Field Day

Note: Now that school is starting up again, I am working hard to get caught up on posts - or at least finish posting about Kaylyn's kindergarten year :)

So here we go with Field Day from the end of May. Coach Vedder did an awesome job of getting it organized. I loved that the different grades were to wear different colors - very easy to tell who was who.

Here's Kaylyn in the change of clothes relay.
Next came a game where everyone ran around like crazy, boys vs. girls. First the boys knocked the cones down and the girls had to set them up; then they switched. Most of the kids ran around crazily while Kaylyn was very methodical. Below she is watching and determining which cones need her assistance. Next came a gymnastics relay - Kaylyn was supposed to do a cartwheel and a forward roll before running to another area. But she just ran across the mat.

So Morgan did a forward roll for her :)We had another relay race - here's Kaylyn taking off, first. Kaylyn had a tendency to put herself at the end of the line for the relays, and often they ran out of time before she got a turn. So this time, I had the teacher get her at the front of the line so she would participate.Then came Kaylyn's least favorite activity. Kaylyn hates getting wet. The kids in the blue vests had squirt bottles to spray the other kids. Kaylyn did NOT like to get sprayed.But she had no problem when it was her turn with the spray bottle.

Morgan usually was close to me but here's a shot of Morgan hanging out with our neighbors, watching.

Memorial Day at the farm

We loaded up the family, including Nana, and headed out to the farm for Memorial Day. My brother's family and my uncle also joined us. Adam was in charge of the corn and it turned out delicious. It's becoming one of his specialities and very popular with family and friends.

This is my sister-in-law, Jo, relaxing on the porch. She doesn't get much chance to relax with 3 boys who are too much like their father for her to have much downtime. But on the farm, there are acres and acres for the boys to run around and use up some of that energy. Tried to capture my dad unaware of the camera - I succeeded but not with him looking at me.

Instead, he was looking at his brother, Alan, who is sitting with his dog, "Rat".

Kaylyn decided that she likes little dogs now, or at least Uncle Alan's dog. Sandy and Jo had also brought out their newest puppy but I didn't get any pictures of it. And I also failed to get many pictures of the kids or my mom.

End of Year School Picnic

For the end of the school year, the PTA hosted an evening at the park. We all brought our own meals and the PTA provided cake. The kids played - here's Kaylyn on the playground.
Then the water balloons were brought out. Morgan made sure to grab one.Kaylyn teamed up with Daddy for the tossing. She didn't catch it on this turn but it didn't break :) And of course, in addition to playing, there were friends. Here is Kaylyn with Rylie. It's very convenient to have a close friend who lives just a few houses away :) Here's Rylie's mom with Rylie's brother, Keegan, who is the same age as Morgan.

Adam's perfect Sunday afternoon

This is Adam's version of a perfect Sunday afternoon - sleeping. Normally we have church in the afternoon - but we had Stake Conference on this day in May so Adam and Morgan laid down together on the couch and were quickly out.

First Haircut

In May, Morgan turned 15 months and it was time for her first haircut. We headed over to CookieCutters for the fun experience. Morgan immediately picked out the pink car to sit in and a Dora video to watch. She was in a good mood and cooperative. Jealous? You should be.


I failed to get any pictures of the cutting because Kaylyn was NOT in a good mood and NOT cooperative. She was in the backroom corner having a temper tantrum about getting a haircut. When I came back out, Morgan's cut was about done and they were starting to style it.
It didn't turn out as what I expected but Morgan was happy - and for a first haircut, that's the goal.

To end the experience, as I started to check out Morgan, Kaylyn decided she did want a haircut. The stylists tried to tell me we'd have to wait as a walk-in. But I looked at the clock. Our appointment was at 4 pm and it was 4:05 pm. I pushed and they backed down. So we sat Kaylyn in the chair. The stylist started picking through her hair and declared she had lice and that we had to leave. Turns out - it wasn't lice, it was dandruff. But it was a very hectic, scary, frustrating 24 hours as we figured that out.

Because of all the issues we had at Cookie Cutters, tomorrow's haircut will be done by a friend who is a stylist (and less expensive). We'll try to recreate the experience a little by bringing a portable DVD player to distract the girls during their cuts.

Kindergarten Cave Field Trip

Mid-May is the time for class field trips and Kaylyn's school is no different. All 4 kindergarten classes went to a local cave together. We started out with a picnic on the property. There weren't enough picnic tables for all 4 classes but I had a couple blankets so Kaylyn's class made do with 1 table and two blankets. Here's the class lining up after lunch to go get our tickets.
We had hoped to have enough time after getting our tickets to go walk down to the river on the property but we ran out of time before our scheduled tour. So the kids hang out, goofing out, and asking when we were going into the cave. Here's Kaylyn with a few friends hanging out on a sofa in the lobby area. And then it was our turn for the tour. This is a ride through cave (perfect for a large group of young children). The kids all loaded up onto two trams (one tram per class - and the other two classes went a few minutes earlier).

I don't know if it was our tram's position or the kids, but where I was sitting we never could hear the tour guide. But we did get to see everything. Several of the kids were fascinated to discover there were bats in the cave so I took a picture of one for them (it's hanging from the ceiling).

Here's Kaylyn on the tram at the end of our tour.We wanted to get a class picture but getting these 25 kindergarteners to hold still was extremely hard. But we managed to snap a few group shots.

Another Princess 'Do

In May, I was trying to do better about doing 'dos for my girls. Morgan was a willing model. Kaylyn, not so much. So here's what I did for Mother's Day morning. Kaylyn had the same style, but wouldn't let us take her picture.

A Visit to Ernie's

We have friends who live at the lake (but he works in Spfd; she works in California but comes home for weekends). One day at work, in May, Adam and his friend, Ernie, decided we should go down for the evening to their house. We'd never been. Kaylyn was skeptical but once she got there, she didn't want to leave. She grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.
Here's her first picture. Flowers in the yard.
Next a picture of her sister inside Ernie and Pam's house.

Next was the spiral staircase leading from the main floor of the house to the basement. Kaylyn did not get a picture of the view from the main floor but it's incredible. I could sit there and just stare at the water all day :)

After touring the house, we decided to head down to the dock. We all climbed into the golf cart and headed down the hill. We went out onto the dock and this was one of the views Kaylyn snapped a picture of. She also tried getting a picture of the fish in the water but they didn't turn out, other than to show the pollen on top of the water.The hardest part about being on the dock was keeping a hold of Morgan so she didn't take a jump into the water (or fall in accidentally).I then grabbed the camera as Kaylyn tried to see what the water felt like.

And Adam conducted a skipping rocks lesson. Kaylyn is still begging to go back and says that next time she wants to go out on the boat (it had not been readied for the season yet).

The 3 Princesses

In April, my sister made an unscheduled visit on a Friday because Nana was in the ICU. She left Ian at home to go to school but brought Regan. After visiting Nana during the visiting hour at lunchtime, she hung out at our house until the next visiting hour. The girls all played together and we convinced them to pose for pictures. I couldn't decide which one to post so you get all three.

Nana remained in the ICU for a few more days, receiving a pacemaker on Monday. Now (August), she's doing well and we enjoy getting to spend time with her. In the meantime, Regan continues to practice her modeling poses :)

Kindergarten Spring Concert

Kaylyn's school (for Kindergarten) had each grade taking a turn performing at each PTA meeting (it got all the parents for that grade to come to the PTA meeting). Here is a song from Kaylyn's concert this spring.

If you're wondering why I noted that it was Kaylyn's school for Kindergarten - that's because we have transferred her to a new school starting with 1st grade. Hopefully, we won't continue changing schools on her (this will be her third school in 3 years).

Student of the Month

In March, Kaylyn was selected as Student of the Month for exhibiting the character trait, Self-Discipline. She was recognized at a school assembly. She was very excited and we were very proud.

Morgan turns 2

Morgan turned 2 in February and, yes, it is now officially August, and I am posting about her birthday. It was a crazy time. I don't remember what was so busy about it - other than Cookie Delivery Day (but it was 6 months ago so I'm giving myself a little slack). So Morgan had a simple birthday. And it was a crazy time for everyone else too. So we had a simple party - with Granny, Poppa and Nana. But she got presents and cake and ice cream. What else do you need? Loved ones + treats + presents = GREAT Day.