And Suddenly, It was Summer!

School got out on May 29th this year, which was a big change from previous years when we'd gone a week or even two into June!  We actually celebrated a bit early by having our pizza at the pool on Thursday night.  On a whim we invited the Gaskins to join us, and having Sawyer to play with made ALL my kids so much happier!  (And I got to chat with Amy, so that was fun!) (Edwin wasn't able to come; I'm sure he would have been fun, too, if he'd been there!)

This looks like summer to me!

On Friday, the boys had a temple trip (which Colton announced was a GREAT way to start off the summer) and Kendra had gone to see a friend's ballet concert, so I decided Camille and I needed to get some Coldstone to feel celebratory, and that was pretty great!

Look at her strutting out of school on her last day of 5th grade!

We had the Cramers, the Bowes, and the Huffs over to swim (not at the same time) and just generally enjoyed the freedom of not having a schedule.  Summertime is so great!!!

Camille and Peter

Gideon, Calvin, and Colton, with Truman in the foreground

Adam made us actually get out of bed on a Saturday morning (!) so we could experience the joys of the Charlottesville farmer's market.  I didn't take any pictures, but it really was so fun!  I love seeing all the produce people have grown-- biggest tomatoes EVER!  And Adam bought us scones and cookies from MarieBette, so that was pretty great!  He took me back home then, and brought Kendra, Colton, and Camille kayaking, which they loved.  Look at these great pictures he took!

Second greatest action shot ever

Love those mountains in the distance!

And Colton and Camille shoving Kendra into the water is the best action shot ever!!!  😂😂😂

So our first week of summer was just straight up chilling.  Then Kendra left to go to Outerbanks for a week of beaching it up with her friends: 

and Ryder headed to Southern Virginia University for a week of FSY with most of the other youth from our ward:

So Craig and I decided, with only two kids left at home, we might as well take Colton and Camille camping at Assateague!

Changes That are NOT Milestones!

Also at the end of May, Colton decided he needed a haircut, but this time he wanted something different.  He wanted to show up on the last day of school with his hair buzzed, and our friend Angela actually managed to fit us into her schedule perfectly to make that happen!

Colton went from this:

To this:

And just like that, I went from thinking of him as looking just like Ryder, to thinking he looks just like Bentley.  Poor Colton, either way, he's someone's twin!  (People also frequently think he and Camille are twins, probably because their names both start with "C" and I tend to have both of them with me a lot!)

I do think he looks super cute with his short hair!

One More Milestone in May

Did you think we'd had enough important stuff happening?  Because there was still one more Big Thing before May was done...  Can you guess what it was?

What if I gave you a clue:

Did you figure it out now?

Ryder got his learner's permit!!!!  Not only did he get it, he got 100% on the test!!!  We have a fifth driver in the house!

I'm actually very excited for him-- learning to drive is such an important step in growing up!  And the sooner he gets his license, the less I'll have to swing by the high school picking and dropping him off!  Everyone wins!!!

Camille's 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony

A week later we got to head over the Mountain View Elementary School (probably for the last time???) for Camille's 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony!!!  I have to say-- I have had children attending elementary school for fifteen years now.  So while it was a bittersweet moment, it also felt like it was time to close out this chapter of my life.  It's been lovely, but I'm ready to move on with my kiddos!

Because things always have to be complicated, this morning was no different.  Trying to get a seat at these events is cutthroat, so I was already planning on getting there right as the doors opened.  But then Donna really needed some insulin, so Craig dashed out to OLOP to get her some, and Ryder needed a ride to school.  So we ended up having Kendra take Tom and Donna with her while she dropped off Ryder, I arrived early to save seats, and Craig managed to rush back and get there on time, insulin on hand.  Phew!  We even had a few minutes to give Donna her injection before the ceremony started!  

It began with several kids-- including Camille!-- playing "Pomp & Circumstance" on recorders and xylophones!  And they actually sounded quite good!

I actually really liked the principal's speech, where he talked about how trees grow better when they experience diversity and how this class began kindergarten during the pandemic but were thriving in spite of that.  It was quite lovely.

Getting to shake hands with Ms. Short, and her other teacher, Ms. Paxton (Theo and Quinn's mom!) is on the far right

This one is blurry, but you can see her great smile!

After they all got their certificates, they sang "Because I Knew You" from Wicked

And then we had to take pictures of course!

Ms. Isaacs was Camille's 3rd grade teacher, who moved to Colorado after that school year and promised to come see her kids "graduate" from 5th grade-- and she actually came!!!  

Ms. Short

And Ms. Paxton!

Trying to be taller than BFF Mara

Almost as tall as Grandma, too!

Once we'd gotten our fill of pictures, we got breakfast at Tip Top Diner-- it was a very fun and happy day!  Next stop for this cute little girl: middle school!!!

Grad Party!

We had five seniors graduating from our ward this year, so the parents all decided to throw a joint party for the kids.  I had every intention of helping out a lot, but then on the actual day, I had to be at the condo while they delivered a new washing machine (yup, the old tenants had apparently broken the one that was there!  Thanks, guys!), and it was ALSO the same day that the movers finished moving everything out of Tom and Donna's *house.  This meant that they brought a few items that had been forgotten to Tom and Donna's new place, and they brought us some stuff that was going to be thrown away otherwise but we wanted.  And then everything else, they decided to either toss, donate, or sell.  

So I was home all day waiting for the movers to come.  Naturally, they didn't show up until 5:30, when the party was at 6!  (And also, it started pouring rain when they arrived.  Of course.)  So it was a weird day where I sat around stressing all day, but not actually doing anything or helping with the decorations, and then being late to my daughter's party!  I had at least made and/or bought a lot of food (which Craig and the kids brought on time), so I wasn't completely worthless.  But I would have liked to have done more.  Sorry, everyone!!!

But we did get these cute pictures out of it!

Megan and I didn't plan to match, but look how cute we are!  We're either in mourning about our kids leaving for college, or we're about to start a coven.  (It's probably the coven, honestly...)

*I forgot to mention, but this final clean out had also necessitated one last trip to the house for Craig and I, which we did after church on Sunday.  (Because that's what we had time for during this crazy month!)  We went through the house room by room looking to see if there was anything that had gotten left behind on accident, and we found quite a few treasures: my wedding dress; Donna's wedding dress; Donna's wedding album; a few sweaters and sweatshirts that we were pretty sure Tom and Donna still wear and hadn't meant to throw away; I took all the CorningWare and Tupperware because I just couldn't bear the idea of it being tossed out...  Stuff like that.  We ended up filling the van, and I was glad we'd gone, but also sad at how much was still being thrown out that we just didn't have room for in either our house or Tom and Donna's new place!  Stuff like this is so hard!

Kendra's Graduation! 🎓

And then suddenly it was the really big day-- graduation!!!

We had a few friends join us-- Amy and Sawyer Gaskin, Adam, Wendy & McKinley Sorensen, plus Tom and Donna, of course!  I'm impressed with anyone who would sit through something boring like that of their own free will.  We have such great friends!  Craig rushed in and saved us good seats, and then the rest of our family could meander in more slowly.  Everything went very smoothly, and I did NOT almost get in a fight in the parking lot!  A win all around!  And, just like with Bentley's graduation, we finished the evening off with Five Guys!

Kendra's cheering section!

There's Ryder playing "Pomp & Circumstance" with the band!

Our first glimpse of Kendra!

And now she's up on the big screen!

Actually this picture is cuter

Here you get a better idea of the space and how many people were there!

I appreciate her ability to smile for the camera, even from a distance

Monticello High School holds their graduation ceremony at UVA's basketball arena, John Paul Jones Arena.  After hearing stories of other families with only two tickets to their kids' graduations, I really appreciate that they give us plenty of room for EVERYONE who wants to attend!

And finally getting her diploma!

Stopping to wave to all her band friends (much more cheering ensued)

And then a little "fox" wave to Malik and Joel as she passed by

So cute!

And then we got to find her outside and take a billion more pictures!!!  (Thanks, as always, to Adam for taking all the best shots here!!!)

I got first dibs!

McKinley

I like how Sawyer is practically one of the family!

Amy and Wendy

Adam

Malik

I liked how she decorated her cap!  (For those concerned about the book she destroyed to create this effect, never fear-- it was a copy of Twilight that she found at a thrift store!)

One last hug for mom

Sisters 💕