Given Grace: Rewind to May

May was by far our busiest month! Jenna had her preschool graduation, ballet program, a family camping trip, and a trip to Nashville to visit Cathy! Be prepared - there are a lot of pictures!

Camping:
We typically go camping twice a year - once with just our family and once with some friends. We tend to camp earlier in the summer in May or June and then camp with our friends at the end of the summer in September. The kids LOVE going camping! Any parent who's taken their kids camping knows just how much work it is to go. I would not consider it a vacation for the parents, but it's definitely worth it for the kids. I love that they get to experience camping, hiking in the woods, wading in the creek, sleeping in a tent under the stars, cooking up smores over the campfire, and toodling around the campsite on their bikes and scooters. So many great memories for them (and us)!

Smore time - their favorite!

All smiles as usual

A favorite of theirs - wading in the creek.

Hannah truly loves the water. Drew would dunk her legs and arms in the water and whenever he lifted her out, she'd cry. He'd put her back in and she would smile and splash around. She just can't get enough! :)

Preschool Graduation:
Jenna went to Troy Christian School this past year for preschool. She enjoyed her time there, and although we'd love to continue sending them, it's just too expensive. However, I'm glad we got to experience it for a year and give Jenna that opportunity. At the end of the school year they had a preschool graduation. Drew was traveling that week, so he wasn't able to attend, but my parents came.

All dressed up and ready to graduate

They have become so close! I love seeing them together.

Yes, she was a good "head" above her classmates. I wonder how many parents questioned how many years she flunked out of preschool because she looks to be about 8-years old. :)

They even got to wear caps.

Preschool diploma

Jenna with her teacher Mrs. Sando (on the right) and the teacher's aide Mrs. Sergent (on the left).

Jenna with her best friend, Travis.

Ballet Performance:
We signed Jenna up for ballet this past year. They met once a week from September-May and then had their big performance at the end of May. Her ballet teacher was great! Very patient with the kids and she taught them the technical "old school" ballet moves. Jenna enjoyed aspects of it; however, when I asked if she wanted to do it again this year, she said no. I think it was a little boring for her because they just did the same things over and over (to prepare for the performance). I'm glad she did it though.

Jenna with her teacher - Ms. Cyndi

Performance night

My mom and sister joined us and my Dad arrived just before it started (unbeknownst to us) and just sat in the back. I'm glad they were all able to be there. I know it meant a lot to Jenna!

Jenna with her classmates

We got a sitter for Hannah because we figured she wouldn't be able to sit quietly through the whole performance since it was about 2 hours long (preschool through 12th grade).

Nashville Trip:
Drew's sister, Cathy, moved from Denver, CO to Nashville, TN recently and now that she's "close" to us we wanted to go visit her!! We had a great weekend seeing her apartment, her workplace, hanging out, visiting a new church with her, and just spending time together. I'm looking forward to going back again - I love that she's only 6 hours away now! To us, that's definitely doable! Most of these pictures are from Cathy, so some of you might have already seen these before, but I wanted to include them on our blog as well.

Hannah's first time in pigtails!

They love their Aunt Cathy!

Aunt Cathy has the touch - Hannah's sound asleep!

Visiting a local farmers market

Of course we have to eat too, right?! Drew couldn't pass up the crepe stand.

Cathy had Jenna and Grant spend the night with her in her apartment. They LOVED it! Special memories with their Aunt Cathy!

They both love their coffee.

And of course we had to try out her apartment complex pool. The water was terribly COLD, so Cathy and I held down some chairs on the side while Drew and the kids enjoyed the pool. I love how kids don't care about the temperature - they'll swim no matter what, even Hannah!

Water balloons at a park

Our good Cedarville friend, Andy Allgrim, also lives in the Nashville area, so we met up with him at the Aquarium Restaurant at Opry Mills. It was a fun treat for the kids and we enjoyed time catching up with Andy.

Drew, Andy, and Hannah

We had to get our picture taken with the guitar since we're in Nashville!

I let Jenna and Grant have the camera so they could take pictures of the fish, plus it kept them busy so we could talk with Andy. Here's a picture Jenna took of us at the table.

The kids in front of the aquarium.

A better view of the sea life behind them...and even a scuba diver.

A family picture in front of the aquarium

There's a gift shop outside the restaurant and the kids found these fun hats.

Random Pictures:

Jenna and I on the school bus headed to her Mom's Day outing for preschool.

We went to a pottery place and the kids got to decorate tiles.

Grant taking a bubble bath in our "jet bath". I think that's why the bubbles are so big - the jets helped "plump" them up.

We watched Bentley and Aiden one evening, so we had Kelley bring the PJs so we could bathe them and have them ready for bed. Grant had the exact same pair of PJs as Bentley, so they were twins for the night.

This month Jenna learned how to ride her bike without training wheels!

Drew took them to the dirt pile down the street from our house.

Once again, here's Hannah in the grocery cart with the wrap we bought her (only $10), hoping that will help stabilize her while shopping. Here's how she looks when I first put her in the cart. (I'll usually put my bag next to her to help prop her).

Then as the trip goes on she starts looking like this...

And by the end she's like this. No, she's not sleeping (despite what 99% of passer-byers say) - she's just slumped over and can't get herself back up. Plus she has a hard time keeping herself upright when she's having to stabilize her hips, torso, and head/neck. So "back to the drawing board" to find something else that will help while grocery shopping.

Jenna's LAST day of Preschool

Snuggled up with her pet puppy

Lunch outdoors

This is a chair that Hannah's OT is letting us borrow. It gives her something to sit in so she doesn't always have to lay on the ground. The boppy pillow helps act as a tray to put some toys on, although they don't stay there long - she loves throwing things off the tables and trays.