Beginnings and Endings

Today was the last day of school for Rachel.  Her very last day as a kindergartener!  This year has gone by very fast and we couldn't have asked for a better teacher for her.  They fit together perfectly!  Rachel has loved her class, her teacher, learning all that she has, her friends, etc.  She has mixed feelings about school being out and going into the first grade.  She wants to be in first grade, but she doesn't want to leave behind Mrs. Reynolds!  

Here are a few pictures I took of her this morning... Compare them to the one of her first day of school. I think she looks a lot older now!

First day pic:

 

And tonight was Rachel's first swim meet.  This is the first year she has swam on the neighborhood swim team.  She's had practice for almost two weeks now and is really liking it.  They had a practice meet tonight, so it was just their team there.  She was ready and jumped right in - and went nowhere fast.  It was her first time - so she can only improve from here right?!?  

Let's just say she likes stopping and holding on to the lane ropes...  

Hanging out before she swam.

Group picture of most of the 5/6's and 7/8's...

Almost her turn!  She's in the middle (Michael is in the gray shirt - he was a timer tonight).

Jackson was there with us, naturally... He didn't care a thing about watching the swimming... and I couldn't watch the swimming because of him running around. Oh boy... I wish he would have wanted to play on my phone the whole time...bad, but still!

Rachel's Sixth Birthday

My baby turned six years old Thursday!  We started out her day with a special birthday breakfast and she got to open one gift - the original Pinkalicious book.  She loves Pinkalicious right now!

She got to pick where we went to dinner and she chose FireHouse Subs... Not my favorite, but it was her day!

When we got home that night, she got to open her other presents... A children's Bible and her new baby doll, Ayla.  She loves this baby.  

Michael and I spent the next few hours making these cake pops to take to her class the next morning... They didn't turn out as I had expected and I don't plan on doing them again... 

Saturday morning, she got to have a friend party at the playground (like we did a couple of years ago).  She had a Pinkalicious birthday party.  Here are the cupcakes that I made for the party - they are like the ones in the book.  

Daddy decorated for us while we got Jackson's hair trimmed and Rachel's hair braided.  She LOVES to have her hair braided and I just can't do it.  So, since it was her special day, we went for it.  

And the rain held out for us - thank goodness.  We got really nervous the day before because all of a sudden it was supposed to rain all day on Saturday, but it didn't!  Yay!

Rachel playing with her friends.

Eating pizza and cupcakes.  

Jackson sure enjoyed his cupcake!

Instead of doing goodie bags, we gave them a bottle of water with a personalized label on it.  

Jackson had fun playing at the playground too!

That afternoon was the gymnastics event and then we came back to the house and had dinner with some our family.  

This Pinkalicious beach towel is awesome - both Rachel and Jackson love it.  

They both loved having Nana there for the weekend.  I tried to get a few more pictures of them with her because we don't see her as often.  Rachel was sooooo sad to see her go that night.  

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider...

Our 6 year old!

Saying goodbye...

He was leaving too...

Rachel had a very good birthday week.  This has been an extremely busy last couple of weeks for us.  And Rachel only has three days of school left now!  Can you believe that?  Kindergarten is almost over...