Europe

I really thought that I would be better about posting blogs this summer, but free time continues to be hard to come by.  I am enjoying every minute with my kids and we have been busy with activities, sports, camps, the pool, etc. etc.  So- the BIG thing this summer is that Finn and I got to go to Europe! I have always dreamed of going to Europe but agonized about leaving Sloane.  I even considered bringing her with me.  Now that I'm back I realize that would have been a HUGE mistake!  My dad gave Finn and I plane tickets for Christmas, so we have been planning everything out for awhile.   Sloane stayed home with Rick and my mom.
We left for Europe at nighttime and arrived in London during the day.  Erin's friend Colby drove us to the train station to go to ....Paris!  It is a pretty short ride- only two hours away- crazy!  I don't even need to mention that Finn is the most well behaved kid on planes and trains (even with me leaving his DS at home, oops).  He either slept, read, or watched a movie.
Paris was as beautiful as it looks in the movies- such a charming city.  I loved the cute balconies and cafes everywhere.  Our hotel was really nice too.  We had a dinner of roast chicken, escargot, and a french style hamburger (thumbs down from Finn).  We took a stroll along the Seine, which was so pretty.  We got to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night and we saw the bridge with all of the lovers' locks on it.  Paris is definitely a romantic city.   The next morning we shopped around the city looking for a souvenir for Sloane.  French children's clothing is beautiful, but I tell you what- if Sloane lived in France she would have only two outfits because they are so expensive!    We went back to the Eiffel Tower and played in the nearby park.  We had to leave to go back to London by train.  So glad I got to see Paris- something to  check off the old bucket list.  I would love to go back some time, maybe without kids.
That night in London we went to Erin's flat (I know the lingo now) and Finn and I had our first proper curry at a nearby Bangladeshi restaurant.  It was better than I thought but not something I would crave. We hung out with Sherri, Erin's roommate and her friend Malcolm.  Finn loved Malcolm after he taught him how to play hackey sack.  The next day we went touring the city and hung out at the Tower of London.  It was really cool getting to be in a real castle and learning about British royalty. The most memorable part of this day is that a Royal Guard winked at me at the castle.  Erin doesn't believe me, but I swear it happened.  Or he has a twitchy eye.  We then had a Charlie and the Chocolate factory themed tea at a restaurant.  There was no actual tea, but there were delicious desserts and drinks involved.  That night we took Finn to see Lion King.  Finn thought the play was really entertaining.  I loved it too, but I'm not going to lie, I did fall asleep for a minute.
The next day we we toured the city some more, including checking out Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards.  We got to ride on a Double Decker bus (top deck, natch!) and explore the sights.  We met Erin's friends at a private club for dinner that night and had the best meal. 
It was such a short trip, which was good, because I really had no time to dwell on the fact that Sloane wasn't with me.  I really hope that I can go back some day to London and explore other parts of Europe- maybe Ireland?  I would love to take Sloane someday.    Finn even mentioned going back to London when he is in college so that he can play rugby.  We will see about that one...

                                       

                                                   

Twinkle, twinkle like a star

Sloane had her ballet recital after a year of practicing every Friday night. She, along with the rest of her class, performed to the Jewel version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for a packed auditorium.  All of the girls wore blue and silver sparkly tutus, along with curled hair and a face full of stage makeup. I had to drop off Sloane with the "stage mom" an hour before her performance while they practiced backstage.  The stage mom told me that Sloane spotted the man who does the lights dressed in all black and cried the whole time that she saw a monster.  Poor little thing.  But, as soon as she got on stage she pulled it together and danced her routine like she was supposed to.  She did such a good job!  She was the only dancer in her group that danced the whole time. It was so funny to watch the 2 year olds dance- one turned her back to the stage and another girl just plopped herself right on the ground.  Sloane says she is done with ballet and is moving on to gymnastics and soccer in the fall- but we shall see!

First Grade Finale

For some reason it so much harder for me to see Finn graduate first grade then Kindergarten. It is hard to swallow that he will be a 2nd grader next year.  Second grade is big time.  Time really does fly when you have kids.  Finn had a great first grade year.  It was a little tough for him in the beginning not having any close friends in his class and he struggled a little bit with his anxiety, but all of those things didn't matter by the end of the year.  Finn made a couple of really close friends this year and really excelled at academics. Finn's school put on a first grade show at the end of the year singing songs about all of the things that they learned about this year.  It was super cute.  Finn's class had an end of yera donut party where teh kids were given awards.  Finn received the Milky Way award for being "Out of this World."  It's sad to see the end of a great school yera, but we are so happy to spend all summer together.

Sweetberry Farms

I was lucky enough to take off work for Finn's final first grade field trip.  I was sad to miss the first one, but it's hard to take off work in the beginning of the year.  The field trip was at Sweetberry Farms, a cute little farm in Marble Falls where you can pick your own fruit.  Our field trip guide was Farmer Fran, who started off a sweet little lady, but increasingly lost her patience with the first graders as the field trip went on.  there were a ton of activities for the kids to do, plant a seedling, feed the goats, pick strawberries, and shoot splatberry.  Splatberry is a gun-like contraption that lets the kids shoot strawberries at a flag that they get to keep afterwards.  Finn had a blast and I'm so glad I got to spend the day with him as one of his last activities as a first grader.

 Farmer Fran playing nice.

 Finn planting his seedling.

 Farmer Fran not taking any guff.

Easter photos

 We put together a flashlight Easter egg hunt at a local park.  The kids had a blast.

 Home hunt on Easter morning.

Easter basket goodies