Summer Starts!

May is always a crazy month at our house.  We kicked off the fun with a Mother's Day breakfast (muffins and juice) at Second Friends, hosted by Hadley's class.  It was so special.

Hadley's bookmark said "I love Mommy because.....she helps me figure out all my stuff."

A special gift

We also celebrate Brandon's birthday on May 11th...we enjoyed a nice evening out with dinner at Ruth's Chris, our absolute favorite steak place.  It is rare for both of us to look even remotely decent in the same picture, so I had to post this:

I got a good picture with Connor, too, before we headed out:

May also means we begin to explore our summer fun destinations.  We bought a season pass to the Kansas City Zoo for the first time this year along with passes to Worlds and Oceans of Fun.  Hooray!

Zoo fun:

We took an afternoon away from school to play at the Zoo with Grandma Carlson.  The kids thought this was top notch!

Two cuties in front of the Zoo entrance

Worlds of Fun:

The end of the school year was bittersweet for us.  We were all definitely ready for summer to begin, but we had some good-byes to say first.  Kylee's teacher, Mrs. Graber, retired, so the class had a retirement celebration for her on the last day of school.  

Kylee with Mrs. Graber

Summer also meant saying "good-bye" to our neighbors of 9 years.  They moved back to Nebraska, which is home for them.  Our kids have grown up together and so many fun hours were spent with each other.  We will miss them....A LOT.  Here they are right before the neighbors loaded up in the car to leave:

A new family moved in next door and Connor is especially excited that there are two boys to play with.  Although they are quite a bit younger, it is good to have new faces around.

We were so glad for lazy days and summer nights!