I Want To Be Your Personal Penguin

McKenzie had her first school concert last week and it was pretty cute to see all the kids singing together.  The first grade classes have been studying the polar regions for quite a while and they put together an entire concert with song and poems about polar bears and penguins.  McKenzie was very excited about this performance and had been sharing bits and pieces with us at home but it was even better to see all the kids signing their hearts out.  They made adorable hats that were a polar bear on the front and a penguin face on the back and switched halfway through the concert.

Here is part of the group - McKenzie's class is most of the kids in the picture.  A very fun group of kids!

Here's our personal penguin - that was McKenzie's favorite song of the evening and mine too!

McKenzie and her proud Daddy after the show!

Lady Bugs!

One weekend day when McKenzie and I were doing the grocery shopping we took a quick trip through the garden section to grab something and discovered a pack of lady bug hanging there on a hook.  We didn't think twice, we picked out a pack and brought it home for our garden.  It was amazing how the lady bugs just were crawling all around in the pack not even bothered that they were being sold at a store.  On the last day of school we opened up the lady bugs and set them free.  At first the garden was crawling with them but gradually they all went their separate ways.  

One of our pumpkin or zucchini leaves crawling with the lady bugs.  They were very happy to be out of the package!

  

A broader view, with them crawling over the entire patch of leaves.  They didn't really fly away, just crawled all over exploring the outside world.

Our little nature lover letting lady bugs crawl on her hands and arms.  She loved letting them go in our garden.  We will definitely be looking for another pack next year.

Schools Out For Summer!

McKenzie is officially done with her first year of school - kindergarten is behind her and she's looking forward to a nice long fun summer of fun!  She has grown so much this year, both in terms of getting taller and in growing up.  I can't believe how fast the time went, it seems like just yesterday she was learning to walk.  Before I know it I'll be posting her graduation pictures.

McKenzie was very fortunate this year to have a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Evans, who was so sweet and kind with just the right mix of structure.  Her favorite things from kindergarten were the monkey bars at recess, macaroni day and the science experiments her class did.

Batter Up!

Both the kids played t-ball again this year and had a lot of fun with their teams.  McKenzie's team was allowed to hit without the tee if they could get it in the first six pitches.  She did great and really connected with the ball a few times.  It was fun to watch their skills improve and to see them get into the game.  This year they were on separate teams and that helped to keep them focused and on task.  Baseball is a tough sport for these little guys because they have to stand around and wait so much for it to be there turn.

McKenzie getting ready for the pitch to come in - she kept the other teams on their toes with her left hand batting.

Ben swinging hard to hit a home run for his team.  The last batter of each inning clears the bases so everyone gets a home run every once in a while.

Sweet Six

After McKenzie's birthday bash with her friends we still had her actual birthday to celebrate.  She lucked out on two counts, first that it fell on a weekend and also that Grandma and Grandpa C were in town.  We head a nice morning at home with a special breakfast where I broke out my 'You Are Special Today Plate' and then we headed to a picnic at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa C, Aunt Renee, Uncle Nick, Aunt Kacey, Uncle Eric, Nathan and Kayla.  The sun even showed up to make the day perfect for the beach.

Here was what McKenzie woke up to on her birthday morning.  I loved these beautiful flowers I found this year - so cheerful and bright.  This is one of my favorite traditions for their birthdays - watching them remember it's their birthday when they come downstairs in the morning.

Fun at the park with the cousins - how could McKenzie not enjoy her special day when there was monkey bars to swing on?

Cousin Kayla and McKenzie opening gifts at the park - we celebrated Kayla's birthday too since she is also a June baby.

Two interesting things happened while we were eating lunch, first this airplane went past us on a train - pretty amazing to see this up close.  It was huge and it just glided slowly past the park like it was no big deal.  The second is a funny story about Ben.  He was eating Cheetos and I had a cherry and set my pit on his plate.  He was just eating away when suddenly he screamed 'I lost a tooth!' and we all looked over at him since none of his teeth were loose.  Then he showed me his hand, which contained the cherry pit.  I told him 'Oh, that's not a tooth' and the look of horror on his face was priceless as he said 'What is that???' We all had a good laugh over that.

The whole bunch of us - putting up with my desire to take group pictures using the timer setting on my phone.  This time we lucked out and got some good pictures.  My Grandma C would love to see us all there together.

Tiny hands holding a tiny crab, luckily no one got pinched!

After lunch we explored the park and did some Geocaching, on the way we stopped to take this picture with Grandma and Grandpa C by the lighthouse.  This will probably be Nathan's all time favorite family picture.

All in all it was a great day and a wonderful way to celebrate McKenzie turning six!

Tickled Pink

For McKenzie's sixth birthday she wanted to be pampered with her friends and get their toes and hair done.  This seemed doable but was made into some truly special with the discovery of a kids day spa right down the road from our house at the Country Village.  The spa is called Tickled Pink and boy was it ever pink.  Almost every surface inside was some shade of pink.  The girls loved it and it was a very low key birthday party to host.  McKenzie got to invite six friends from school and then her girl cousins.

They had everything setup up just for little girls to have the time of their lives - with pink slippers and bathrobes, karaoke, costumes and a make your own scented lotion activity. McKenzie loved every second of it!

 Miss McKenzie with her hair all fancy and a birthday girl crown on!

The adorable line up of little feet soaking in warm water and bubbles - so sweet!

Getting ready for their walk down the pink carpet. Trying out accessories and funny mustaches and glasses.

McKenzie walking on the pink carpet - they were dancing up a storm.

More costume fun!  What more could little girls want then to be made beautiful and then get to play dress up and dance.

Oh of course, yes cupcakes can make even the most fun time even better.  McKenzie was very excited for the cupcakes and for her friends to sing Happy Birthday to her.  I wish she could stay little like this forever. Where did the first six years go?

A Celebration of Life

At the end of April Matt's Grandpa Zaremba passed away after a long life filled with family and friends.  It was wonderful that so many of his great grandkids got to meet him and spend time with him.  He found a special place in Ben's heart after Ben got to take several trips over with Matt and Grandpa Z to visit this past year.  Ben refers to him as Old Grandpa and always loved the treasures that he found when visiting him.  Priceless memories and some very special items just perfect for a four year old boy with a big imagination.  His funeral was a very nice celebration of this life filled with family, friends and many stories of his life.

Here's Matt and his little man Ben all dressed up.

McKenzie and Ben loving on cousin Conor.

McKenzie and cousin Claire in their matching dresses looking beautiful.

The legacy continuing with Grandpa and Grandma Z and their grandbabies.