School Spring Programs 2016

Hi everyone - Sam here.  I get to do the post about our spring programs this time. I thought I'd share a couple of videos from each of our programs for your viewing pleasure. 

First up was my program - the theme was I believe in music. 

My Old Kentucky Home

Grandfather's Clock

I Believe in Music

The we had Mason's program - his theme was Show Biz.

The Ride of Paul Revere - narration and then song

The Charleston - Mason was chosen to be one of the six dancers.  They worked very hard.

On the Sunny Side of the Street

So Long, Farewell

And there you go - there was a lot more singing and dancing.  But we picked these few favorites to share.  Hope you enjoyed!

May . . . . Flowers, Birthdays, and Programs

May is a great month around our house. 

In the month of May we celebrate the annual Tulip Festival.  We weren't able to go last year so mom begged us to take her this year for sure.  We all met up at the festival one warm night after school.  And it was so worth it - the flowers were amazing!

Enjoy lots of photos of flowers! 

The colors are incredible.

And the boys you find hanging around are sure handsome!

Some of the tulips are ruffly . . . yes that is a word.

 And some were made of glass.

More pretty colors and beautiful flowers.

They added hanging lanterns this year too.

We each had our favorite colors and styles.

Sam and I both liked this section - Yellow is my favorite color and Sam's is purple.

The waterfalls are always wonderful.

And the view from the top is great too.  Even when you pretend to be falling.

 The next thing we celebrate in May is Sam's birthday. 

My little brother turned 8 this year.  How is that possible?

One of the things he wanted most was a set of books he had come across - mom had to order them from England.  He was so excited to add them to his bookshelves.

I got him a new stuffed animal - we both have a deep love of stuffed animals!

He also got a brand new bike this year. 

And look at him ride - he still need lots of practice . . . . if it will ever quit raining!

He also asked for a homemade milk chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting.  Sam is definitely a chocolate lover!

We always do a birthday boy sandwich picture - so here is Sam's.  

The third thing we celebrated so far in May are Spring Programs at school.  We'll do a whole post in a day or so with some of the videos of our performances.  But we wanted to get part of it documented here.  Along with singing and dancing, we have a Young Author's Festival - here is Sam's book.

We also have an Art Fair - Sam took 2nd place for second grade this year with his salt painting of fireworks.

And then we also have a Computer Fair.

Here is my Young Author book.

I took 3rd place for fourth grade - with my photographs from our trip to Arizona last year.

And here I am with my amazing teacher, Mrs. Haynie.

Finally, we celebrated some hard work with a Piano Recital over the weekend. 

I played Grumpy Old Troll and Where is my Little Dog Gone?

And Sam played Forest Drums and The Bubble.

This is our fabulous teacher Anna.  She is moving away to go to college in South Carolina in a few weeks.  We've been so lucky to take piano lessons from her.

 

We will sure miss her.

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - it's Sam, the 8 year old.  I requested shrimp cocktail for an appetizer prior to my birthday dinner at home.  What better birthday could I possibly have asked for?  Yes, I ate pretty much the whole thing single handedly.

We're behind in posting on the blog - mom has had some computer trouble.  We think we're back at it now.  But watch for a post with spring program videos coming soon.  And next week, after our final spring football games, we'll post all about football season.  We thought we'd do one big post about football this year.  Hint - it's been a great football season! 

Ok - Sam out for now.



Spring Break 2016

We just got home from a great spring break.  We went to Southern California for nine days, and we worked our bodies to the bones.  We needed to get Grandma and Grandpa G's home cleaned out so we worked hard and got a lot of it finished up along with help from Unky, Aunt Francine, Aunt Jen Jen and Uncle Michael.

 

We did carve out a day for some serious fun however!  Unky and Aunt Fran came to Disneyland with us.  Daddy stayed back to work and take care of a sore back. 

 

We started with a traditional tram ride to the front entrance. 

 

We spent the first part of the day at Disneyland.

 

 This is a cool old horse drawn fire engine.

 

Main Street is always so fun - so much to see and do.

 

We got to ride on literally a zillion rides.  We started on the Astro Orbitors.

 

Sam was the pilot.

 

And I got to fly my own rocket too.

 

Here we are in front of Snow White's castle.  It's so pretty!

 

Here we are standing in line for Splash Mountain - it is one of our most favorite rides.

 

And here is our picture coming down the 50 foot drop.  It was soooo much fun!

 

We also loved Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Here we are wandering around the Mark Twain Paddle Boat.  

 

We also rode the Matterhorn and Winnie the Pooh's Big Adventure.

 

 Then we headed over to California Adventure. 

 

We rode California Screamin' - the best or worst Roller Coaster ever.  Aunt Fran and I felt pretty darn sick afterwards, but Unky and Mom and Sam said they could have ridden it all day long. 

 

Sam picked Goofy's Sky School - a less adventurous roller coaster, but still fun.

 

Then we voted for some quiet rides in Bugs Land - here we are on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train.  

 

We saw lots of great characters - here we are with Eeyore.

 

Tigger!

 

Lewis the Gator (from the Princess and the Frog).

 

Sam's favorite - the Goof Master.

 

Minnie Mouse.

 

And, of course, the big Mouse himself . . . . Mickey!

 

Then we did a little shopping in Downtown Disney - stuffed animals and hats all around.

 

Back at the house, the work continued.  We filled four of these giant dumpsters and still have a little bit more to go. 



 

We played with the coolest little lizard that we found wandering in the yard.

 

 

And I squirreled away boxes and boxes of the best National Geographic magazines that Grandpa had kept.  I got to bring a whole bunch of the home with us.

 

And I found the best intersection in all of California - Roosevelt Road (name after my favorite president, Teddy R!) and California Ave (the street Grandpa and Grandma lived on for over 40 years).

 

We got to enjoy a couple of great family dinners too.  It was a week of hard work with lots of fun and family time mixed in.  

 

On our drive home we saw the most amazingly beautiful rainbows - yes two of them.  The pictures don't even begin to show you have vibrant and brilliant they were.  They lasted for a long time and grew from just a short one sided rainbow to a full arched rainbow.

 

Can you see the second one on the left there?  

 

We decided that both sets of our grandparents were watching us and sending us some love.  We also decided that Grandma G and Grandma June sent us the inner bright rainbow that was absolutely perfect.   And we decided that Grandpa G and Grandpa L got together and made the outer rainbow - because it was backwards  - - - - the colors were all reversed left to right.  Those sneaky grandpas!

 

Sam Alert:  Hey everybody - Sam here.  Can I just tell you how much I love Disneyland!  It was my first full day there.  I got super sick the last time we went there.  I loved all the rides and want to go back as soon as possible!  California Screamin' was probably my most favorite!  I loved Goofy's Sky School - especially the nose dives. 

All in all, a great week!  See you soon.