Our Time to Shine! May 2016 - Part 2

As is always the case, the end of the school year is a time to showcase all the girls many talents and accomplishments from the year.  We were able to go to Aly's Chorus concert, which had a 70's type theme going on.  Love Aly in her ascot!  (Her singing wasn't 1/2 bad either. ;)> )

Aly also finished strong with track.  Her heart is definitely in it.  I know it was super frustrating when injuries held her back and kept her body from doing what her mind wanted it to.  Loved seeing Chris coach and mentor her through it.  

As for the other girls, there was of course the long anticipated Dance Show.  This Spring the theme was "Musicals".  It was awesome, as always.  We had everything from Hairspray to High School Musical, West Side Story to Phantom of the Opera, and The Sound of Music to Annie.  Fabulous!

This year she handed out trophies and my girls were so excited!

The girls weren't the only talented ones, however.  We had a neighborhood "Going Away Painting Party" for all the ladies that were moving that summer.  Super fun to get together for some yummy food and making something cute for your home!

I knew that my Door in Florida wasn't really the kind to hang something on, so I made a chalkboard to match my apple themed kitchen instead.  Had a lot of fun making it and loved the way it turned out.  Super fun night with some super fun ladies.  Love these gals!

Next it was on to the ceremonies!  I'm so proud of all my girls this year for putting in a lot of hard work, staying organized, and giving their best efforts.  It really paid off.  Hooray for a successful, well adjusted school year!

And last but not least, Kylie's Kindergarten Graduation.  It was a big sha-bang - super cute.  The kiddos sang a song to the parents and there were a lot of tears (on the teachers' part.)  Kylie could not have had a better Kindergarten year or teacher.  She was fun and exciting and Kylie went from barely knowing her alphabet and numbers to reading and doing arithmetic.  Super proud of my little girl and all those who help to teach her.

Down and Derby! May 2016 - Part 1

So, as mentioned in the last post, the Kentucky Derby is the.event.of.the.year.  And this year we decided to celebrate BIG!  Kate borrowed the Derby hat we made for Kylie, and below you can see the picture of the stick horse Kylie made for her Kindergarten class races.

The stick horses got some good use all around this week, let me tell ya.

The Derby was so big for us this year that my Dad and brother came out for it and took Chris and I as well!  But before we get to that, let me back up a little bit to the fun stuff we did leading up to the Derby.  

While the kids were in school, we decided to have the true Kentucky Experience by visiting "My Old Kentucky Home." We went on the tour and our tour guide even sang "My Old Kentucky Home" for us.  He had an amazing voice. (Kylie was with us because she had been sick and had to stay home for the day.  Not too sick, obviously, but she did have a fever. She had learned the song in school and sang along with the guy.  It was great.)

Next Up was a trip to Mammoth Caves.  We went on a tour I had never been on, and it's always fun to see different parts of this massive tangle of caves. I also loved that we took the opportunity to go to Kentucky Fried chicken afterwards - while in Kentucky!  (I didn't even notice until Matt brought it up, but it was a nice touch. ;)>)

We also went to see Aly run at a track meet, went shopping for fedora's, got some ice cream, and spent an amazing amount of time playing with various apps on Uncle Matt's phone.  (The switching of Matt and Kylie's face was one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. . . .)

And then, it was on to the main event - the DERBY!

Okay, so first of all I have to say how glad I was that I wore flats instead of heels! We had to park about a mile away from Churchill Downs and I saw so many ladies carrying their shoes on the way back.  Second of all, while the Derby itself was amazing and I loved seeing the horses and the races, the amount of drinking and partying going on outside of the Derby was outlandish - can anyone say Gluttonous? Pretty much from the parking lot to the Derby looked like a landfill with everyone's broken bottles and beer cans everywhere, and Chris accidentally stepped in puke within 50 feet of the car - gross.  Once we actually made it into the Derby, however, the atmosphere and quality of people seemed to increase dramatically - although there was still a lot of drinking going on.

It was fun to dress up and play the part with the fedoras and big hats.  (Glad I borrowed mine for free! - Thanks Jana!)  We had pretty good seats as well (Thanks for your generosity Matt!) and the track and the horses were beautiful!  Funny story - there are no umbrellas allowed in the Derby because it blocks people's view (although there were some pretty hefty hats that would have fallen into that category in my opinion as well).  However, just as Lady Antebellum was about to come out and sing the National Anthem - BOOM! - it starts pouring rain.  It only lasted for about 10 minutes, just long enough to get everything and everyone soaked.  (We didn't really want to sit back down on those benches anyway, right?) There were people running for cover in the tunnels and what not, but Chris and I just stayed out in it laughing. It was great.  I was super grateful for my hat then, because afterwards my hair looked just the same.  I was also grateful for Chris blocking some of the rain for me. ;)

We were sitting by some people who took the races very seriously (and I'm sure had some serious money invested in the whole shin dig.)  The whole thing was a very interesting experience.  On the race before the actual Derby, one of the horses fell and lost it's rider.  Kinda scary, but the jockey was able to walk off the field, so that was good.  And the energy and intensity during the Derby was amazing!  "The Most Exciting 2 Minutes in Sports"?  I think it may have very well lived up to it's name.   So, it was a good time overall and it's cool to say that I've been to the Kentucky Derby, especially after having lived there.  It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience though.  Once was enough. 

And Finally, as a little P.S. to all this excitement, the day after the Derby was Mother's Day.  I actually was driving my Dad and Brother back up to the airport in Ohio from 5 am - 10 am so I missed church. But the nap I got to take when I came back was very nice, and Chris got everybody up and ready and sent me this lovely Mother's Day picture from the pew.  

After Church I was spoiled with all the awesome cards and artwork the girls had made for me.  Also, the Young Women had a Mother/Daughter activity earlier in the week where they served us dinner and had a "how well do you know your mother/daughter" game-show like game and a video where the Young Women said what they admired about their moms.  Super sweet. 

I love my girls who made me a mom.  It's the hardest thing I've ever done, but they make it all worth it.