First Grade is Great

First grade is going great. C loves everything about it. I had this balloon waiting for her when she came home from her first day.  

We celebrated the first day of school with dinner out. C chose the place.  One of her favorites, In & Out Burger.  Don't mind the silly faces they were both happy to be there.

Most mornings C is difficult to wake up. She takes after her daddy and sleeps like the dead. But once I do get her up and she eats breakfast she wakes right up.  I am able to get her up and we are out the door about 35 minutes later.

Her class has done some fun things. They had hat day. She had to strike some poses before we left.

This year she has taken a liking to dresses and skirts. Doesn't take after me in that department.

I love that she is so happy and eager to go to school every morning.

She is starting to grow like a weed. I bought her some new sneakers a few days before school started. A month later I had to buy her another pair in a bigger size. She had already outgrown them!!  I got some new shoes too.  So comfortable!!

C has a poetry book and she is suppose to illustrate the poems. Here is her muffin man.  She is doing wonderful academically so far. Her teacher says she is reading on a 2nd grade level.  I am still amazed at that fact as she only learned to read halfway through the school year last year.  

Her favorite subjects at school are recess, computer lab, reading and PE.  We received a progress report   2 weeks ago and she is excelling in everything. The only thing she needs to improve on is talking in class. Apparently she takes after her daddy with that as well. He was a BIG talker in school.  Her teacher has already had to move her to a new table once. But i figure if that is my biggest concern with her this year I am pretty lucky!

Vacation By Herself

In mid-July C traveled out to Jeremy's sisters house. We were headed on our European Cruise and C was going to stay in Washington with Aunt Morgan, Uncle Ian and cousin Kenenisa.

Jeremy flew her out there. She was so excited she could barely sit still.  Jeremy was flying back the same day and only had a short time between his flights. So he literally hugged C, hugged his sister and ran back to security.  He told me later that it was a good thing that it all happened so fast because he would have gotten really emotional if he had more time.  She was staying with them for 11 days!

Even though it was the Pacific ocean the kids still got in it. Almost daily from what I hear.

C and K playing in the sand.

Perhaps K is sunbathing..

Happy girl at the beach.

On her vacation C got to do lots of things she doesn't do back home. Her and K spent lots of time running around the backyard and garden...apparently topless.

They got to sleep in a tent.

Listening to Uncle Ian read.  I was told that there was a lot of giggling and talking in the tent after Uncle Ian went back inside. C got to try out a sailing program. Even though the teacher told Morgan C enjoyed herself, C said she did not want to do it again. C loved that they could walk everywhere. To the beach, to the grocery store, to the bakery, to Uncle Ian's work.  

I missed C dearly while she was away. But the hardest part for me was that she was gone over her birthday.  This cute girl went to sleep as a 5 year old.

And woke up as a 6 year old. I wrote her a letter to read on her birthday. Sparky told me she read almost all of it herself.  Until she "ran out of breath because mom wrote too much"!

Sparky and Pops were up in Washington for a few days while C was there. C slept at their place the night before her birthday. When they brought her back to Morgan and Ian's this adorable birthday banner was displayed for the whole street to see. Oh and it's just something Morgan threw together. That girl is so crafty!

She baked cupcakes and let K and C frost them in the morning.

Ta da! She's 6!

Not sure what is happening in this picture??!! But it makes me smile. K is your typical almost 4 year old boy here.

Everyone went out for cheeseburgers and cupcakes.  I am told this is right after they sang to her.  She was beaming with pride.

Flying little foam airplanes.  And I believe maybe watching real airplanes take off??

C got to go on her very 1st camping trip.

Looks like the hills are alive with the sound of music to me.  C told me how they could see Canada on top of the mountain.  

They got to roast hot dogs, cook smores, explore and even hike.  They got to sleep in a VW camper.  

This was after the night of camping. I love how they are sacked out. Even the dog!

C had such a wonderful time. She tried new things and new foods.  She is still talking about all the fun that was had. We are very thankful to Morgan and Ian for loving our girl when we couldn't.  And for taking care of her when we couldn't.

First Day of First Grade

Even as I am writing this I CAN NOT BELIEVE that I have a FIRST GRADER!!  I have no idea how that is possible!!! But as of this morning I do.

She was very excited to go to school this morning.  In Kindergarten they had to sit in front of their classroom before school started and wait on their teacher.  But in 1st grade they get to drop their backpack by their classroom and then head to the playground until the 1st bell rings. She is overjoyed to get to have a "recess" before school even starts!

She and her good friend Sofia are not in the same class this year. But they were happily surprised to learn they each had the same backpack. Both of them are just a tad obsessed with My Little Pony's.

C told us she had a wonderful day of school. When we asked her about her teacher she said she liked Mrs. B as much as Mrs. Wienke. We were so happy as Mrs. Wienke was such an awesome, sweet teacher for our girl. We are so proud of C and know she will have a wonderful 1st grade year!

Wrapping Up Summer

I can hardly believe that summer is over. Tomorrow is the first day of first grade for C. Unbelievable!!

I have not been good about blogging this summer. So I figured I would do one big post to get caught up.  C got some cool skates for her birthday. We practiced down by the pool one day.

Then we got to try them out at the skating rink.  She did a super great job. I think she only fell once when she was trying to help a friend up off the floor who had fallen.

We took in lots of summer movies. The week before school started we finally got to see "The Croods". We got to see it at the dollar theatre and then headed to some fun on the carousel. A funny store about her flip flops. She never had a pair before. She was not a fan of the way it felt between her toes.  But I convinced her they were the most comfortable shoes and she should try them. Plus she could wear them to school and her feet wouldn't get sweaty.  Turns out she loves them and she wore them for 6 straight days anytime we left the house!

Most of C's friends have summer birthdays. She was excited to attend a princess tea party for her friend Anna.

The place they had it was pretty awesome. I heard there was even a visit from a real princess. (Though when we got home C told me that she knew the princess was just a girl dressed up like one. She told me the real princesses only live at Disney World and AZ was probably too far away to travel for them!)

We didn't do much reading this summer but I tried to start us back in the habit the last few weeks. There are the flip flops again.

We attended a fun summer church camp in late July.  It was made even more fun because 4 of her friends did it with her. This is Sienna and she is the very first friend C made when we moved here last summer.  For kindergarten they had different teachers. But this year they are in the same class!

The night of the big performance. Jeremy and I were both impressed at how well she knew all the songs and dances. Perhaps we have a future actress on our hands.

I didn't make C do quiet time much this summer. But one afternoon I did and she made all her friends keep an eye out back for any coyotes or bobcats that could be walking by.

She got a hanging sign for her birthday. She has written many different things on it. I found this one both funny and sad at the same time!

We got to attend a fun indoor amusement park with our new friend Ava.

C worked hard all summer on swimming. She was the in same class level for3 months. Then finally last week she passed that level!

So proud of my new Porpoise!

On the last day of summer we had planned a fun pool party. But we woke up to rain!  It was also Jake's 10th birthday so we made the best of the weather. 

Put on those rain boots and splashed away.

it was a nice cool 73*.  We all enjoyed our walk.

And her friends still got to come over for an indoor play date.

My big girl before the first day of school.  Tomorrow, first grade here we come!!!