End Of The (School Year) Update!

School is out for the girls and Cameron only has 2.5 days left! Alyssa's 8th grade year ended with a dinner and formal with a "Evening in New York" theme at school. She looked B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L in her royal blue dress, and from the second I zipped it up for her and she turned around, I started crying. I can't believe that my little boo boo bear is going to be a freshman in high school next year and is turning into such a beautiful young lady. She had a ball at school and even danced with her social studies teacher with a group of friends. They taught him (he is a whopping 24 years old) how to do the reject and how to Dougie. She came back from the dance on cloud 9 and ready for their 'senior' trip to Elitch Gardens (six flags) Monday. The entire 8th grade and all of the teachers went for the day. They didn't get back until almost 7:00 that night and bless her heart, she was exhausted! She had a lot of fun, and it was a good thing for her to do, she even got on the big roller coasters with her friends (texting her sister the whole time). It was a great weekend for her and she is still talking about it.

Mikayla wrapped up her first year in middle school with a presentation in her drama class. She did a pantomime with some of her friends in the class to demonstrate some of what she learned during the quarter. It was a really cute play, and they all did a great job. It was fun to be able to go up to her class and see what she has been learning. Drama was always one of my favorite classes, so it was a lot of fun watching her. She doesn't seem to happy about being in the 7th grade next year because she doesn't like the 'new' 8th graders. I think things will be okay, and we are excited to see what amazing teachers she will have next year.

Cameron is heading into his final stretch of school as well. Since he had a 2 week fall and spring break, he has to go to school until the 15th. However, it hasn't been all bad. He had an all day field trip to AmeriTowne in downtown Denver and they all had a great time. He also had another full day field trip at one of the gold mines here and went panning for gold and visited some caverns. He had a blast and came home with a huge rock that he is convinced has silver and gold in it. His last day is a half day so he really only has a little bit of time left. His teacher, Mrs. Williams has been out on maternity leave with her daughter, but we were expecting her to come back for the last week of school. She was able to extend her maternity leave so she will not be back until the 15th, where it is just a half day. Cameron was pretty upset about it because he completely LOVES her. He has been writing her letters and even drew a picture for the baby. His teacher, her husband and their new baby came up to the school last Friday so the kids could meet Maddie. She was born on Mikayla's birthday and the entire class had been a part of the pregnancy along with seeing the sonogram pictures, helping to come up with names, and betting on whether she was having a boy or a girl. They all loved being able to meet her in person, and we thought that was very neat that she did that.

The kids have spent almost every day swimming since school has been out. Thankfully their new swim suits have held up with all of the washings they have gone through. We have grilled and swam and the kids are so tan, so they should be set to go to Florida in July. The weather has been really nice here so it has been great for swimming by day, and sitting by the fire pit and making s'mores at night. Mom and Memaw came up to visit us for a bit so they have joined us at the pool, the grill, and all of the kid's end of the year events. We have taken them for mountain pizza at Beaujo's and will be taking them for a cricket burger as well. They have made the rounds at Caribou and I think they are on their way to having all of the drinks on the menu.

Cameron has begun taking Martial Arts classes. He has his first test at the end of July for his yellow belt, and he is doing well. He needs to make sure that he kicks with the top of his foot when he does his round house kicks, but he is doing very well. We both thought it would help with his focus, concentration, and self esteem. The school he goes to had come to do a demonstration at his elementary school. I took him up to the school for a private lesson from their owner (a 3rd degree black belt!) who worked with him and awarded him his white belt at the end of the lesson. Cameron LOVES going. He goes twice a week, and I think if I would take him up every day he would be fine with that. We might add one more class when school is over, but he just loves it. He takes it very serious, pays close attention, and practices at home. He is doing awesome! I can't believe that next year will be his last year in elementary school; but let's not talk about that because I will start crying again!

The trip to Florida has been booked and the kids are really looking forward to it. They have been looking at all of the rides online and planning what they are riding in what order on the days we are at the parks. We teased them about getting matching family shirts to go to Disney like they have on the commercials, and the funny thing was they were okay with that! We are NOT doing that, but I was surprised they were okay with the idea!

That is the end of the school year wrap up! So as you can see, even though things are winding down, they are not slowing down at all!