Last Day of Preschool and Memorial Day Weekend

Kyri's last day of her first year of preschool was on May 24th.  The kids didn't really get that they weren't going to be seeing their friends every week anymore.  So, it was harder on the parents than the kids.  I had to get a picture of Kyri and her best buddy from school.  Below is Nathan.  She talks about him all the time, and Ms. Lisa has told us that they're pretty close buddies.  Sometimes she calls him her prince.  Recently, since school's been out, he has become her imaginary friend.  She tells us he's over at our house all the time.  Fortunately, she usually follows with, "I'm just pretending".  I'm glad we all understand that!

(It cracks me up that the shortest girl in the class befriended the tallest boy in the class!)

The next weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, so we headed up to the lake for our first time of the year.  It's always interesting to see how the kids will like the lake from year to year, because they grow and change so much over the winter.  Kyle and I had a lot of anxiety about how our little mover would be on the boat.  We were afraid we wouldn't be able to contain her, and she would be climbing the sides of the boat.  Luckily, though, she seemed surprisingly mellow out on the water.  Maybe the rocking of the waves did the trick!

She thought she was cool when she got to sit in her own seat like a big girl.  And then a little while later, I saw that she had fallen asleep sitting up!  I'm glad to see that she'll still nap on the water like last year!

Since it was only May, the water was still freezing.  Kyri kept begging to jump off the boat and swim, though.  So, Kyle braved it with her, and she had a blast.  She was shivering the whole time, but she swam like a fish.  The air temperature was only in the 70s on this day, too!  Charlie went in for a dip, too.  They were nuts!  (Oh, yeah, and the girls weren't in their suits, so they went in in their undies and life jackets... classy!)

The following day, it got into the 90s, so we made it a beach day.  

Here's Gwyneth striking a pose in her bikini!

An attempt at a group shot of the cousins

The little ones seemed a bit timid at first, but soon they were splashing and digging in the sand.

The older ones got right into the water.  

They obviously remembered how much fun they had last summer!

Bob, Bobbi, Holly, and Great-Grandma Leona came up on this day, too.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera down to the beach, though.  (Just took a few cell phone pics)  So, hopefully Holly got some good shots!

That night, we went fishing.  Kyri caught her first fish on her new princess pole!  (We got it last fall, but she didn't have any luck with it then.)  She was so excited reeling it in.  Her eyes were huge and she said, "This is so crazy!"

Like with all little creatures, Kyri became very attached to the little guy.  She was sad when she found out that we had to throw him back.  I can't remember exactly what she said, but it was something about wanting to keep him and take him home to be with Red Fish (her Beta fish).  We finally convinced her he had to go back to his family in the water, and then she was okay with it.

Campfire Time:  

When Kyri saw that the fire was starting, she yelled out, "This is the best part of the lake!"

S'Mores

On Monday we took all five kids out onto the boat.

Look at these cool girls!

Charlie, Gwyneth, and Donna

Lillian seemed pretty comfortable on the boat.

But poor Gwyneth didn't seem too sure about it.  Maybe next time!

Later on, when it was just our family of 4 on the boat, Kyri and Kyle jumped in again.  Luckily, this time it wasn't quite as cold.

K.J. is loving the water and getting so independent.  Maybe she's ready to try some tubing!

We're on the lookout for a tube with seats rather than just the ring.  Hopefully we can get the big girls on a tube before the end of the summer.