It was another busy month with end of year school activities and the start to our Summer vacation.
Track finished for Kimball in early June. He seemed to really enjoy track and he made some good friends. The boys track team went undefeated. Kimball was pleased that both sports he played this Spring -football and track- went undefeated.
Modified boys track team.
I love that Eden will go to her bed and take a nap when she feels tired. It doesn't happen often, but I'm glad she knows when she needs a little rest.
Joseph and Lincoln went to the Brewerton Speedway to see some races. Lincoln had a great time and enjoyed seeing all of the cars. Lincoln looks a lot like Kimball did at this age in a few of these pictures.
Hooray, one more member of the family is fully vaccinated! I'm eager for approval for the rest of the kids so I can breathe easier.
I love the cute paper crafts Annika makes for people. She has such a tender heart. Her messages are all reasons she likes her siblings: Eden...kind, Kimball...rough (I think Annika was trying to think of a positive quality here.), Rebecah...pretty, and Lincoln ...nice.
Rebecah participated in the school musical this year. Because of Covid the musical was a little different this year. There were only 3 full cast songs and the other 9 songs were comprised of small groups performing songs from various Broadway musicals. I'm glad Rebecah wanted to participate and that she had a great time. The 3 full cast songs were "Seasons of Love" from Rent, "Carrying the Banner" from Newsies and "We Go Together" from Grease. Rebecah was one of the "featured" dancers for these numbers and she loved every minute she was on stage. Each performer only had 3 tickets for 1 night so only Joseph and I were able to attend.
After the musical the cast had a cast party at a local ice cream stand. The kids had a great time singing and being together after the show.
Hanging out with our Dolson friends.
Soccer ended the 3rd Saturday in June. The kids had a great season and developed some skills. We look forward to the Fall season.
Last Soccer practice of the season.
In these two pictures Lincoln and Annika's team is having fun on some tree stumps while they wait for team pictures.
We actually had a tornado warning in our area and we all went to the basement in the middle of the night. It just seemed like a thunderstorm to me, but I figured it was better to be safe than dead. We hung out in the basement for 15 minutes.
With the nicer weather the kids have been using sidewalk chalk to make creations. Hopscotch boards have been popular this month.
Joseph took the three little ones to the beach. The big kids wanted to stay home. This is Lincoln's monster face!
We celebrated Father's Day. I ordered Joseph some pants, but didn't open them until the night before Father's day. Turns out I was sent a baby romper! I was just glad I had decided to order a second gift so I didn't have a bum present to give him for Father's Day. I was glad I could return the baby clothing without any difficulty.
School ended Monday, June 21st. I know, I know, who ends school on a Monday? We were supposed to wrap up school on the 24th, but we had some unused snow days so the district shortened our school year by 3 days and that put the last day on Monday.
Last day of school pictures.
Eden "graduated" from Pre-K. She'll do another round of Preschool in the Fall in a different program so she isn't too young starting Kindergarten. She had a drive thru graduation and we both loved it. It was so much better than driving 30 minutes to a local college campus for bounce house toys like this program usually has, and Eden didn't know the difference.
Eden with Ms. Erin and Ms. Anny
I LOVE that Eden wants to be a mom when she grows up. It's the best occupation she can choose and it's probably the most realistic of any that the kids picked...here were a few other occupations: princesses, mermaids, and superheroes.
The week school ended Joseph had off work so we planned a trip to Old Forge in the Adirondacks. It was a great plan, but even with school ending early Kimball still had Regent exams to take Wednesday and Thursday. Joseph and the other kids decided to head up to Old Forge and Kimball and I joined the rest of the crew after Kimball's exams ended. Kimball and I had a fun 24 hours together playing ping pong, going on a walk, watching movies, and eating out.
The neighborhood where our cabin was had a private beach. Joseph and the kids enjoyed it the first day in Old Forge.
S'mores at the cabin.
Old Forge moose.
Kimball and I arrived Thursday early afternoon. We unpacked and then we hiked to the top of Bald Mountain where a fire tower is.
Here's the root canal!
In the "old days" a family lived at the top of Bald Mountain to watch for fires from the top of this tower.
I didn't consider myself scared of heights, but I admit I was a little uneasy at the top of this tower with the wind blowing. The wind was so strong in the tower with nothing to provide a wind break.
View from the top!
Our last day in Old Forge we went to the Enchanted Forest Water Safari and amusement park. I really appreciate that Joseph always makes sure he plans something I really enjoy on our trips...the hike...because the water park is NOT my thing. I was SO glad the weather was in the mid-70s so I wasn't roasting. Everyone else was probably on the cool side. I really didn't want to get in the water so I was glad it was comfortable for me out of the water. The kids had a great time on the rides. Eden was too short for a lot of the rides so she and I did other things together. We rode the sky tram which gave us an aerial view of the park. We also walked through the "enchanted" forest. We loved it so much we took Lincoln and Annika there after lunch. Eden did enjoy the lazy river and she and Joseph went on that a few times.
The Enchanted Forest is made up of little houses depicting various Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tale stories. You can look in the houses and see the scenes portrayed. Some of the houses were Peter, Peter Pumpkin eater (picture below), Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel, Three Blind Mice, etc.
Cinderella's carriage!
Little Red Riding Hood.
The little ones enjoyed some carnival type rides. The one below was a favorite.
Train ride!
In the evening most of the kids just wanted to watch TV in the cabin, but Eden came with Joseph and me to walk through downtown Old Forge. It was a fun evening with some fun photo ops.
We had a nice time in Old Forge with cooler temperatures than in Cicero. It was a great way to start our Summer break from school.
