FINALLY 11 years old!

Margaret has been counting the days, literally, for months leading up to the momentous event of her 11th birthday. Finally, it arrived, and she celebrated in style, with a special day with her best buddy Chloe. They had an adventure at Build-a-Bear, then dinner at Red Robin, opening night at Kung Fu Panda 2, and then a sleepover that lasted until 2 the next day, including breakfast at IHOP and playacting in the park and moving making in the driveway! Way fun!

Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

Last week was Margaret's 5th Grade Shakespeare play. The kids worked so hard ALL year long to memorize an unbelievable amount of dialogue, movements, and other acting techniques. The 5th graders do this every year, but this was the first one I had seen and, my goodness, what an amazing performance! It really shows just how much they are growing up--in so many ways!!!

Margaret had the very regal role of Duchess Luna, and did a beautiful job with her lines and gestures.

Clowning around at the cast party, still with the stage makeup and up-do in her hair.

A little scary how grown up she's looking, isn't it?

CF Fundraising Walk

Caroline had a great time, yet again, at the Cystic Fibrosis fundraising walk. She is really into this event and keeps saying things like, "I wish they did this more often!" It's still 90% about the fun of hanging around with friends and having balloons, hula hoops, etc... to play with, but each year she becomes a bit more aware of the hows and whys of the underlying event. She was quite pleased to have raised $185 this year--a great big thank you to everyone who helped her exceed her goal.

3rd Grade Maypole Dance

Caroline had her turn at the annual St. Mike's traditional Maypole dance earlier in May. The kids were quite nervous and excited, and did a great job. Here is Caroline waiting for the program to start. She had a speaking part at the beginning to introduce the dance...

A perfect weave--no mistakes!

Proud papa and his dancer.

Mother's Day

Silly girls...


We didn't even plan to color-coordinate :-)

Girl Scout Camping Weekend

At the end of April, both Margaret's troop and Caroline's troop went camping. The older girls stayed Friday night, then led the younger girls in a bunch of activities on Saturday before heading home and turning over the bunkhouse to the younger girls for Saturday night. It turned out to be a fun and full experience for all of us. These girls LOVE their camping! And these Moms LOVED the bunkhouse! We stayed at a "lodge" in a state park that had all the necessary amenities for us, while still giving the girls a great outdoor experience. Next best thing since we couldn't get a spot at a Girl Scout camp...

Margaret with buddies Sydney, Katherine & Chloe

Caroline (far left) on a hike through the campground with her troop.

Headgear!

After many months of waiting, Caroline finally got her headgear in April. She is absolutely amazing at remembering to wear it. No complaints, and no problems. We are incredibly lucky, especially since I remember how much my brother HATED wearing his and what a pain it was to get him to do it. After just a couple of months we can already see changes in her bite.