More May

Our family found a new ice cream spot in town, Out Bach, on the way back from a hike at Lake Anna State Park.

Look this adorable sleeping beauty pic that V took of Kate!

a puzzle that K and I made

Danny bought a new trampoline!

The kids were glad to help set it up.

I may come back and add more random May pics.

Soderholm Cousins Camp

We had a really fun abbreviated Cousins Camp at Bobby and Kattia's lake house. It was super fun to gather in person. It was a day spent playing outside on the slip and slide,

 

making candles with Geemaw in antique cups from that side of the family,

They look really cool and all unique.

Playing in the water, 

on the paddle board,

and on this cool floating dock.

The hammock chairs and bubbles were a hit too.

The big kids went on the jet skis. Bobby and Danny, Ashley, and Debbie and a bunch of the kids went on a boat ride, but the boat broke down. Thankfully some friends were able to tow them back. 

There was a lot of good food and fun conversations.

We were glad that we could see everyone.

Christian and V received awards at home!

Christian received an Academic Excellence Award for Theater.

Victoria got two this year- from the Choral Dept. and from Family, Home, and Consumer Science

Nice job, guys!

Victoria's State Championship

Victoria was excited to receive a gold medal and a 1st place certificate in the mail this week! 

She participated in a FCCLA STAR state competition. Her event was Leadership, Feedback, and Self Reflection. She worked really hard on this and talked to her mentor, Ms. Mullins, frequently. Even when the physical portion of the competition was canceled and rules changed, she didn't give up. 

Good job, V! Next up, Nationals in July!  She is excited that the National competition will allow for speech. She is going to kill it!

Katherine's End of the Year Celebrations

Katherine was pleased to get some special mail yesterday!

She got a "team player" award from her teacher! Good job, Kate! 

She also got a flat Mrs. Franklin and

a flat Mrs. Capellini. Mrs. Capellini has been incredible at adapting to the changes lately and met with Katherine via GoogleMeets each week to practice speech. Kate can take her flat teacher and speech therapist on some adventures this summer! They are going to report back about the adventures next school year too.

Today, Katherine had her last field trip!

They went to Disney World!

She also did a cool escape room that Mrs. Franklin sent.

There was a special goodbye from the 2nd grade teachers.

They put together a bunch of pictures from the year too. They did a lot of exciting activities and we missed them during this time off. I talked to K about some of her favorite memories. She loved "Football Day," "Kobe day," doing contraction surgery, and going outside to catch snowflakes on black paper when it snowed. Mrs. Franklin was a very sweet teacher and worked so hard during the quarantine to keep up with the students and provide many learning experiences.

Katherine and I went out to lunch. She picked Wendy's drive through too. She had a kids meal- her favorites- chicken nuggets with honey mustard, french fries, and chocolate milk. I had another salad. I like their salads too.

Love being with my girl!

We went for a walk at Rockwater Park. We loved the wildflowers planted there. So pretty.

I loved this special day with K and am so proud of her for working hard again this year.

Grant's 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony

I know that Grant was looking forward to some of the end of the year festivities. He planned to go on a field trip to DC, have field day, enjoy special parties, and to participate in the 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony.

It was very kind of the school to put together a virtual promotion ceremony.

We watched it all together during school time, so Grant had a good cheering section.

His teacher, Mrs. Leighty, gave a nice speech. 

There was a cute slide show of the 5th graders as babies or toddlers and now. 

Toddler Grant- so adorable!

5th grade Grant- still so adorable and handsome too!

Typically, after the awards assemblies, I check the kids out early.

So, we stuck with tradition and had a fun outing. Grant picked the Wendy's drive through. 

We ate in the car.

Then, we went to Yowell Meadow Park. 

Playgrounds are closed and the skate park was too crowded, but we had a nice two mile walk together.

We stopped to race sticks in the water.

We also tried some wild strawberries. They are edible, but we weren't too impressed. I love this boy and am so proud of his hard work in Elementary school. I enjoyed one on one time with him today.

Natural Bridge

We got a State Parks Pass again. We haven't had one in several years. We think we will be going to a lot of state parks in the upcoming months! I have been to Natural Bridge with kids on field trips, but Danny had never been. It is beautiful and everyone really enjoyed the outing!