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.