Countdown to Summer

Counting down the last few weeks of school for these clowns...

I had to capture Hadley being helpful in the kitchen. She's become a pretty good tortilla flipper, and she's always interested in helping with dinner, even if she doesn't want to eat it later. So much for that theory of if the kids sees how it's made and/or makes the food they'll be more likely to eat it...

The last month of school is always busy, but fun! I accompanied Hadley's class on their field trip to a place called The Oil Ranch. Apparently, someone has figured out how to make their family's ranch a destination for school kids with wide open spaces, picnic pavilions, animals, games, rides, and various farm-related diversions.

Hadley was, I think, most impressed with the opportunity to ride a horse. It was a very short ride, but very memorable for her! Other animals seen included lots of chickens, pigs, goats, geese, sheep, and a peacock. Hadley even got to milk a cow!

Among the many other stops on our exploring walk was a huge corrugated pipe roll on tracks (amazing how much fun the kids had pretending they were little hamsters), giant jumping pillow, feed sack swings, bouncy houses, and a maze. Our little group even took a train ride around the property - that's H's head at the front. It was a warm, but breezy day, but the kids had fun. At least it wasn't raining!

We finally made a family field trip to our local craft brewery, No Label. The kids did not believe me when I told them to bring some entertainment, so we didn't stay long. But we definitely saw the regulars, families that brought camp chairs and ordered pizzas to be delivered there in the shade of a big oak tree. Next time!

And May is the start of swim team season, which is serious business in these parts. The kids each have daily practice (different age groups), and they've already learned how to swim 25m without stopping, proper breathing and form for freestyle and backstroke, and Owen is also learning the breaststroke and butterfly.

It's a lot of work and exercise for them, but I think they are liking it. On Fridays they get to take turns off the diving board, which is a favorite. Hadley's getting really good at the Belly Flop dive, as you can see her Superman form here.

One weekend, they were surprised that they can go to the neighborhood pool pretty much anytime and just swim for fun! Now it's on O's agenda every day. Summer, here we come!