Wrapping Up

May is done! This is not news, and it's been a week already since we started June, but I am finally getting my pictures downloaded and thought I would officially say farewell to the craziest month of the year so far with a blog post, so here we go.

Before I do the pictures, and the explanations, I need to say that we still do not know a date for Tony P.'s surgery. I really am frustrated by this, and was hoping to hear today, which would mean we would go in on June 21, but since we haven't, I'm guessing if it happens at all this month, it will be the last week of June. Now that I've written that down, my hopes is that I will be contradicted and will get a call tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime, he's been happily coming along with me to all of these events, mostly dressed in his Tigger suit, and often times confined to his stroller to reduce the risk of him running away. He's been a pretty good sport the last couple of weeks, since most of the things we've done have been things he's only been able to observe, but once in awhile he gets to do something fun, and I think that makes the rest of the sitting time ok. I hope so. Anyway, that's the update for him.

As for the rest of us, we finished May with a special art lesson for Missy Mae, a trip to our favorite National Park for our 3rd annual May long weekend with our friends, Ray's swim meet and my choir concert, and then started June with the girls' school track meet and a triathlon. It has been a very fun couple of weeks, but very busy as well. I have a lot of great pictures from these events, but will try to only post some of the ones that best show what we've been up to. And as usual, I apologize if I seem overly proud of my kids, but hopefully anyone who is a mom and reading this will understand.

Missy Mae's art lesson with her "hero" and PWL's artist uncle. She learned shading, which she is now doing on every picture she colors, and some other very helpful skills. I'm so glad we have family around who is willing and able to teach our kids more about the things they love to do, since neither PWL or I know anything about this talent that Missy Mae has. But we're really good at praising her for the great creations she comes up with!

I love this picture. This is from May long weekend, where we were trying to get one with all the kids together, and one of the little girls wouldn't go without her dad. Her dad is hiding behind the rest of the kids, with her on his shoulders. Since this was the 5th try, the rest of the kids were sick of standing there, so they're all trying to run away. But aren't they cute?

On the top of the Bear's Hump. They all did the hike, and only the 5 month old baby was carried...the whole way.

Warming up for the final swim meet of the season.

Ray won "Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Year" for her swim club this year. We were pretty excited for her - she really has worked so hard this year and made huge improvements.

At the end of the choir concert, where both choirs were singing together. It was a great concert, and a nice way to end the choir year.

Missy Mae at the starting line of the 75 m sprint. She was a trooper - the weather was terrible that day, and she just kept competing in each event and doing really well. I was so proud of her.

Nothing quite like the start of a 400 m run to show you who cares about winning the most. Look at the kid in the white shirt and black pants - she's seriously committed to her race. She did well, and I was once again reminded that her athletic abilities come directly from her dad, not at all resembling my previous performances at track meets, thank goodness.

The girls at the end of track and field day. I was glad I braved the cold and stuck around, and PWL even came to watch a few events. This was the first year that their elementary school offered a track and field day to all of the kids in school, not just division 2 kids. I hope they'll continue doing all the events for all the kids, because I know my kids had a blast.

At the triathlon, after both girls had finished their races. Missy Mae did a 25 m swim, 0.8 km bike, and 0.25 km run. Ray did a 100 m swim, 5 km bike, and 1.5 km run. Both girls tried so hard and did great, and I think they felt good about how much they had accomplished that day.

PWL also did the triathlon, and was super speedy. He was still going strong at the end of the run, so I'm betting it won't be the last one of these that he does. Nothing like a good race to keep you motivated. I was a very proud spectator that day.

My three little triathletes.

But even with all these pictures, the one that still gives me the biggest smile is this one...

And here's what I have planned for the rest of June...