School's Out

Today was the last day of school, hurray!  (Notice Junie jumped into the picture.) Bella was not very excited for school to be letting out.  She has loved school everyday.  I am so proud of how much she has learned and grown in just a year.

We were heading to get a treat and celebrate the start of summer, when Bella started to really cry hard.  She said "You just don't understand Mom, when you have had the best teacher in the world and you are never going to see her again.  It is just really hard."  What can you say to that?

Field Day

Today was field day at school.  I guess it was fun, but these girls must have played too hard to tell me about it!

Flying High

Junie's new favorite thing to do at the pool is fly as high as she can, the higher the better.  She also loves to jump in, but only if you will catch her!

Bella still loves to do tricks.  We have had to implement a new rule, only do tricks when Uncle Paul is around.

She has also made friends with the kid who lives next door.  They love to swim together and play Pokemon.

Looks like we are going to have a fun summer!

Especially, with kisses from Cooper!

Yo Ho Yo Ho

Just another lazy evening at the swimming pool.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Kindergarten Program

Today was Bella's kindergarten program.  She has been so excited about it and been practicing the songs at home for weeks.  She rehearsed and rehearsed her part and did an awesome job when they filmed her.

She put on a great show!

They ended the program by cheering that now they are first graders.  What a big kid, I can't believe it!

She's Tricky

Bella loves to do tricks at the pool.  Here she had our friend help her with her current favorite, going through the tubes at the end of the slide!

Teddy Bear Picnic

Today was the Teddy Bear Picnic at School.  Bella decided to bring Perry the Platypus.

He was great for climbing along!

Junie insisted on bringing a friend, Princess Minnie, when we went to pick up Bella Sissy.

Cheesy grins!

Bathing Beauties

Little girlies, ready to get their swim on! Does it get any cuter than this?

Geodes

Fair warning, this is a long post with lots of pictures.  Bret decided this morning we were going to hunt for geodes in the desert.  Without much warning, we took off.  We followed the Pony Express Route so there were lots of markers for us to stop and see.

We found a good spot for a little picnic lunch.  Bella even found an arrow head (or maybe just a good rock!).

The desert was beautiful, I have never seen it so green and with so many flowers.  It was amazing.

Another Pony Express Marker.

This was an old cabin, along the route were they used to trade horses.

Bella was surprised at how small it was.  We drove on, for a total of about 3 hours, down a dirt road.  the girls were champs about all the driving.  We finished a whole Box Car book!

Finally, we made it to the pits and started to dig. 

They found quite a few, just digging around.

Bella and her Dad found the biggest one.  After they pulled it out, Bella hit it with a hammer and it cracked right in half.  She was thrilled to find the treasure inside.

Bret and Junie worked really hard to dig this one out, and it turned out to be just a rock. 

We headed for home, stopping at more markers along the way.  this was once a Pet Cemetery.

The beautiful colors of the desert.

The final results, the kids love having them proudly on display in their rooms.  I think we will be going on a fossil hunt next.

Performance

Bella did a fantastic job at her dance performance tonight.  She danced to "When Will My Life Begin" from Tangled.  She has never been afraid to go out on stage and show her stuff! 

She loves getting flowers after the show...

And even shared some with June.

Curlers

In order to get ready for her dance performance tonight, we had to put Bella's hair up in curlers.

Junie wanted her hair put up too, which is not easily done considering the amount of hair she has.

Too cuties, ready to get fancy!

Honest Abe

Bella's class had the chance to go see Honest Abe at the Children's Theater downtown.  She was told to wear her best dress, so of course this is the one she chose.  Here she is with her teacher.

She was really excited to ride the bus.

With the cast of the show, she said it was okay, but a little weird.  She had a great question, how do you make all the sounds and was more interested in how the stage and such worked.  It was a fun morning and I am glad she still lets me come along!

Dress Rehersal

 Tonight was the dress rehearsal for Bella's dance performance.  Junie was in full costume as well.  She was not happy when she did not get a chance to be on the stage with the rest of the dancers.  We tried to convince her that this was the outdoor stage like in Angelina, but she wasn't buying it.  We had to drag her to the car, crying about wanting her turn on the stage.  What a funny kid! Bella did a great job practicing her dance and is ready for tomorrow night!

Lagoon

We decided to take our girls to Lagoon today.  It had been years since we had been so we thought it was time to let the girls experience it.  Junie and I started of on the carousel, which she loved.  She wanted to ride it over and over.

Bret and Bella started off on the white roller coaster, big mistake.  She was very frightened and needed a few rounds on the carousel to settle down. 

We put the girls on Puff together, after we had ridden with them a few times.

Off they go!

Mom loves the little boats, even if they weren't thrilled!

Bret and Bella took off to try some bigger rides, I discovered June is a bit of a daredevil.  She wanted to try rides by herself and loved them!

Bella loved the swing ride and the Tidal Wave. It took a little convincing to get her on the Tidal Wave, but eventually, she loved it, just don't ask her to sit on the end!

June's favorite ride was the Ladybug Drop.  She went on it over and over and over and over until Mom was very sick.  Then it was with Dad over and over.  And then Mom again.

Overall, Junie give Lagoon a big thumbs up!