Pool days

June will be here in less than 4 hours.  I am really not sure where the first 5 months of 2014 went, but I am am certain a good deal of it was buried under snow.   Big piles of it.  At one point, the mountain of snow in our front yard was higher than the first floor windows.  When we looked out and all we could see was a wall of white.  So, the warm sunshine we have now is WELCOME! It didn't take us long to go to the pool the first weekend it was open.

And then to take a friend the next weekend.  Being a "mommy friend" as one of my girlfriends coined it today, is not as desirable as another first grader to run around with.  Grace and Makenna are good girls, competent swimmers, and they followed the rules of staying together and letting me know if they were going somewhere else in the facility.  Worked out perfectly.  I even got to read a few pages in a book.

We have four more guest passes. You can be sure we will be bringing friends at least that many times!

Interview with a 7-year old

Seven.  Already.  When did that happen?

Grace is a delightful child - creative, sweet, fun to be around, curious about the world...I could go on and on.  I interviewed her today to find out her current favorites:

• Color = Orange
• Food = Spaghetti
• Movie = "Frozen" (Notice the Elsa costume)
• Thing about school = Recess
• Subject in school = Math (dad would be happy about that!)
• Thing to do when you are not at school = watch TV
• TV program = Sponge Bob
• Song = "Let it Go" (No surprise there!)
• Music Group = One Direction
• Animal = Leopard

And then I asked her, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  She said a doctor like in the hospital so she can help people get better.  That might have something to do with Kyle's father being in the hospital last week.

When I asked Grace what she wants me to know about her she responded, "I am nice, smart, kind, and quiet in school."

And, finally, "What makes you happy?"  Friends.

Happy Birthday, my big girl.  Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back!

Sugar fix

The lighting in Zip City was awful for photographs so I gave up after the zip line.  When we got home Grace started eating the icing off one of the last cupcakes.  Mmmmmm...looks good.

Zip City

Fourteen friends joined Grace to celebrate her 7th birthday at Zip City.  I thought the kids would be tired this afternoon after zip lining and jumping for 90 minutes, but if Grace is any indication it is going to take a lot more than that to tire a group of 7-year olds!

Getting her gear for zip lining!

Brooklynn

Karli 

Noah

Zip lining was fun!  Almost all the kids (and some grown-ups - me included!) gave it a try.  It was FAST!

Karli, Brooklynn, Mariska, Grace, Carson

The kids could go as many times as they wanted in 30 minutes.  Most of them told me they were able to fly about 5 times.

Meadow and Jack

Maria and Reese

They followed this with an hour of jumping and playing dodgeball on the trampolines with a little trampoline basketball and diving into the foam pit. See? I'm tired just thinking about it! 

The birthday girl and her friends seemed to have a great time.  Now, I'm going to take a little nap!

Shhhhh....

Shhhh....let's go outside while dad gets ready and sneak up on him when he comes out. 

At least that is what I told Grace so I could get a few more photos today before we left for her birthday party.  She is wearing a cute T-shirt that says "Super fabulous birthday girl" on it, but the 44-degree temperature didn't cooperate this morning.

Jumping for Joy

Grace woke up this morning and the first words she said were, "Mom, it's finally here - my birthday party.  I'm so excited!"  I told her she is a great kid and we are going to celebrate her life.

 That's enough photos for now, Mom.  Let's go to my party!

We are off to the trampoline/zip line place.  I hope it is memorable!

Meet Spike

Spike is a baby snapping turtle (we think) that Grace found in the yard on Saturday.  She named him, looked on the internet about what he eats, and made a home with lake water for him.  She doesn't know it yet, but Spike is going back to the lake tonight.

Daddy's girl

This is what Kyle bought Grace for doing so well at piano last weekend.  He even had to drive 30 minutes to "Justice" to get it.

A song in my heart

I am not really sure how "Singing in the Rain" became Grace's special song with Ba, but Grace asked her piano teacher if she could learn it.  Today, she got dressed up and performed the song at her spring recital at Kent State.

Grace and Kyle have been working hard on the song (and two others) so she would be ready for today.  

Her piano teacher chose a version of the song that is appropriate for Grace's ability right now.  I love looking at the music and all the hand-written notes on it.

I also love watching her at the grand piano!  I wonder if our dining room will become a piano room some day.  Hmmm...I'd better start researching how much one of these costs!

I got lucky since Grace cooperated and let me take a bunch of photos!

Grace said she likes this dress because it looks like Elsa from "Frozen".  Like every other elementary school girl, she is obsessed with that movie!

Father/Daughter Dance

Love these two!