Last Day of School Fun

I know, I know... I'm really behind in my blog posts! Summer got very busy for us right out of the gates! June 14th was the last day of school for Ryan and Charlie. They were so excited. It warmed my heart so much to hear their anticipation of the last day of school excitement and the upcoming days of summer. It made me remember how much I loved the last day of school too.

Charlie wanted to dress like a "grown up" for the last day of school since she be a big kindergartener now. Honestly... she looks more like a rapper but whatever little miss Chuckie! She certainly has a distinctive style. Now that I think about it... I don't think daddy has seen this picture yet. Oops, I hope that goes over well ;)

Can you spot Charlie with her hat and glasses?

(She is so sneaky... normally they are not allowed to wear hats or sunglasses in class but she thought she could "get away with it" since it was the last day of school. Smart cookie!)

P.S. Right click on this pic to zoom in on Charlie's face. She looks so stinkin' proud of herself. I love that girl!

After I left Charlie's class, I headed over to Ryan's breakfast party in her class.

This is her table. She often gave me the "It's not fair" speech because her table never got a lot of table points even though Ryan was perfectly behaved. there was a certain little someone at her table that would tend to sabotage their point earning potential... poor perfect Ry-Ry... hard for her to understand.

Ryan and a couple of her besties... Lilly and McKenna



Silly 1st grade class picture! Look how tall Miss Ry-Ry is!

After school, the tradition is to go to the bay! The girls were amazed at how many of their friends were there! Seriously every single one of these kids in these pictures is from the girls' school. It's a very cool tradition. Speaking of cool... the coast guard came by to keep the kids entertained and certainly cool in the heat!

Charlie and one of her besties... Ava

(in their matching cover ups)

Precious.

Happy Summer to all!

A Day at the Bay!

So, today is the first day of summer for the girls and me. You would think by these pictures that we celebrated by heading to the bay. No... unfortunately this is the first chance I've had to catch up on the blog in a while. I love having a little more time on my hands :-)

Ryan and Charlie's school had a "student free day" a couple of weeks back... a bunch of moms and kids made the most out of the day and headed to the bay! What a fun way to celebrate a random day off! Our version of a "snow day" I suppose...LOL!

Can you spot the Grace Girls in this photo???

Happy summer everyone!

Bridging to Brownies

It seems like every day there is a new event that reminds me that my babies are growing up. Whoa, make it stop! Last week Ryan had her "bridging" ceremony. This is a ceremony celebrated by all girls scouts of all ages that shows that you are moving up to the next level in the girl scout chain. This year's bridging ceremony, for the Graces, marked the milestone of Ryan moving from being a Daisy to an official Brownie!

We took some memorable pictures of the event...

Ryan and bestie, Kendall, were both chosen for important jobs for the ceremony. Kendall was in charge of carrying the flag across the bridge and Ryan was a caller. She had to memorize several important lines (mommy, was nervous)

Even serious jobs have a little silliness involved, right?



Our troop, #407, led all of the troops across the bridge.

The ceremony is held annually at the CSULB Japanese Gardens. Even though I work in Long Beach and earned my teaching credential at the university, I had never seen the gardens. They are truly breathtaking. Beauitful.

The "callers" Ryan and Ava did a great job.

"Girl Scouts Attention."

"Girl Scouts Advance."

"Please stand for the presentation of the American Flag."

"Girl Scouts, post your colors."

"Girl scouts, honor your colors."

"Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance."

Girl Scouts, you are dismissed."

"Please be seated."

Whoooo, that was a lot of lines to remember... It didn't help that we didn't practice until that morning (shhhh, don't tell... it was a busy week for mommy)

Here are the girl scouts "advancing."

the Pledge of Allegiance

Our big girl has successfully waled across the bridge to as is now bridged as a brownie!
What a fun metaphor for the experience. Metaphor??? Pretty literal, huh?

After a two (long) hour ceremony, the girls are now officially brownies.

(PS.... in that two hours mommy at least figured out that the years that Charlie and Ryan bridge will be at the ssame ceremony. Phew, we will only do this once every two years. Another of my friends, simultaneously, figured out that her daughters will be on opposite "bridging" schedules and she will get to come to this lucky, two hour ceremony, every year... Yay, for her!...LOL)

yes, I admit, this ceremony was long, dull, and boring but I will GLADLY attend to show my support to girl scouts and Ryan's leaders. They are phenominal! Ryan is getting such a great experience in learning about morals, respect, trustworthiness, and friendship! It's awesome.

Proud Troop #407!

(Quiz: Can you guess what the leaders had for snack afterward?)