Carousels and Ice Cream

Doug and I had some business to attend to near a local mall yesterday, and we decided to stop in and have some lunch afterward. In the food court area, there is a beautiful carousel. Briana has ridden this carousel many times (I have shown it in several posts). She loved riding it as much yesterday as she has in years past. She of course rode it twice. Doug had to leave to head to a meeting right after lunch, but I hung around the mall with Briana a little bit longer...

Let's have some ice cream, shall we?

About 1.5 seconds after taking these pictures, the ice cream fell out of the cone and onto the floor. The lady behind the counter gave Bri another scoop for free. Geesh!!!

Gotta love 5 year olds. :D

Movin'

There is good news and bad news in this post. 

The bad news is that my friend and neighbor Amy and her family moved out of my

 (our) neighborhood yesterday. :( Mary Lin stayed with us for the day so Amy could get everything moved from her old house to her new one. The girls had a great time and ML didn't want to go home and Bri didn't want her to go home.

The good news is that they moved to a neighborhood that is only about 10 minutes away. 

We will miss Amy and the gang being our neighbors, but we are still great friends, so I know we will still be able to see each other quite often!

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow - our Memorial Day weekend was packed with friends and fun!

Saturday, friends Khalid, Ansu and Kira came over to our place for a bbq. The girls had a great time playing with Legos and Tinker Toys and Doug grilled delicious chicken and vidalia onions...

Sunday was our quiet day. No real plans. Sunday afternoon, I pulled out the first Harry Potter for Briana to watch with me. She loved every second of it!

Monday, we headed over to Matt, Kathy and Chani's house for another delicious bbq lunch. The girls had the best time playing (and eating) together...

Hoola hoopin' gals...

I gave the girls matching nightgowns for an upcoming sleepover...

The daddies and the girls playing chess...

The girls found out that Doug does not like the feel of cotton balls.
So why not throw a few at him to torture him?

Now time for some outside fun...

Cooling off a bit in the hot sun...

Swing time fun...

We all decided to eat at Olive Garden for dinner before heading home for the day. The girls scarfed down their spaghetti. They were hungry!  Playing in the hot sun will do that do you.

It was a full weekend but so enjoyable - trying to recuperate a bit today!

Last Day Of School (Luau Party)

Briana's graduation ceremony was held on a Thursday and the last day of school was of course on Friday. No book bags required. Basically, it was a party day. 

Briana's class had a luau party. Briana dressed in her flower shirt and skirt...

Doug was able to make it to the party with me. The kids ate pizza and potato chips (oh so healthy! LOL!)...

And cake and cupcakes were brought in by the room moms...

There was some limbo...

And pass the coconut...

Briana hung in there for a long while, but then she got stuck holding the coconut. She was able to help stop the music on the next turn...

Then it was musical chairs time...

When the party was over, Briana gave hugs to her teachers and I checked her out of school early. No point in staying for another hour. Here she is walking down the hallway...

Her gift from her teachers...

I just want to mention that Briana had perfect attendance in kindergarten. I thought she might be recognized for it, but she wasn't. I am very lucky that Briana never really gets sick. I think I sent her one day when she had the sniffles, but they weren't bad enough to hold her back from going to school.

She has totally earned every minute of her summer vacation.

And to top off the last day of school, she lost her sixth tooth that evening...

Ok summer - we are ready! Bring it on!!!!!

Memorial Day

Briana's Kindergarten Graduation

My beautiful kindergartner graduated kindergarten and is now heading to first grade...

Here are pictures of the ceremony...

 Miss B was so excited when she saw us (Gramma and Papa were there too)...

Receiving her "dipoma"...

Shaking hands with the principal...

The kids performed the cutest number ever. "First grade, first grade" was set to the tune of "New York, New York." They were so adorable. I still tear up when I watch it. The song starts around 2:10...

Here it is in pictures...

Stopping in the classroom for congratulations...

Gramma bought Briana a new shoulder buddy and some cute erasers for her hard work...

Briana and her sweet friends...

Mrs. R...

Mrs. M...

The infamous gumball that Briana wanted to get into. Her name is in yellow at the bottom...

Certificate of completion...

You all know that kindergarten practically killed me at the beginning (boy I was sick for a while). But, me and Miss Bri found our stride and made it through to the end.

Now we get ready for 1st grade!