End of Preschool Fun!

While I love my job as a teacher...it his hard to be a teacher and a parent! Unfortunately I end up missing out on some of the fun activities, because Mikayla's last days of school are my last days of school! But I am so glad that James is able to be home with her and can spend these special times with her. He is great at taking pictures...in fact he is probably takes more pictures than I do! So here is a recap of Mikayla's final preschool fun at the zoo and Play World. 

 Mrs. Jaime, Mikayla and Mrs. Mary! 

 Mikayla playing on the wooden train-no trip to John Ball Zoo would be complete without playing on the train! 

 Mikayla and Mrs. Mary(her teacher)

 Mikayla sitting next to the penguin statues-I think the penguins might be her favorite! 

 Fun at Play World-hanging from the rings! 

 Going down the BIG slide!

 Mikayla and Fernando from her class! 

 Bouncing away!

 Goof ball!

One more trip down the slide! 

Mikayla's spring concert and End of preschool recognition

Sorry for the long time between post...there really is no excuse, just hadn't gotten around to posting...so this time it is going to be post overload! I am starting with the end of May. We had a very eventful end of May. Mikayla got very sick and spent a week in the hospital with still an unknown cause of high levels of ammonia in her blood. The doctors never have verified the cause of her high levels of ammonia and we are praying that it doesn't happen again. It was one of our scariest times  in the hospital with many test and many unknowns. But on a good note we were able to get out of the hospital the day before Mikayla had her end of the year concert and celebration of being done with preschool! I can't believe our little girl is going to Kindergarten next year! The concert was very cute and even though Mikayla wasn't at school for many of the rehearsals, she still did a great job joining in singing. Grandma was able to come and watch...here are a few pictures from the day! 

 Mikayla and Britney-her best friend and only other girl in her class-walking into the concert area! 

 Singing!

 Mikayla getting her diploma from Mr. Knol!

 Giving Mrs. Mary a hug and getting her diploma! 

 Grandma reading her diploma to her after the concert while waiting for cookies! 

 Family picture

 Mikayla and Grandma

Mrs. Mary (her teacher for the last 2 years) and Mikayla

While I know Mikayla is going to miss her teachers-Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Sheri-she is SUPER excited about going to Kindergarten. She will be attending the school I am teaching at so it will be fun to have her back at the same school as me. 

Mikayla's 5th Birthday party!

So after the March of Dimes walk we had a few hours and then we started  Mikayla's birthday party! The day began to cloud over and we ended up with a few sprinkles, but then it cleared out again and the sun began to shine. Mikayla and 8 friends had a great time at the party! We asked everyone to dress up as a princess and the girls all came looking so cute! The kids decorated tiaras, did a pinata, made their own pizzas, played pin the jewel on the crown, and had a wonderful cake! From the smiles on faces and the thank-you's from all-I am pretty sure a good time was had by all! Thank you to all our friends for making this such a special day!

Group photo of all the kiddo's-Abby, Brayden (yes the only boy), Ellie, Ella, Emma M., Emma N. Mikayla, Isabel and Britney

The amazing princess castle cake! I am still can't get over how amazing this cake was!

Mikayla and Brayden

Mikayla taking her swing at the pinata...she was first because "the birthday girls always goes first!" I think I was told that several hundred times since we bought the pinata!

Diving for candy--actually the kids did a great  job gracefully getting candy-must've been the princess dresses :)

Making our own pizzas, the kids loved being able to put whatever they wanted on thier pizzas!

Kayla adding LOTS of cheese to hers.

Playing pin the jewel on the crown while we waited for our pizzas to cook.

So glad the weather turned nicer-we were able to have a picnic outside.

Opening presents-Mikayla got the game Sorry and she was so excited about it because she had played it at her Grandma's house the week before and LOVED it! We have already played it once and she knows what to do for all the cards!

Blowing out the candles on the cake.

Having fun outside...she loved having her friends over the play at her house.

Britney, Isabel, Mikayla and Ella-with their decorated crowns!

Our month long birthday celebration is over! Now onto the month long marathon of end of school year activities! I am so looking forward to summer vacation-only 4 weeks of school left and only 22 school days left!

A weekend full of fun!

WOW...what a weekend! We started out Saturday morning with our annual March of Dimes walk. OUr best friends The Agius' family and Mandy came over to walk with us. My mom joined in the fun too! Ever since Mikayla was born prematurely we have participated in this fun activity every year. Every year we pray for the weather-some years it is raining, freezing, warm and cool. This year was on the cooler side with a little sun and a lot of wind! But a fun time was had by all!
It such a wonderful event and it is so awesome now that Mikayla understands it. On our way there, she was talking about the walk last year and then we got into a discussion of why we do the March of Dimes walk each year and how we raise money and she really seems to understand it more and more each year! This year we raised $625 as a family and our team raised over $1185! We are so thankful to all that contributed!
Here are some of the pictures from our day!

 A group photo-from left to right-Alex, Ella, Brayden, Mandy, Sarah, Julie, Mikayla and James!

 Before the walk activity-building a heart shelf from Home Depot! I love that they offer some many wonderful activities to do before the walk starts!

 Jess and Mandy

 Ella, Alex and Brayden building their soccer game!

The girls on the walk...or ride in their case!

 Our group!

 Alex and Brayden-such a happy guy!

After the walk with their prizes for filling out their passport...smiley rings!

Easter fun!

For Easter weekend, we headed to Traverse City for a short 24 hour trip! We met my dad for breakfast Easter morning. We planned on going to church, but Mikayla had a cough and we didn't want to get anyone kids sick if she was contagious. So we met for breakfast and since it was a gorgeous day we went down by the bay to take pictures! After breakfast we headed back to my step-grandma's house for basket and egg hunting and then dinner. It was a fast and fun weekend!

Family picture down by the bay!

Mikayla with Papa!

Mikayla with her Easter basket full of goodies!

Kalyn and Mikayla egg hunting! (Kalyn was the flower girl in our wedding-she is growing up so fast!)

Emptying the goodies out of the eggs...M & M's and money! Mikayla's favorites!