Our last kindergarten graduate!

JT and I have sat through five of these wonderful ceremonies!! (Can you hear the sarcasm?) However, since this was our last, we seemed to think it was better than the others.  Our princess, dressed up for the night!

 Charlotta with her teacher.

 Filing in.

 

Proud to get her diploma! 

I would be lying if I said JT and I did not do a little hop, skip, and jump out the door!  Only four more years until we start the next round of graduations.

Opening weekend

Everyone got in.  We worked hard and got a little playtime in:)

My baby is 6!

The girl has a real zest for life...

 

and loves to do silly pictures!

 We had a little party on Friday night with grandma and grandpa because they were leaving on a cruise today. Break out the dinosaurs;)

 Even grandma and grandpa joined in the fun.

 She couldn't wait to blow out the candles.

 

 and open presents.

 It's always good to have so many big siblings to help open the presents!

 On Saturday morning, Charlotta and I went to get our nails done.

 Then we headed off to the lakehouse via Skyzone!

 A really happy birthday girl!

 Skylar and Brennen are my flip specialists.

 James and Kellen just want to play ball.

 The smile says it all.

Genius time presentations

Throughout the year, the 8th graders have a class called Genius Time.  They get to pick whatever topic they want and thoroughly research it.  Skylar choose to study Sweden and she spent a lot of her time learning a bit of the Swedish language!

Tulip Festival

 I'm not sure how a friend talked me into doing just a road race, but she did.  My first road race ever to kick off the Tulip Festival for the Dean's.  I was pretty happy with how I did.  I really wanted to break 47 and I was soooooo close!

The kids always love to go to the Tulip festival!  What's not to like-parade, fair food and fun rides?! Waiting for the parade to begin, so we can see Skylar and James play!

 

 Here they come!

 James and his good friend Gabe.

 The big slide is always a hit.

 He's relaxed now...

 

But, pukes at the end:(

One last ride for a very fun day!

Heroes vs. Villains

 The theme of Skylar and James' band/choir concert was Heroes vs. Villains.  They played a lot of music from superhero movies.  It was a really well put together concert.  Yes, that is their band director dressed as Darth!

 Skylar had a speaking part this year.

 James is first chair trombone in his grade!

 Now the band director is Malificent and the dragon breathes smoke.  I was pretty impressed with this being a middle school show!

 And at the end, we got to meet the Staypuff Marshmallow Man!

The Siouxperman Tri

I hurt my back a couple of weeks ago (jammed faucet joint) and have been struggling to swim and run.  I decided to not do the whole hometown race, but I recruited a team to help me out.  Skylar swam, I biked and Avery ran.  We were the women's team winners:)  It was fun to get out and race again, even if it was only a little part!  My competitiveness kicked in and now I can't wait for my first full race.

Track Meet

 Skylar tried out for the track team in the hopes of doing some of the field events and not so much running.  She still ended up having to run a lot, but she did get to do the discus!