Carnival Fun with Auntie Tarrish

After visiting Richmond, we drove up an hour further to Spotsylvania, VA & met Tarrish at a HUGE mall there.  There was a carnival going on & we couldn't wait to play with the kids on all the rides.

The big girls begged Auntie Tarrish to take them on this fast spinning throw up ride.  Better her than me.  ha ha ha.  I used to love rides like this until I had kids.  For some reason they make me hurl now.  The girls had a BLAST.

Next everybody got on the Ferris Wheel.  Taya is scared to death of heights so I stayed with her on the ground while everyone else went up.  Craiger LOVED the Ferris Wheel.

Auntie spoiled the kids rotten with over 100 tickets to ride rides, eat treats, & play.

The only ride Canyon was able to ride was the carousel.  He was ADORABLE on it with his Auntie.

BEST PICTURE EVER!!

He got bored of sitting on his horse so he stood instead.

Craiger LOVES carousels.  They are his favorite rides.  He loved this.

We rode SEVERAL other rides like the fun house, spinning dragons, tilt a whirl, & all of us managed to go on the Gravitron (spinning spaceship) which was my favorite as a kid.  About 5 minutes in I realized I wasn't a kid anymore & wanted to puke.  We all came off that ride with pale faces ready to lose our lunch.  We still had a few tickets left so we did the teacups & called it a day.

After the fair we walked around the mall & enjoyed a nice dinner at a Mexican food restaurant there. Their food was delicious & the company was even better.

Thank you Tarrish for taking the time to come out & see us.  We miss our family back West SO much.  It was great seeing you.

Richmond, VA & St. John's Church

Saturday, Tarrish was in the area so we decided to drive up to Richmond to meet her so we could hang out & play a little bit.  We stopped by a park so the kids could use the bathroom when we happened upon a Statue of Liberty.  I don't know why it was there, but the kids thought it was cool so we took a picture.

After the park we visited St. John's church. . . where Patrick Henry gave his infamous

"Give me liberty, or give me death"

speech.  It's really nice living so close to these amazing American historical sites.

George Wythe, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence is also buried there at St. John's church.

The kids enjoyed the trinkets in the gift shop there on the church grounds.

It was a beautiful day & we really enjoyed learning about that little piece of history before meeting up with Tarrish.

Last Day of School

Well, the year has flown by & it's finally officially SUMMER.

The girls all made their end of year candy bar posters for their teachers.  They love making those things.  They do it all by themselves & they always turn out really cute.

I can't believe Cadence is going to be a 6th grader next year.  How does that even happen?????

The kids at her bus stop were great.  This bus stop is going to double in size next year with all the 3rd graders moving up to 4th grade.  It will be fun to see those kids all together next year.  We have great kids in this neighborhood.

Taya is officially a 1st grader now & she can't wait to help her brother be a big boy Kindergartner next year.  I can't believe I'll have 4 in school!!!

And little Miss Lorien is officially a 4th grader & will be moving up to the Sr. Elementary School with Cadence next year.

After school, all the bus stop mom's got together & put together a luau for the kids.  I tell you we have the absolute best bus stop in the world.  We all brought bubbles, leis, popsicles, & ice cream to the bus stop & had a blast.

When the kids stepped off the bus, we put leis over their heads, blew them with bubbles, & let them eat as much ice cream as they could get!  It was a blast.

The kids LOVED their surprise.

The Westside bus always comes a little later than the Carrollton bus, but we put leis on them as well & let them in on all the fun.

This year has been great.  Happy Summer Vacation to the very best bus stop in the world.

Lorien's 3rd Grade Promotion

Also on the last day of school was Lorien's 3rd Grade promotion ceremony.  Here in VA where we live, there is a Jr. Elementary School as well as a Sr. Elementary School.  This was Lorien's last year at the Jr. Elementary & next year she'll be joining Cadence at the Sr. Elementary School.  She's very excited about being at the big school & having her own locker.

For the promotion ceremony, the Principal called every 3rd grader's name (160 of them) to walk across the stage & get their promotion certificate.  Lorien was SO excited to be up there.

Then we got to thank her 3rd grade teacher, Miss Evans, for a great year.  She was a sweet teacher.  Lorien really loved her a lot.

Great job on another great year (straight A's I might add) Lorien.  We are proud of you & SO excited for your new adventures at Westside Elementary School next year as you start 4th grade.