)

Miscellaneous activities after the train ride:

The book in the storytelling tent was "Blue Mountain Mystery," in which
Thomas helps a narrow gauge engine named Luke.  We got this book from the
library when I was pregnant with Luke, and the coincidence wasn't lost on Jack.

Parting Photos:

Jack's Preschool Graduation

I could hardly believe it when the end of May arrived and it was time for the kids to finish the school year!  Jack's preschool class was over a week before Cat's school ended, so at least we were able to give each child some personal attention for the end of the year.

I hung out with Jack during his Water Day, the next-to-last day of school.  They had kiddie pools, spray bottles, water balloons, bubbles, water games, and more.  The kids had an absolute blast and I was so glad to be able to be there for that fun time.

Below is Jack with his teachers on the last day of school.  These women were wonderful, and I could tell that they genuinely cared about Jack.

A couple hours after we dropped Jack off, it was time to come back to school for the Graduation.  Really, it was more like a performance.  They showed a bunch of things they'd worked on during the year: songs, movements, nursery rhymes, instruments, and acting out a story.  Then we all watched a slide show together before the kids received a book of pictures from the year and enjoyed popsicles.

Waiting to get started.

The whole class with the main teacher on the left side.

I'll share with you one of the several video snippets from the performance.  Here is Jack as Mr. Alligator.  I love that he shows his personality, but he still follows instructions and never gets out of hand.

The end of the slide show.

One last hug.

We're so proud of our preschool graduate!

The Provo Library Children's Book Festival

One Saturday in May we headed to the Provo Library for the annual Children's Book Festival.  My Mom, grandparents, and I took the kids last year while Ben was out of town.  I'm glad we were able to bring Ben this time, though it would have been even cooler to have Grammy, Oma, and Opa, too.  Wishful thinking.  I know.

One of the highlights was meeting Gail Carson Levine,
author of Ella Enchanted, and having her sign a copy of the book.

We were at the festival for about an hour and a half and Jack
spent almost the entire time watching these jugglers.

They enjoyed having such a devoted fan.

The girls made the rounds, enjoying the other activities at the festival, such as decorating crowns.

Decorating the maypole.

Visiting the fortune teller.

Getting face paint.

Making a wand.

Visiting the illustrators on hand.
Here, Nathan Hale (background) and Guy Francis.
The line to receive a drawing from Nathan Hale was super long and the festival
was almost over, so we got a cool shark drawing from Guy Francis instead.

Jack managed to peel himself away from the jugglers long enough to get a train
painted on his arm before the festival was over.

Luke was there too.
You can see Gail Carson Levine behind my left shoulder.
Notice nobody was waiting in line to see her.
That made me sad.

It was a fun afternoon for all of us.  I'm so glad we could attend again, and I hope to be able to go again next year.

Cat's Theatrical Debut

The week we got back from Andy and Amy's wedding, Cat was in her school's Drama Club performance of "Character Matters," a cute little play about how we can learn about positive character traits from fairy tale characters.

At home - all ready to go.

Waiting for the performance to begin.

Not a bit of nervousness for Cat!

During the show.

I made video recordings of the parts Cat was involved in, but I'll warn you that they're really shaky.  We attended the school performance (the evening performance for parents was during the wedding weekend, so Cat's part was double cast) which means that we were sitting in the very back and I was using my zoom lens and I don't have a tripod yet.  So if you're feeling a bout of motion sickness coming on, I'd advise you to wait until that passes before you watch.

Cat's Speaking Part as Red Riding Hood:

Cat's Group Singing Part as a Golden Rule Singer:

The Big Finale:

Luke was there too, sleeping on and off.

I'm so glad Cat finally had the chance to be a part of a drama production, even one as simple as this one.  She did a great job of memorizing her lines, she wasn't at all nervous, and she really enjoyed the process.  And I thought she made a pretty cute Red Riding Hood.

Andy & Amy's Wedding

The day after Ben returned from being out of town, we loaded up and headed to California for my big brother's wedding.  It was an adventure, to say the least!  I was so very glad to be able to go.  With Ben's graduation and Andy's wedding both being so soon after Luke was born, I'd spent months worrying about whether I'd make it to either one.  I feel very blessed that everything worked out for me to be able to attend both of those important events.

We split the trip into 2 days, which mean that Ben could take the kids
for a dip in the hotel pool. 

We arrived in time to catch up with family for a few hours before the rehearsal dinner.  We had quite a bit of family there and it was wonderful to all be together for a few days.  The rehearsal dinner was held at a nice Chinese restaurant, which meant that my kids being the Picky Eaters that they are ate nothing but white rice.  (Boy did they miss out!)  They were pretty grumpy, and Jack ended up falling asleep on Ben's lap halfway through dinner, so Ben didn't get to eat much.  The restaurant had convinced Andy to pre-order a lot more food than the group ate, so he insisted that they box it up when dinner was over.  He then brought it to our hotel room so Ben could finish his dinner...

Ben tried, but he just couldn't eat all 40 take out boxes of leftovers.

The next day was the wedding and it was great!  Everything was beautiful.  It was held at a family farm in Auburn, CA - the perfect setting for Amy's Shabby Chic Wedding of Awesomeness.  My sister, Susannah, chronicled the event very well.  I was going to steal a few pictures from her blog, but there were too many so I will send you straight to her blog instead.  I'm so glad that she took such great pictures because I think I took about 6, and none of them are very good.  (I figured my focus should be on my wee one and my 3 trouble makers instead.)  Suz captured the details of the decorations, the ceremony itself, and some great family pictures as well.  Thank you Suz!

(The below pictures are from the photographer's website.)

The wedding was particularly fun for me because all three of my big kids participated.  The girls were absolutely thrilled to be flower girls.  They felt so special to get their hair done and wear special dresses and be a part of the wedding.  A few days before the wedding Amy asked if Jack would mind having a role as well, and he happily agreed.

Who's that angry woman in the background??

Jack was the last person to walk down the aisle before Amy.  I was afraid he would act silly, but he just walked straight ahead.  He did a great job.  When Andy saw Jack, he teared up immediately.  It was a really sweet moment.

Susannah wasn't the only one diligently taking pictures at the wedding.  My Mom played photographer as well.  Her camera of choice: the iPad.  This is one of my favorite memories from the weekend...

At least she got a cute picture of my siblings and me with our grandparents.
Thanks for the iPad shot, Mom!

Lest you think my worries that Jack would ham it up when he walked down the aisle
were unfounded, check out his lovely poses during the family picture.  (These pictures are courtesy
of my brother's phone.  He texted them to me just a couple of weeks ago.)

After the ceremony, we were all treated to dinner catered by a food truck.  Love it!  Then we watched a cool video of Andy and Amy telling their story (my favorite detail of the whole event) before the dancing started.  We had a great time dancing, and the kids were so fun to watch!  They danced together, with cousins, and by themselves.  They danced to the fast songs, the slow songs, and the line dances.  (Below are three of the six pictures I took.)

Luke was there too.  He made the rounds, enjoying time
with everyone in the family.  Here he is with Pops.

After a long day of festivation and a full night of dancing, we were plumb tuckered out.  The kids all fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.

We started our drive back to Utah the next day, after breakfast and present opening with Andy and Amy.  It was definitely a quick trip and a lot of time in the car, but well worth it.  Luke traveled very well, only showing his annoyance at being buckled into his car seat so much by pooping or peeing on me at every possible opportunity.  For real.  We later figured out that he was wearing a brand of diaper that didn't fit him very well, but it sure made for an eventful wedding weekend.

I love that Andy is happily married now, and his wife is just lovely.  I'm thrilled for both of them.