front tooth

On June 7 Isaiah's top front tooth fell out.  It had been several months since his bottom teeth fell out (I think they were both in October).  The top ones had been a little bit loose and Isaiah couldn't wait for it to fall out so he wiggled and wiggled and finally he got it to pop out -- after he'd been put to bed so he had to come out to tell us!  (Kids will do anything to stay up late including pull their teeth out HaHa!).  

The tooth fairy did come and gave him another 50 cent piece.  He got a 50 cent piece with his first tooth and a $2 bill for his second one.  Another step in this growing up thing - yikes!

last day of kindergarten

The last day of kindergarten came - it was hard to believe that we had already made it through the year.  Isaiah was excited to be finishing up the year.  Levi was pretty excited that his brother was going to be joining him for the summer.

 It was an exciting day for everyone.  Below is a picture of Isaiah and one of his good friends Viviane - this was their 3rd year in the same class together.  

And here is Isaiah all excited about all the stuff he got to bring home from school - he had to lay it all out and then show everyone :)  

Thanks for a great year Mrs. Fegley!

Our first year of elementary school come and gone -- wow!

all on their own.

These smart little boys figured out how to blow bubbles out of a slime/goop stuff they got from who knows where (maybe the dentist -- I can't remember for sure!).  I was pretty impressed by their creativity!

Hartman Trip

Isaiah's kindergarten class got to go to Hartman Reserve as a class the last week of school and I was lucky enough to go along!  The kids were all very excited about the trip and did pretty good listening and learning about composting, recycling and reusing.

They even got to have a picnic lunch outside as a class. 

 And then got to look at the pond.  

what a fun morning with the kindergartners! 

Valley Fair.

For the last several years we've gone to Adventureland on Memorial Day Weekend.  They allow Veterans to come free of charge and allow them to purchase tickets at a discounted rate for friends and family coming along.  We had planned to do that this year too but there were storms coming to Des Moines so at the last minute we changed plans and decided to head to Valley Fair near Minneapolis instead.  This year we also decided to bring along some friends and employees.  I wasn't exactly sure how it'd go renting a 12 passenger van and going with 5 kids 6 and under, 3 high school kids, a college kid and 4 adults, but we had a FABULOUS day that really couldn't have gone any better.  

Here we are our family of 5 excited to start an exciting day!  (Titus fell asleep about 15 minutes before we were going to arrive and we got him to stay asleep in the stroller for about 15 minutes into the park)

And here's a picture of the whole crew!  Chad, Erica, Nick, me, Derek, Jessica, Mark, Natalie, Caleb, Elise, Titus, Isaiah and Levi!

We were all so excited for all the big rides and the weather looked a little questionable when we got there so we decided to go on one of the bigger rides in case it rained and they shut it down - one HUGE perk of going with lots of big kids and adults -- there's always someone willing to stay back with the kids.  Here is a before and after of our first ride.

Our second stop was the Snoopy area which had tons of rides for kids.  I'm pretty sure this was the favorite ride in this area - I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say that Levi rode it over and over and over at least 8 times in a row - often with a new partner.  I'm pretty sure his favorite time around was when he was next to Jessie - Levi's first crush :)  (she's the top right picture)

The rest of the day was spent on just about all the rides they had to offer -- we spent a lot of time in the kids area.  There were lots of rides that we could all go on, including Titus.  I love the pure joy that you can see on so many faces in these pictures. 

One of the favorite parts of the day for everyone was the time we spent in the ball room - it was basically a room with tons of balls that you could shoot all over the place and at each other - we've never been anywhere like it before - wow!  I think we could have been here all day. 

Like I said before, it was a really, really fun day.  I'm so glad that we got to spend our annual theme park weekend with lots of friends!

And the car ride there really wasn't so bad - the kids were so excited...and the car ride home, just about everyone was asleep!  

After this day, I'm wondering if we will make Valley Fair our Memorial Day tradition -- they offered free entrance for Veterans too and their online ticket prices were basically the same as Adventureland.  

Last Day of Preschool!

Levi's last day of preschool was May 24!  

 Daddy, Titus and I got to spend the morning with him for his last day.  We all walked in together.

 And Mrs. Knapp read a really sweet Curious George book about how the kids will move on to their next stage and have the courage to do their best while Titus is being really loud in the background. ugh!

 Then it was time for the last day of school program.  Levi walked in with his classmates.

 And sang a few songs on stage for us.

Then each student went to get their certificate of completion and a hug from their teachers. 

Levi with Mrs. Knapp.

And Mrs. Kimball

 He did it!  Well done Levi!!

Titus was a good boy and let us watch for the most part :)

 Because the weather was so wet we went to end the day in the gym.  Of course Mark played right along with the kids and had them chasing him everywhere!

 One last hug with the teachers before the year was officially over! 

 What a great year for Levi!  He really grew this year - he learned some educationally, but also really learned to be a good friend and helper in the class.  I'm so proud of you Levi James!

New Trike.

Grandma Michele and Great Grandma Mary gave Titus a new trike for Christmas.  It's a super fancy one that even has a handle for someone to push him with it.  His little legs aren't quite long enough to peddle yet, but he LOVES to be pushed around while he holds on and rings the bell.  Levi is a good big brother and likes to push him around the driveway.  

 Sweet brothers!