Saturday we celebrated Jack's 9th birthday by playing mini-golf with friends!  This was the first time we held the party away from the house, with a smaller group of friends.  It was a total success!  Adventure Golf gave us a wonderful experience.

Cake time, and then presents and goodie bags were passed around.  For the last half hour the kids took ice cream vouchers to concessions for a soft-serve treat, then played in the Mine Maze until parents arrived.  No tears - even from Jack!  It was a slam dunk party.  (Especially with all the snow and rain this May, right up until Thursday we were wearing heavy coats!  But Friday and Saturday were sunny and warm, just perfect).

Sam and Jack wanted to bring balloons home for the kitties.  Freddy had a good time.

Not so washable.

And feeling a lot less coy after a brisk bath scrub.

The second to last day of school, I'm sitting in the parking lot, waiting to pick up the boys, when I get this message from Sam's Kindergarten teacher:

"Your son may have had a little too much fun this afternoon! You’ll see soon! Sorry..."

Hoo-boy, can't wait, I replied.

She was very apologetic and swears she would have stopped him, but he was very fast. I don't doubt it. Ah well. Here's hoping those markers are washable! What a way to end the school year.

oh my gosh...

You guys...

It's happening!!!

My hard work has paid off!! In two weeks they have gone from hissing constantly to cuddle neighbors. I predict by next winter they will be snuggle buddies!

Jack's third grade class has been studying native Americans for their last social studies unit. So today we went to Tocabe to try some authentic fry bread and wojapi sauce. Delicious!

The end of the school year means lots of projects being shared and brought home, and lots of events to attend. Thursday was a triple whammy (plus piano lesson!). I went to the community fair and the student-led conferences.

Bounce houses at the fair:

The kids loved showing off their work to me.

They boys earn many points during the year for good behavior and are trying to spend them all. Jack's favorite prize is to have lunch with the teacher. Sam always chooses to bring a stuffy to school for the day. I didn't even know there were other choices until I saw this poster in his classroom:

I think these choices are hilarious! A pen for a day - wow!

That same day we went to the scouts year end picnic, where Jack officially advanced to Webelos. They had a hot dog dinner, then skits and s'mores.

Ben is out of town. I arranged for dinner and a movie at home. Freddy is desperate to eat pizza.

I forced the boys to join me in my annual Mother's Day photos. Not bad!