Gracie's Graduation

And Gracie has graduated kindergarten. I just can't believe it.

Last Thursday night. 6:30 PM. It lasted about an hour. Kyle and mom came in for the occassion. YiaYia wanted to, but she's travelling in Paris. My dad couldn't come either. His last day of school was Friday.

I volunteered to do the slideshow for the entire class. It ended up being frustrating at times. Especially with everything else that is/was going on at work. It's just been crazy with new business pitches and doing just about everything under the sun. It didn't help that I was in NYC Monday - Wednesday before the graduation. In the end, though, it was a special task to undertake. I was able to see 29 kids' lives from birth to graduation kindergarten. It's such an important milestone and I'm just grateful that I was able to document it for all of the children and parents. I got very sentimental a few times with Gracie.

Gracie said a bible verse and actually sang on stage this time. Not by herself, but with all the others, which is a departure of her just looking around and acting shy on stage while everyone else sings - that's seemed to the habit up until now. She also won the Little Miss Sunshine Award which is awarded to the person who is gifted at cheering people up and always having a smile on her face.

She walked in by herself, all the way up to the stage, in her cap and gown and got her diploma.

I just can't believe that this time is here. The sobering realization that we can't any of the time - captured by 8 pictures of Gracie in the slideshow - before Thursday night back. It's a reminder to do whatever I can to be present while I'm with the family. Because I just can't get the time back. And it's just too precious.

I just can't believe it.

Gracie's Sunday

Goodness gracious Gracie. That girl and her clothes. She got new pink flower sandals yesterday. We told her that she couldn't wear them to church this morning because it was cold and rainy. So, she didn't wear them. Until we got into the van where she had stashed them in her purse. We look down in church and see that she had changed into them. And there, in her purse were her mary janes. Oy vei.

After church, she said that she would get a sticker if she was able to recite the Lord's Prayer next Sunday. So we asked her if she knew it. And she started reciting it. She recited the whole thing with a little help from me and Steph. Already.

And then at dinner tonight, she started saying it, but left quite a bit out. We'll work on it.

Great Wolf Lodge

We did the Lodge! Last Tuesday, we met Andrea,YiaYia and the cousins at GWL and spent a couple of days with them. It was such a great break. The highlights:

1. On Monday night when I told the kids I had a surprise for them, they waited with baited breath (Stephanie screaming from the other room, "Don't say it!!!). I wasn't going to. I told them, "Daddy's going to pick you up from school tomorrow." And they all screamed with joy and rolled on the bed together! It was an awesome moment.
2. They didn't know where we were going until we picked them up from school on Tuesday. Eventually, Gracie guessed it. She's a detective. Got her dad in her that way. I love it.
3. Gracie and Nick love the water and waterparks. Max not so much.
4. Gracie went down every single slide that she could, without fear. There were only two that she couldn't go down and she really wanted to. Nick went down all of them he could, which were only a couple. We basically threw Max down the same ones. He didn't voluntarily go on them again. He was just fine floating around the little kiddie area and climbing on and off the jetskis.
5. We didn't play the wand game and thank goodness (although I was fascinated w/ the technology). Kids were running up and down the different floors of the hotel doing this thing and I can't imagine what it would have been like wrangling our 3 doing that thing.
6. One night, two half days there is the perfect time. And it was great only having to drive 1 hour back home.
7. Downtown Grapevine is charming. Alot like downtown Wylie. We ate at Napolis. Great canolis. Everything else was just OK.

And we probably won't go back anytime soon. We came, we saw, we kicked it's butt.