First Weeks of Summer

Our first week of Summer break was kind of chaotic. We were driving Avery to and from camp, and we really didn't have a schedule. I did this on purpose to just have a week off, but it really was Blah. This week we are back on track. We are back to being over scheduled with friends and activities. My kids have been wanting to know how to earn extra money, so hopefully they will take advantage of my new system.

This is Aliza's bucket list for the Summer...

Purple Penguin is a snow cone shack that everyone loves here in Henderson. I don't know if we will make it there five times, but we can try.

I had the girls fill out a questionnaire about school the day after it ended. Here were a few of their answers:

Aliza
Who were you teachers this year?  Ms. Newby and Ms. Canfield (music)
What did you learn in math this year? We learned zero was nothing and I thought it was something
What is your favorite school subject? Reading because it is fun to read
What is your favorite book? Fire Fire Said Mrs. McGregor
Who are your best friends? Violet, Jaycie, Gavin, Bryant, George and Tyler
What is your favorite activity after school? Watch TV
What do you like to eat at lunch? Nacho's
Who do you eat lunch with? Violet, Sally, Jaycie, and MaKenzie
What is the best part of your school day? Computers
Who was your favorite teacher and what do you like about them? 
        Ms. Newby-She was very nice and lets us do fun things. We even had a bubble gum party.
What did you do at recess? Kick the ball to each other
What do you look forward to this Summer? Going to Purple Penguin



Avery
Who were you teachers this year?  Mrs. Manley, Ms. Canfield, Mrs. Esparza, Mrs. Gelkin
What was your favorite class? Every class except computers
What did you learn in Science this year? About mold
What did you learn in math this year? How to divide
What is your favorite school subject? Science, because we don't really do it
What is your favorite book? A Wrinkle In Time
Who are your best friends? Katie, Braeden, Neisa...They are nice
What is your favorite activity after school? Swimming with friends
What do you like to eat at lunch? Beef Jerky
Who do you eat lunch with? my friends listed above and lonely people
What is the best part of your school day? recess
Who was your favorite teacher and what do you like about them? 
        Mrs. Manley, because I like her
What did you do at recess? tether ball
What do you look forward to this Summer? surfing



Abbie
Who were you teachers this year?  Mr. Wright, Ms. Barker, Mr. Newman, Mrs. Erickson, Ms. Hofner, Mrs. Niotta
What was your favorite class? Mr. Wright, science
What did you learn in Science this year? biology
What did you learn in math this year? area, geometry, perimeter, rate and ratio's etc.
What is your favorite school subject? Science because we do alot of labs
What is your favorite book? The Candy Shop War
Who are your best friends? Audrey, Jordyn, Sydnee, Shelby, Nathalie, Erin
What is your favorite activity after school? Tennis
What do you like to eat at lunch? PB&J
Who do you eat lunch with? everyone above
What is the best part of your school day? When it's over
Who was your favorite teacher and what do you like about them? 
        Ms. Barker; she is helpful
What did you do at recess? no recess :(
What do you look forward to this Summer? sleeping in

NSA Camp

The week after school let out Avery was headed to Suzuki camp. Luckily, camp didn't start until 9o'clock each day so she could sleep in a little. I would drop her off at Clark High School each day, and she rotated through different music classes all day. I walked her through her classes the first few hours, and then she kindly let me know that I could go home. This camp was much smaller that what I am used to in Utah which turned out to be a great thing. Avery knew everyone and they all knew her.

They had a final concert where they performed everything they had learned through out the week. She had a fiddling, orchestra, music and movement, technique and Irish dancing. The Irish dancing class was her favorite by far. This is something she probable never would have tried otherwise, and she was really good at it. The dance teachers were from "Michael Flately's Lord of the Dance." Kind of cool.

It was really fun to watch Avery over the week. She was so responsible in packing her backpack each day, and making sure she got to each class on time. She was panicked each morning that we would be late, but we were just fine. She is growing up way too fast.

Avery's 10th Birthday

On June 9th my "Sweet Ave's" turned ten years old. Her birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we did her friend party the Friday before her birthday. She invited a lot of her friends from the ward. I had saved some luau decorations from our youth ward auction a few months back which worked out perfectly. They ate pizza, watermelon, cupcakes and ice cream. They swam for hours and I had a hard time getting them out of the pool when their parents came to pick them up.

We played a few diving games which turned out fun. Below is Avery's good friend Mia from school. They have a unique relationship because she is in a different ward, and they haven't had a class together for a couple of years but they love to see each other. They have always joked that they are twins because they like all the same things, and then Mia showed up in a matching swimming suit without planning it. They are so cute!

Not a great picture, but this is Avery blowing out her birthday candles in a cup cake. 

Avery had this birthday party planned for months. Abbie and Avery worked on the perfect CD of music to listen to while they swam for weeks. In Avery's planning she was dreaming of everyone swimming with glow sticks. She had such a great idea because they had so much fun.

No one wanted to get out of the pool after we broke out the glow sticks. I can't blame them because it looked super fun.

On Avery's actual birthday she had to wait until after church to open her presents which was really hard. Micah had meetings in the morning and I had one right after church. The poor girls kept waiting and waiting.

Hopefully it was worth the wait. Abbie framed Avery's picture from Sea World to hang in her room, and Aliza was insistent on buying her gum and chap stick. She loved it all.

I had a really hard time knowing what to get Avery this year for her birthday. I finally decided that the perfect gift would be surfing lessons. Knowing that we would be back in San Diego this Summer I did a little research and found a few companies who will give her lessons. She will get private lessons, wet suit, and a surf board rental for a few hours. I made a certificate and tied it to a balloon so that when she opened her gift the balloon popped out with the certificate attached. I thought it turned out cute, and she seemed thrilled. Can't wait to see her riding the waves in a few weeks.

Knowing that Avery has been wanting to redecorate her room I did find her a few surf items, and she used her gift cards to buy a new bedspread. We are working on her room slowly to transform it into a surfing bedroom.

We invited Avery's good friend Ellis over with her family to have cookie and ice cream. Avery really wanted a cookie instead of a cake, so we gave it a try. I learned a lot in cooking this cookie for next time if we ever do it again. Thanks to all her friends and family she was spoiled, and she loved every minute of it. Love you Aves!!!

FHE

This is what we did for FHE this week. The pictures didn't come out as clear as I had hoped so you can't read them clearly, but we had a good time writing nice things about each other.

It was mentioned on my poster board that I am a maid. hmmmmm We may need to address that at another FHE. :)

Aliza was a little upset that hers said "kissable." Micah and I both wrote that word because she is kissing all of us like crazy lately. She is loving snuggles and kisses the past few weeks, and I love it.

The person would stand in front of the poster board while the others wrote around them. It was fun to have them turn around and see what everyone said about them.

Last week we drained the swimming pool to put in fresh water. Sy the pool guy (that's what we call him) who takes care of our pool recommended it because we were getting some algae and water calcification that we have never had before. He informed us that it had not been drained since two owners ago. YUCK! The chlorine kills all the germs, but when the water evaporates it leaves all the minerals from the water behind.

We now have fresh water, and we had a great time watching the pool drain and fill back up again. It took a good 24 hours to fill up with the hose going full blast. I'm not looking forward to our next water bill.

Abbie continues to have issues with her asthma that we just can't quite get under control. Last week I took her in for a chest x-ray to just make sure nothing funky was going in her lungs. The x-ray came back fine, which was a relief. It is exercised induced a lot of the times which can inter fear with her playing tennis some days. She gets frustrated, but is learning to have patience with her body and rest when she needs to.

Kindergarten Graduation

Aliza's kindergarten graduation was super cute. Aliza was given the part with her friend Gavin to lead the kids in a rap. They would say a lines from below and all the kids would march in repeating what they had said. She did a great job memorizing her part.

We like to learn at school each day

We always do what Ms. Newby says

We do our best when theres work to do

And we like to show it off to you

We help our friends we love to share

Cause we are kids who really care

Oh, Ms. Newby how we love you so

Please, please, please don't you ever go.

As they were given their certificates each student said what they would like to be when they grow up. Aliza said proudly that she would like to be a Veterinarian.  Her best friend Violet would like to be a grocery store worker, and my personal favorite was Richard (the class trouble maker) who wanted to be a  snowman.

Ms. Newby was such a wonderful teacher. Aliza mentioned to me just yesterday that she missed her a lot. In fact I have really enjoyed working with her too over the year, and will miss chatting with her regularly. A little birdie told me that Ms Newby's daughter and Aliza will be in the same first grade class next year. The little birdie also told me that it is going to be an amazing group of kiddos in next years class, but I'm not sure who the teacher is. Our school lets us request teachers so I'm thinking we are in good hands next year too.

Yes, I cried at graduation. I hate that I cry so easily. I held it all together until her teacher read a sweet poem about the school year, then I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I'm so proud of our Lizzie.

I snapped this picture on my phone when I picked up Abbie on the last day of school. Yeah, Summer is here!!!

San Diego

My parents invited us to San Diego over Memorial day weekend. They have a home they like to rent that fits us all perfectly, and is right by the beach. There is nothing better than being a few steps away from the beautiful ocean. My sister and her husband stayed in a hotel not far away which was wonderful to have them there too.

The first morning we were there we all walked down to the beach and found a dead sea lion. It was so sad to see it just flopping around in the waves. It was also kind of cool to see it up close. We were not sure what to do so my mom ran over to the lifeguard station to let them know it was there.

After a few poses on the beach they sent over a tractor and dump truck to take the sea lion away. They have obviously done this many of times by the way they maneuvered the tractor.

Of all the things we did this weekend the girls definitely loved the beach the most. They couldn't wait to get their swim suits on and jump in the water. Unfortunately the wind was blowing most of the time which made it chilly.

We took a trip over to Sea World which was a lot of fun. We went on a Friday thinking that it wouldn't be extremely crowded from the holiday weekend yet, but it was crazy. There were a ton of school groups there a long with everyone else who must have been thinking the same thing as us. Not to mention they closed at six o'clock.

We did see a lot of the shows, and are glad that we will be going back in July to see everything we didn't get to see this trip. A lot of the newer rides had really long lines, so we will hit them next trip.

I had to get a picture with Avery and the surf boards. Her dream is to surf and loves everything to do with surfing right now.

Avery spent her money on a portrait of her surfing. It turned out pretty cute.

Liz and I enjoyed some of the rides while they waited for them to draw her picture. She loved it.

We had Lizzy stand up really tall (and maybe on her toes a little) to get her on this ride below. She was so close in size that I'm sure it really didn't matter. I'm glad we were all able to ride together.

This ride simulates you flying to the Arctic. When we got off it was super cute because Aliza really thought we flew somewhere, and was wondering how to get back. Love that girl.

The starfish area is always one of our favorites. It's so interesting to touch these amazing animals.

Whenever we were not at the beach the girls were begging to be at the beach, so we spent a lot of time watching them play in the sand. Micah dug this really big hole one afternoon.

Above is Avery and Abbie trying out their boogie boards. It was still too cold for Aliza so she was content to just dig in the sand.

We celebrated Avery's birthday a little bit early with dinner in Old Town, and cake and ice cream that evening. My mom ordered this cute cake with a surf board. When we went to pick up the cake they had written Happy Anniversary Avery and were out of surf boards (the whole reason she ordered it). They changed the writing and we found a surf board magnet to stick in the top.

We had such a wonderful weekend, and loved spending time with family. That car ride home from vacation seems to take so long. We were worried about hitting traffic on the way home due to it being a holiday weekend, but  we had no problems. In fact the other side of the freeway headed to California was backed up for miles and miles. We are all very sad this amazing weekend is over.

Crazy Mom

Yes, this is how I wore my glasses one day. Haha I was driving Abbie to school and the sun was really bright, so I put on my sun glasses. The funny thing was that it was so bright that it did noticably get darker when I put them on, so I didn't even notice that one lens was out. I was just talking to Abbie and when I looked over at her she gave me the strangest look. Maybe more of a disgusted, embarrassed, and I can't believe what you are doing look. I then looked in the rear view mirror to see my new fashion statement. She was so embarrassed. I had driven her almost all the way to school that way. Needless to say we still get a laughing really hard when we talk about it. Not the first or last time I really embarrass her I'm sure.

These are my amazing Beehives. We went on a beautiful hike a few weeks back and we had such a great time. They are all amazing young women, and I get teary eyed whenever I even think about getting released someday. I know that day is coming sooner that I would like considering I have been blessed to work with them for over three and a half years, but its still sad. We have four of our young women graduating this year from high school and I can't even tell you how amazing they are. I love working with the young women.

Avery had her book review for the year and passed. I don't know how this young lady does it, but she had to play in front of the Dean of Nevada School of the Arts the last song in her book, a favorite, and one picked out of a hat. Avery had to memorize all the composers of each piece and be prepared to play anything asked of her. She is doing amazing and even Mrs. Mary (the Dean) was commenting on how well she is set up on her violin. I feel like it takes so long to get them set up properly with a perfect/relaxed bow grip, and getting everything working together properly. Now that she is set up well her teacher is ready to just cruise through the books with her. She even started shifting and vibrato exercises which is exciting. Avery's goal is to work really hard and skip right to the advanced orchestra when she enters Middle school. She is awesome!