While Franny was spending some one-on-one time with her grandparents, Cole, Delaney, and I took our way-too-ripe bananas and made banana bread.   It was a lot of mess, a lot of fun, and a lot of attempted tasting.  After explaining the 'no fingers in the batter' rule way too many times, they finally got their chance.  Once the bread was in the oven, they were free to taste what remained in the bowl as much as they liked.  And, they maximized it, for sure!

 For her birthday, Delaney was fortunate to be given very thoughtful gifts.  Among them was this Tinkerbell sleeping bag from her grandparents.  She has played with it every day and has slept in it every night since her birthday.  She twists and turns in all sorts of positions when she sleeps, so I was trying to persuade her to go back to sleeping with her blanket, but she was insistent about sleeping in her new sleeping bag.  It's hard to predict what is going to be a big deal to a three year old, but this is definitely it!

The pictures don't do this beautiful cake justice.  It was incredible!  The hand-made fondant flowers and leaves were so detailed and shimmery.  Pixie Hollow couldn't have produced a better cake!  Thank you Auntie Noelle!!!

Today was the last day of school for both Franny and Cole.  They both had great years, worked very hard, and are looking forward to some much-deserved free time, as well as a couple of camps.  And, as much as they are both thrilled about their breaks, Delaney is going to be just as happy--if not more--when she realizes her two best friends are going to home all summer!

 This weekend, Franny participated in the June Jubilee at the Oregon Gymnastics Academy.  The annual event allows the kids to perform and demonstrate the skills they work on during classes--trampoline, beams, bars, and floor work.  Unfortunately, I was out of town during her performance, so I wasn't able to see her.  But, she did a fantastic job and fortunately Rick took these pictures to document her event.

Today, families were invited to Franny's class to watch their Ladybug Ball performance.  Similar to the Fairy Tale Theater from earlier in the year, it was a reader's theater and musical about crickets, spiders, butterflies, ladybugs, ants, and honeybees.  For the last month, they have been studying insects, so this was a fun way for them to combine their science and reading skills in a fun way.  The reader's theater consisted of the stories The Grasshopper and the Ant and The Grouchy Ladybug.  In addition to the two stories, all kids participated in groups that read facts about their insect group--Franny was in the butterfly group.  It was a wonderful performance, and I was so proud of Franny and her reading.  Unlike at the previous performance, I could hear her clearly as she spoke in front of the audience!  And, it was clear she was having a lot of fun with it.  She has grown a lot in this class academically and socially, and I am a little sad to see the year winding down these last few days.  But, she is such a hard working student, I know next year will have great things in store for her, as well.

 The kids had a great time at Franny's school carnival last Friday.  They all had their hair painted, and Cole even had his spiked up in a mohawk--very unlike him!  They had pizza, played games--including an Angry Birds game--jumped around in the bounce house, and rode the train.  Franny spent most of her time with her best friend Lily, while Cole and Delaney explored the carnival together.  I spent a crazy 45 minutes making cotton candy at my volunteer station...it is harder than it looks!  But, it was a great evening for everyone, and it was probably the first big event that makes everyone realize the last day of school is fast approaching.  What a great year it has been!