The kids have been waiting years for this vacation and we were so excited that our family was finally able to plan this trip. In January we told them it should happen in 2018 and then for various reasons we eventually ended up letting them know it would be in May, but we kept the actual day a secret because a) its fun and b) Lorelei tends to get anxious for trips, even though she doesn't want to be!
Our flight didn't leave very early, so we let the kids get ready for school before we told them. (Again, I'm not sure I will intentionally miss the last week of school again because it makes already-chaotic May even crazier, but it was our choice for this time!)
Surprise!
Brad and I had carry-on envy this trip. Aunt Heather got the kids carry-on luggage for Christmas and boy was that awesome. So amazing having two kids old enough to have their own bags at the airport. Carry-on is the only way we will fly from now on after too many times of airlines loosing luggage!
They watched Dolphin Tale on the flight there.
We were in the bottom part
of this house named "Lower Deck"
We found a sweet beach house that was built around 1928. Although it was not decorated to its full potential, it is all about the location, which was awesome. 100-150 steps from the ocean was just perfect for us. I absolutely loved the patio for all our meals.
Our walk to the beach from the house.
Couldn't resist getting this when we shopped. :)
We had to grocery shop right after flying in, so we quickly picked up pizza for supper and then couldn't resist a quick visit to the beach before bedtime. We got to experience the ocean with a rainbow, which was a first for all of us!
Her happy place.
Getting a start on his shell collection the first night.
The people who owned the rentals had a couple of cats who wondered around the area.
Of course the kids were elated about this. :)
Lorelei's Ear Model (From first semester, but I kept forgetting to take a pic.)
For this Oreo-lovin' kid, moon phases with Oreos was a big hit.
Math facts...I kinda thought this math kid wouldn't mind the timed tests, but turns out they stress him out.
This was a look of relief one morning that he finished 30 in 1 minute.
Lorelei has had several Science projects this year.
This Solar system mobile was a fun one.
Makin isn't in love with one series yet, now that he has listened/read Magic Tree House several times over.
Mrs. White came up with several different books for their group, and Flat Stanley was probably one of his favs.
One idea Makin gave me for his home days to be more fun - competitions...this is to earn extra tickets.
(One example...how many minutes you will jump on the trampoline...)
We didn't keep up with this as much as I would have liked, but our home days get so busy! Will hope to do better next year.
He took his cat research seriously.
He then built a habitat in a shoebox and made a cat out of clay.
Lorelei's Skin Model
Lorelei worked on researching and presenting about a famous inventor for history this year. I was thrilled to learn about George Washington Carver alongside her as she did some of her research online. When it came time to put together her board for the Inventors Fair her creative side came out. She was able to talk intelligently about her inventor while teaching the other students and parents all about him. She was thrilled she won second prize at the fair! :)
Teachers
I can't say it enough...GCA finds amazing teachers. We are so blessed and thankful for them.
Mrs. Rhine...she pushes her students to excel and I love that about her. I had a teacher at this age who set high expectations and took no excuses and I know he made all of us better students. 3rd grade is such a big year of maturing academically and she is a great fit for that age! I also loved that she gave us options for extra projects but didn't require all of them so that we could do what best fits our student. One sweet memory of her is when I happened to see her explaining an English lesson wearing a crown and talking in a fancy voice to help them remember what kind of sentences are imperative. (I think...she did lots of these little things for English.) Lorelei loved having her as her teacher this year.
Mrs. White...oh its hard to express how much we love her. She almost makes you want to have one more just so they can have her for a teacher. She has such a way with her students that they just love going to school and makes learning so fun. She makes you feel like your child is so important and special. Makin absolutely adored her and wants to take her to second grade. ;) He also commented that he learned a lot this year in first grade.
End-Of-School Photos and Celebration (Spoiler Alert...Stahl vacation post coming soon)
So, I'm pretty sure I'll never choose to take a vacation the last week of school again, BUT a friend had this great idea when I told her I was a bit disappointed that our usual end-of-school traditions wouldn't happen...So, last day of school pics are in the sand instead of written in chalk on the driveway, and we found a phenomenal ice cream place for our "last day" celebration.
Lorelei has absolutely loved her hula class this semester. She comes home and wants to keep practicing and teaching her dance routine to anyone who would like to learn it. So thankful for this affordable program and her sweet teacher. She is signed up for the hula camp they are offering in June and is excited to have Jaedynn join her as well. She is also planning to take hula again this fall.
This program goes all out for their recital, and we had several practices leading up to their performance. While this was hard on our bedtimes, it definitly worked the kinks out for the day of the performance. Lorelei did a great job! We felt very blessed to have a couple of special visitors who came just to watch! Nana and Aunt Heather made the trip to our place over the weekend and it was fun having them with us in the audience to watch our girl.
Dress Rehearsal Shots
Soooo thankful Aunt Heather could do L's hair for the performance!
Nana learning some hula moves!
Aunt Heather too!
Miss Celestine
(I will be adding the professional pics at the end of this when they come in!!!)
One of the many things we love about going to a University Model School are the opportunities our kiddos wouldn't have without it. The school musical is definitly one of those. I have been happy for them not to have parts yet, although it has been discussed, so we may be in for a lot more practices someday...for now I have enjoyed the minimal practices and an awesome show.
They loved the songs from this musical (Danny and The Shacks) even better than the last and we listened to them every chance we had in the car. Lorelei also added "fire dancer" to her list of jobs and loved getting to do this during one of the songs with the other girls in her class.
(Disclaimer...I showed up to the dress rehearsal this year with my nice camera to take pictures for yearbook. Also the perfect chance to get shots of my own kiddos without those other silly parents in the way. ;) I think I'll try and do this every year if allowed! Wouldn't have many good shots from the actual performance!)
It is VERY difficult to get a good fire dance shot, so you get half her face. ;)
"Israelites! Israelites! Punch two-three-four, run two-three-four, HUGH!"
Nayeli, Lorelei, Maddy and Reagan
Nayeli and Lorelei
Jaedynn and Lorelei
For those who want to see some snippets from the performances Brad put them together...
Golf Scramble
Most of you know Brad is an idea man. Well, he mentioned a while ago that he would love to organize a school golf scramble. Although I was a little concerned it would be a lot for him to juggle, I knew he would just have to learn that the hard way. (And he did!) After doing some calling around he found the ideal location, got the school board's approval, and got busy organizing. He did do an amazing job, almost entirely on his own. We hope that next year he has a few more helpers. :) He got many compliments, and the staff and participants were pretty excited about the prizes he got donated. Proud of that guy for working so hard for his school community. We heard encouragement from one of the dads who played in the tournament even though he had not golfed in years but signed up and had fun..."Thanks so much for setting up the tournament. Best GCA event ever."
Oh and of course, we cannot forget our two kiddos.
Makin has just been ecstatic to get more golf in and he was thrilled to be on his dad's team for his first-ever golf scramble. He was the youngest participant this year, with the only other youth golfers being two 7th graders. He won "youth long putt" (Brad said it was about a 6 foot putt. Makin jumped up and down when he made it and then danced all the way back to the golf cart.) and was elated to win the prize of an automatic putting system. Their team won second place overall, and Makin contributed to his team with them using one chip and about eight of his putts. He did have the best drive of his life, which he was excited about as well.
While Lorelei doesn't have the boy's enthusiasm for golf (yet...?) she has her dad's entrepreneurial spirit. She decided this tournament was the perfect opportunity to have her first bake sale. (All profits going to the school of course.) It was a smashing success!
Loaded up with prizes and supplies for the scramble.
Sooooo glad to get it out of our house!
Their bake sale ran from 11 AM- 7 PM and they were quite proud of their sales.
Mrs. White lives in this neighborhood and was sweet enough to stop by and get some goodies.
Charlie rode along with the boys for the front nine.
Bakes sale stop at hole #10 and thrilled Dad bought him brownies. :)
Mrs. Rhine...she pushes her students to excel and I love that about her. I had a teacher at this age who set high expectations and took no excuses and I know he made all of us better students. 3rd grade is such a big year of maturing academically and she is a great fit for that age! I also loved that she gave us options for extra projects but didn't require all of them so that we could do what best fits our student. One sweet memory of her is when I happened to see her explaining an English lesson wearing a crown and talking in a fancy voice to help them remember what kind of sentences are imperative. (I think...she did lots of these little things for English.) Lorelei loved having her as her teacher this year.
