Summer Week 2

This has been a crazy busy week.  Emily and Kai came to town, we went to the rose garden, to the beach, and ate our way through Portland.  Merrick also got his cast off this week and we were in charge of taking care of the garden at Merrick's school's garden.  I feel like I could say lots about all of these things, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words and I have about a thousand pictures from the week so I guess I will dispense with the words and move on to the pictures.  I will say, however, that Merrick was really brave when his cast came off and even when they wiggled the pins out of his bones and out of his arm (there is a pic of the pins that is a little gnarly so you are forewarned).

Summer Week 1

This week summer officially began and we started with a hike at Latourell falls.  I must confess that despite the fact that we have lived here for 5 years, I had never heard of Latourell falls, let alone hiked it.  Instead I have always fallen for the amazing tourist trap that is Multnomah falls.  This time we traveled just three miles off the beaten path to Multnomah's little sister Latourell and she did not disappoint.  We hiked both up to the upper falls and down to the lower falls.  The weather was perfect and the views were perfect.  The only thing not so perfect about the day was all the times we had to keep Merrick away from the water so that he did not get his cast wet.  These are not falls that are meant to be viewed from the sidelines, they are falls that are meant to be experienced and we spent the day promising Merrick a return trip after the cast comes off, a promise I intend to keep.

From there the rest of the week was a bit of a let down.  My big focus for the week was getting some things sorted and organized around the house.  Merrick and I sorted through all his clothes and drawers.  The big project was sorting through all the crafts he made in his three years of preschool and then kindergarten.  We had two drawers overflowing with crafts that I usually just closed my eyes to, but it was time to tackle them.  I decided what we would do was take each craft, take a picture of it, and then we would compile the pictures into a book.  We could then get rid of all the crafts, but keep all the memories.  And before you think I am heartless, I will say we did keep anything that had his picture or hand print on it and a couple extra special things.  I have yet to start the book, but it is high on the "to do" list.

The other big projects of the week were some Father's Day gifts for Jeremy.  Merrick made two loom bracelets and we all made sculptures with air dry dough.  Merrick made a skateboard and a sculpture of Jeremy and C.C. made something that she ultimately decided was a rock.  Unfortunately I never got a picture of the completed project after they were painted.

It was a great first week and next week is shaping up to be even more eventful.  Tomorrow Emily and Kai come into town and Thursday Merrick gets his cast off.  Hooray for summer!  

Graduation 2016

It is that time of the year again for graduations and this year's festivities began on Tuesday with Carrigan's end of the year party (technically hers is not a graduation since she still has two more years of preschool).  In any case, we had all the parents come so the kids could preform some songs they had been practicing, we handed out certificates and end of the year gifts, and had some refreshments.

Next up was Merrick's kindergarten graduation on Thursday.  All the kinders sang a sweet little song and they handed out certificates and then had a little brunch for everyone.  I may have cried a little (or a lot) much to Jeremy's dismay.  I just can't believe how quickly he is growing up.  It is a little panic inducing (and P.S. notice how he is like two feet taller than everyone else in his class).

Lastly, we celebrated Maude's graduation on Friday as she heads off to middle school next year.

After all the graduations, some last day photos, and the last bit of learning, school got out just before lunch time on Friday.  Merrick's school has a fun tradition of waving the buses off on the last day of school.  Then Carrigan, Merrick, and I went to a celebratory lunch at McDonald's (Merrick's choice) and then met some friends at an ice cream parlor for dessert.

What a great year, but school is officially out.  Let the summer fun begin!