Visiting Papa & Grandma Michaelson

A week after school got out, Andy headed to Israel for work. He was lucky enough to be able to go a few days early and tour around a bit. One of these days I'm going to get him to upload his pictures on the blog and post about his adventures. Since Andy was going to be gone for about 10 days, I decided to head up to my parents'. It was nice to have their help. It kept me sane! And of course the kids always enjoying spending time with their grandparents. Here are a few pictures of our adventures while visiting them:

One day we went in and met Grandma for lunch because she had forgot her cell phone. Ian didn't eat much lunch, but he did enjoy the ice cream:

We did some coloring:

Played our electronics:

 

Ian's favorite spot:

Tractor rides with Papa:

 

Bubble bath fun:

 

We were there on Father's Day. Andy actually had to work on Father's Day, since they observe their Sabbath on Saturday. But we had celebrated with Andy the Sunday before he went out of town. And I really enjoyed being with my dad on Father's Day. I decided that hasn't happened since the year 2000, so it had been awhile. I think he enjoyed having the kids around with so much excitement for the holiday. While Papa was taking a nap, the kids got busy decorating the house. They made a sign and also hung bracelets and necklaces all over the house.

Ian enjoying some snuggle time with Grandma:

Ian making friends with Max:

Presenting Papa with the garden stepping stones they had made:

Having fun with the peanuts and wrapping that had come in packages Papa had received in the mail from others:

One of Ian's favorite toys he discovered while we were there:

Ian likes blondes:

One day the weather was actually really mild, so we enjoyed just playing outside:

The kiddos making "Monster Stew":

We then had to supervise Papa as he climbed in the lake and moved a log so it wouldn't damage his pipe that gets water to his water pump:

Games in the evenings with Papa and Grandma were a favorite:

One day we went to a place called Leapin' Lizards. The kids had lots of fun!

 

Towards the end of our time there Ian got really brave and would climb up on his own and go down one of the smaller slides:

 

Ian monopolized Papa's iPad:

Playing in the toy boxes:

Ian's second favorite toy was the shape sorter. He would put a shape in and get so excited!

 

One night Ian noticed Grandma put on an apron to do the dishes and Ian insisted on having an apron as well:

 

One last tractor ride before we head home the next day:

Slip 'n slide fun:

We decided the front lawn wasn't steep enough, so we moved it to the back lawn:

Rachel and her pet worm:

Ian woke up from his nap and joined the fun:

Rachel was actually really sad to leave due to the slip 'n slide. I told her we have to stick to the pools since we don't have a hill in our yard to slide down. So, it's our special fun thing to do when we visit Papa and Grandma Michaelson in the summer.

On our last night there we went into town to Dollar General. The kids each picked out something from the store and then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. I was excited about my mint oreo blizzard; and so was Ian:

He very quickly took over and spooned himself lots of ice cream. He was a mess, but a happy mess!

We definitely enjoyed our visit! We drove home on a Thursday. Andy flew in Friday morning from Israel, I did laundry, and then we got packed up to leave the next day to go to Utah! The beginning of our summer was busy, but it was lots of fun. We always enjoying spending time with family!

Galveston Fun

After spending a week at the beach in Mexico, we were anxious to have more fun at the beach with the kids. So, the next Saturday we headed to Galveston as a family. The weather couldn't have been better! And even though Galveston pales in comparison to the California beaches I grew up with, the water is warm. So, that makes for lots of fun in the water for everyone! The waves are very mild, so it makes it easy for the little ones to enjoy.

Although at first Audrey wasn't such a fan. She didn't like getting saltwater in her eyes, so she spent quite a bit of time just snacking at first. I wondered if we would get her back in the ocean, but eventually we did and she didn't want to leave.

Rachel having fun in the ocean:

Ian loving it!

We got Audrey out in the ocean and she's keeping her goggles on!

Our three beach bums:

Ian and Audrey playing:

Ian LOVED playing in the mud:

 

Audrey and her dirty legs:

  

Rachel catching little fish in her bucket:

Ian and Mommy:

Rachel riding the waves!

More fun in the ocean:

My little guy and I:

Cute pictures of Daddy and Ian:

 

I thought we'd be lucky to last 2 hours, but we ended up staying around 4 hours. We had enough snacks and on our way out of Galveston we grabbed some lunch to eat in the car on the way home. We left at the perfect time. After we got packed up and were driving away from the beach, I looked back and saw sand being blown everywhere. I think a storm was rolling in... Both Rachel and Ian took naps on the drive home and Audrey stayed up the whole time. Everyone slept good that night!

The girls really got into riding the waves. They used their kick boards. We definitely need to invest in some boogie boards the next time we head down to Galveston. It's fun to be able to drive an hour and enjoy the beach!

Joy School Graduation

Audrey had a wonderful time in Joy School this year. I was lucky enough to work with a great group of moms and the kids were a lot of fun as well. There were five children participating for the first half of the year, and then the last half of the year we had four children. So, that meant we had to teach every fourth or fifth week. We had a good balance of boys and girls, so that was nice. Joy School was held on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 2 1/2 hours. Each week we focused on a letter of the alphabet. Once we got through the alphabet, we did a combination of numbers and shapes. We had already done colors the previous year. Joy School was normally held at the teacher's house. But there were a few special days where the kids went on field trips. This year they went to the zoo, Houston Museum of Natural Science in Sugar Land, a fire station, and Kroger (a local grocery store). We also had a few weeks where we focused on holidays and the kids enjoyed parties those weeks as well. 

We got together on June 5 to have a graduation ceremony and party for the kids. Jessica hosted at her house, which was great since it was definitely warm enough to swim! :) We had a quick graduation ceremony, ate some lunch, and then the kids enjoyed the pool. 

Audrey, the Graduate:

The whole crew: Audrey, Laci, Wade, and Caleb.

Throwing their caps:

 

Laci and Audrey:

 

It took Audrey a little while to warm up to the slide, but once she did she didn't give Jessica much of a break:

I found these massive cupcakes at Costco (the picture doesn't do them justice) and just couldn't pass them up. So, after playing in the pool we cut each of these cupcakes in half (we probably could have done fourths) and the kids enjoyed a cupcake.

We had so much fun this past year in Joy School! I was just thinking of the friends Audrey made and how she'll miss them this coming year. It's too bad none of them are going to the preschool she'll be attending soon. But Audrey will be able to make new friends and of course still get together with her Joy School friends as well.

First Grade Award Ceremony

Rachel's First Grade Award Ceremony was on Monday. She was so excited to have Ian, Audrey, and I there to watch her receive her awards. Rachel's done an awesome job this school year. She's learned so much. Her handwriting is amazing, she aced every single one of her spelling tests (and we never really worked on her words at home), she loves to draw, and enjoys writing as well. She's done a great job learning her math facts this year. Rachel LOVED doing science experiments in class. She got all S's on her report card throughout the year. You either get an S (satisfactory) or an N (needs improvement). Next year we start receiving letter grades. Rachel had two teachers this year. Mrs. Jha taught spelling, reading, and writing in the morning. Mrs. Blackwell taught science and math in the afternoon. Rachel favored Mrs. Blackwell, but definitely enjoyed both of her teachers. Overall I think it's been a really good year for Rachel. 

Here's some pictures at her award ceremony:

Good Writer Certificate:

Awesome Attitude Award:

Outstanding Music Student (the music teacher chose 2 students out of every class):

First Grade Completion:

Mr. Goodbar Award - For always being a good friend to classmates:

 

Rachel's class did something I thought was really cute. Each child was assigned another child in the class who they had to make an award for. Alex (a very quiet boy) was assigned Rachel. Here he is presenting Rachel her award:

 

Rachel with Mrs. Jha and Mrs. Blackwell:

One last picture of Rachel on the last day of school, June 6, 2013:

Our sweet girl is already looking forward to 2nd grade!