The End of Kindergarten

A few weeks ago, Nathan and I attended the End of the Year Celebration for Jacob's Kindergarten class.  It's hard to believe the year is already over!  Jacob has grown so much this year and has developed such a love of learning!!  I am so proud of the little boy that he is growing to be and so thankful I get to have him at school with me every day!

The Kindergarteners started off by singing two adorable songs.  We were originally seated to the far right and couldn't see Jacob, so we had to move to take pictures!

He did so great, especially since he had been out sick the week prior!  I love watching this guy sing (top row of course)!

Ready for his walk across the stage!

A congratulatory hand shake from his teacher, Mrs. Sullivan

Jacob was so excited the last week of school.  Excited for the summer, and excited to officially be a first grader!  He had such a wonderful year with Mrs. Sullivan and I'm definitely a little sad that it has gone by so quickly!

My big boy ready to walk down to the Kindergarten pod for the last time!!

Happy Easter!!!

We had the absolute BEST Easter celebrating our risen Savior!!  The day started early with Jacob creeping into our bedroom where we promptly told him to go back to bed until the clock said 7!  Of course, the nanosecond it turned 7, he was back and ready to search for Easter eggs. 

We love to talk about the Easter bunny stuffing our baskets full of goodies and hiding filled eggs for us to find, but we really try to keep the focus on Christ.  This year was great because Jacob is old enough to have conversations with us and ask us questions.  We talked a lot about how Jesus died on the cross to save us and that Easter is the celebration of Him rising from the grave.  It is such a blessing to see your children grow and learn!

After Easter eggs, we got ready and headed to church with Mim and Poppa. Jonah went to the nursery and was none too pleased when we dropped him off, but was all smiles when we came to pick him up!  Jacob did an awesome job in "big church" and loved the music!  It was a special time to worship with Mim and Poppa, a tradition I hope we keep for years and years to come.

We left church and went to the club where we met Andy, Catherine and the boys for brunch.  Jonah took a little nap on the way there but it was sadly not long enough to keep the cranks at bay!  He was a bit fussy during brunch so we tried to take him outside a few times to run around.  Luckily it was a beautiful day!  The best part of brunch for the boys was when the Easter bunny came to visit us at our table.  Jonah just could not get enough! 

Mim and Poppa handed out Easter baskets outside where the boys were able to run around and play for a while before going home.  Then it was time for a nap and rest.  Truly, the best way to end a busy Easter Sunday!

Jacob's basket filled with all sorts of goodies!

Jonah's favorite item was the sunglasses!  He put them on as soon as he saw them and didn't take them off until we left for church!

Jonah got a little sidetracked Easter egg hunting.  He had a hard time staying focused and just wanted to eat the treats!

Jacob definitely had his eye on the prize!

Our sweet boys had a blast finding all the Easter eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden!

 

All ready for church!

Jonah's new best friend

Happy boys!

With the basket from Mim and Poppa

Jonah was digging in to all the chocolates from Mim and Poppa!

Jonah's British Invasion Birthday Party

We celebrated Jonah's 2nd birthday with a small family party on Saturday afternoon and had a wonderful time celebrating our little guy!  When I began planning the party and decided on just family, I thought of the British theme and thought it was the perfect excuse to pull out all of my things from my travels and decorate the house with all things British!  The entire family had a great time playing croquet outside (we were going to put up badminton, but it was far too windy!) and eating fish (and chicken) and chips.

The adorable invitation from Bushel and Peck Papers on Etsy

The entry table complete with Union Jack, a soldier and favors

The fireplace with banner (also Bushel and Peck Papers) and England pictures

Coffee table decor

A tower of British treats on the kitchen table

His first game of croquet!

Having fun outside on a beautiful day!

Jacob got festive for the party as well!

Poppa helping open gifts (he loved it this year!)

A garden cart from Grandaddy and CiCi

A golf set from Uncle Andy, Auntie Catherine, Drew, Ben and Brady

A sand and water table from Mim and Poppa, he can't wait to fill it and splash (it'll be perfect in the hot summer!)

The delicious and adorable cake from Hands on Designs Cakes

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles!

Jonah was in a silly mood for pictures after the party!

He was so excited Grandaddy and CiCi drove 2 hours for his party!

The birthday boy (most likely chomping on some Cadbury's cookies!)

Sweet brothers

Silly faces!

My boys

A close up of the favor cookies from Sugar and Flour on Etsy

The Children's Aquarium

One of our favorite things to do in Dallas with two small kids is to visit The Children's Aquarium at Fair Park.  The building originally opened in 1936 as part of the World's Fair and underwent a renovation in 2010.  We first learned about the aquarium when we joined The Dallas Zoo years ago and we love it so much that we held Jacob's 4th birthday party there two years ago!

The aquarium is perfect for smaller children because it isn't too large or overwhelming.  When you enter, you can either walk up a ramp to the right, which is all freshwater fish and creatures, or left to the saltwater area.  It is extremely stroller friendly but small enough that it won't wear little ones out!

Jacob loved learning about new creatures as well as seeing species he has read about in books.  After about an hour indoors, we headed to the outdoor (covered) area where they keep larger sharks and turtles and for $2 you can feed stingrays!  When we last visited, you just got a small cup of pellets to feed the stingrays but they have upgraded to small fish!  The boys could have stayed out there all day!

Our visit to the aquarium was the perfect way to end our great Spring Break and do something fun on a cold, blustery day!  We can't wait to go again!