May Happenings

May was a busy month with end of school year events, a visit from Nana and Granddaddy, and a dance recital!

Graecyn took jazz and tap dance lessons this year and had her first dance recital.  Nana and Granddaddy came to visit for her recital and she did so great!  The recital theme was "Animals on Parade" and her tap dance was performed to "Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band and her jazz dance was performed to "Afro Circus" from the Madagascar movie.  The dances were so cute!  I volunteered to be back stage for the recital and it was fun to be there with her to help with her makeup and costume change.

The end-of-school year is so busy with so many different events.  Graecyn got to go to school with Eric for "take your child to work day".  She had so much fun, but doesn't think it's a job she'd like to have in the future because "she'd have to work a lot and not be able to sit down very much." (haha!)  The teacher's at Eric's school spoiled her with lots of special treats and she also got to go into different classrooms to see what the classes were learning about.

We were so proud to learn that one of Graecyn's art pieces was selected to be displayed at the school-wide art show.  She didn't know what was selected, so it was a fun surprise for all of us to find out at the art show.

Her class got to go on a field trip to a local learning farm and I got picked to go as a chaperone.  It was a rainy day, but was fun!

Field day fun!

Springtime

While the calendar said it was officially spring, it took a long time to actually feel like spring.  We're now in mid-May and it is finally starting to look and feel like spring in Michigan.  We have kept ourselves very busy this spring...

Spring Break

Graecyn's school spring break happened to fall the same week as my 40th (!) birthday.  I had hinted to Eric that I wanted to go somewhere and do something for my 40th and was happy to learn that he had planned a family getaway to Chicago.  It was our first family vacation that didn't involve traveling to visit extended family; with Cody being the typical "trying" 3 year old and still napping daily, it was the perfect trip.  We stayed at a resort about an hour outside of Chicago that had a waterpark, mini golf, game room, etc.  We spent one day in the city and took the kids to Shedd Aquariam.  The kids had a blast and it was a full day!  We spent another day at the waterpark.  It was the perfect size indoor waterpark with a great kids area for Cody and enough waterslides to entertain Graecyn (and Eric and me).  We celebrated my birthday with tacos and margaritas...and Graecyn made me a birthday crown that I wore to the restaurant that said "I am the birthday queen.  All hail the queen.  And my name is Brooke." :-)  The weather was cold and rainy, but we still managed to squeeze in a quick mini golf game...a first for both Graecyn and Cody.  Cody managed to score a hole in one!  It was a great spring break and the best way to start the next decade!

Easter
Easter was in late April this year.  Grandma and Papa made a last minute trip to Michigan to celebrate Easter with us.  We went to Good Friday church, decorated Easter eggs, had an Easter egg scavenger hunt and regular egg hunt.