Memorial Day

A few weeks ahead of time we decided to go to the beach for Memorial Day. Of course, the weather didn't cooperate. So in the morning I checked the tide chart and discovered we were at low tide, so we went to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to check out the tide pools.

The path down to the reserve.  Isn't it a cheerful day?

Turns out, we had a great time.  Rachael loved finding anemones and snails. 

And coral. 

We went to lunch, then stopped at a small shopping area.  Rachael picked out this lollipop that is almost as big as her head.  

We ended up having a great day at the beach, despite the weather!

Dougherty Elementary Open House

Rachael was excited to show me everything in her classroom - even though I volunteer on Friday mornings and I have seen her classroom quite a bit.

Her story about a leprechaun:

Her desk and her American Heroes book.

The behavior chart in the classroom.  They "move their clip up" for good behavior and down for bad behavior.  One day she went straight from "Ready to Learn" to "Above and Beyond" when she told her friends around her that they should be quiet and pay attention.

Great job Rachael!

Grammarsaurus

The 2nd grade classes at Dougherty Elementary put on a musical called Grammarsaurus. It was hilarious. She spent the last two months singing "The Comma Song" and "The Punctuation Song." Each of the five classes sang two songs and had two sets of dialogue. Rachael was in one of the dialogue sets as a Comma Grammarsaurus. She is third form the right in the picture below, with a dinosaur hat on.

Here are links to YouTube with the video clips:

The Comma Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8NhHBuYA0M

Comma Grammarsauri Dialogue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4kMC66yVmA

The Punctuation Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp8cdbguBo0

Aunt Lorie got to come for the performance! It's so great to have family close.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year we took a trip to Yosemite National Park on Saturday.  It was amazing.

On Sunday Rachael made: a picture frame with her picture (a craft from her Primary teacher), a card at school, some roses made of Hershey's kisses (at Activity Day girls), and toast.  And she also brought a chocolate croissant and a Diet Coke.

This was the craft at church today.  I'm in the Primary so I got to watch a lot of kids fill out their papers - it was hilarious to see how many moms were the best at 'Cooking" but the best thing she makes is "Macaroni & Cheese." Rachael was a little outside the box with "Cickin (chicken)."

And my other Mother's Day gift - an orchid.

... and Derby Day

The only good thing about not being in Kentucky for the Derby was being able to go to Lorie and Declan's Derby Party for the first time ever.  So much fun!

Gorgeous invites 

Family picture

(aren't we cute?!?) 

Fun Churchill decorations 

The winners! Coincidentally Ryan and Declan both picked the same three horses for Win Place and Show.  They won with Orb.

Lorie sets a beautiful table

Rachael really wanted a fascinator this year, and we had planned to make a floral one. However, when we came across this adorable yellow bird at the craft store, we couldn't resist. 

Side view.  She loved it!

Star Wars Day...

We had to split our time between Star Wars and the Derby today.  So we started with Star Wars pancakes. And cups.  And ice.

And we made some Star Wars sugar cookies - always a fun tradition.  (I find the silver sprinkles meant for weddings work really well for spaceships.) Ryan and I even wore our Star Wars t-shirts in the morning.  Then on to the Derby...