More Memorial Day

After a busy night on Saturday, we slept in on Sunday and then headed to Moz and Gramps' house. The boys absolutely love to ride their four wheelers and play golf in the field by their house, so even in 90 degree heat, we stayed outside almost all afternoon. Alex is getting really, really good at hitting the ball, and a few went so far that we couldn't find them in the grass!

Then on Memorial Day, we headed to the pool for some fun in the sun. I only planned for us to stay until lunch, but we were having so much fun that we ended up eating there and playing until nap time.

We had such a great, great weekend with friends and family. Now, off to Washington!

Sunset Symphony

Since we were in town for Memorial Day weekend this year, we went to the Sunset Symphony for the first time. It truly may be one of my favorite Memphis events. Its super family friendly with music, a great view and awesome fireworks.

We knew we were going to have a picnic and watch the airshow, but we weren't sure how long the boys would last.  Luckily, they ran into some friends from Alex's school and played the whole afternoon with them. After watching the awesome sunset, we settled in for one of the best fireworks shows I've ever seen. The boys didn't make it into bed until 11pm (a world record according to Alex) but it was totally worth every minute.

We will definitely be back at the Sunset Symphony again!

Alex graduates

Today, Alex graduated from kindergarten. He has had such a great year making new friends and learning more than I ever thought possible. It has been a year of firsts - first time playing over at a friend's house by himself, first "girlfriend", first field day, and on and on. We have loved every minute of St. Louis and we can't wait to see what the next eight years bring. Ms. Erin and Ms. Jeanice have been great, and Alex has loved, loved, loved having them as teachers.

The graduation ceremony and reception were really cute, and Alex loved the special attention. He was even recognized for being only one of two kids to have perfect attendance. Afterward, we headed to Alex's lunch choice - Wendy's. 

And while it makes me a little sad to truly mark the end of preschool years (I mentally stretched it out until 1st grade!), I couldn't be more proud of my little man. He is such a sweet boy and loves school - great job Alex!

Mexican popsicles

I love Memphis, and one of my favorite things about the city is Summer Avenue. You really can find everything you need on Summer - and some things you don't - but this one is a winner. It's a Mexican popsicle shop called La Michoacana. I've know about it for a while but never made the trip to try it out.

After Alex's dentist appointment today, we were in need of a little treat, so we headed over. And... it. was. delicious. seriously. delicious. Alex had the strawberry cream, Reed had the coconut covered in chocolate and sprinkles and I had the pineapple chile. We all liked all the flavors, but we voted Reed's the best. We even took a cookies and cream ice cream cup home for Brian. Yum, yum.

I hope that the boys will grow up enjoying all the small hidden treasures that Memphis has to offer. We will be adding this place to the list (both for the yummy treats and the opportunity for the boys to brush up on their Spanish)!

Zoo field trip

After a full year of fun, Alex's kindergarten class celebrated the end of the year with a zoo field trip. Since we just went to the zoo as a family last weekend, Alex was ready to show the animals to all his friends.

Once we got to the zoo, we split up into our assigned groups. Since this was my first time as a true field trip chaperone, I didn't know what I was in for! I was assigned Alex, Chase and Ward - three of the sweetest boys in the class. Ryan's mom had Ryan, Joey and Zack and we stuck together to tackle the zoo with 6 crazy boys. Between running ahead, climbing up on everything and stomping through all the water puddles, I'm surprised we saw any animals at all! But, we managed to sneak in all the big ones before our fun picnic lunch.

The hands-down favorite were the angry monkeys - these monkeys joked and played with the boys for a long time. They imitated what the boys did and banged on the glass. We had to make several trips back around to visit them before we left.

And even in the hot sun, chasing after boys and running around, I love these things. Seeing the kids have fun and spending a day making memories with my big boy makes me so happy. I am so, so lucky to be able to go on trips like this, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Water, water, water

The Mississippi River is at the second highest level in recorded history. There's a little flooding in Memphis and some really dramatic views downtown. We captured a few photos with the boys and the rising flood waters to commemorate the event. It is really crazy to see people kayaking in the river and riverboats docked at street level. The boys were just excited that they got to "touch" the Mississippi River!














On another note - it is almost 90 degrees today! We celebrated with the first afternoon in the kiddie pool. Water all around!

A day at the zoo

We have a fantastic zoo in Memphis and we finally took the time to enjoy it on Saturday. We headed down in the morning and even through some unexpected rain, we saw just about everything at the zoo. The boys loved the tigers, the sea lions, the penguins, the cows -- really all the animals! They had such a great time and I think Brian and I had just as much fun watching them enjoy it so much. We will definitely be back soon.

Muffins with Moms

CTK had muffins with moms today, so I got to enjoy the morning with Reed! We went to the church and heard a few really cute songs, then headed back to the classroom for muffins (and donuts and fruit). Reed was so super proud and it was a fun celebration. On his "mad libs" fill in the blank mom sheet, he said I was as pretty as a princess and that he wouldn't trade me for a truck. Can't ask for much more than that! Such a treat to spend some special time with my littlest monkey.