Summer is Here!

Whew! Mom is officially on summer break :)  As you can see, Heather and Mommy have been busy packing up their classroom (and thanks to Doris, a past parent/friend of Mommy's for helping).  Their school received referendum money and is in the final construction stages.  This is exciting news for everyone, but it also meant this spring was busy with LOADS of packing.  Mommy is job sharing next year with Heather in a brand new classroom!  Job share update- HR is reviewing a compiled rationale and will make a determination in the next week or two.  If this is not successful, they have a chance to meet with the school board in the weeks ahead.  Keep your fingers crossed tightly for them!

Here is my kick-off photo from Grandma and Grandpa's today!  We had a special day with Jimmy's baptism this morning... details to follow below.

 Check it out~ we went to the Taste of the Valley a week ago which was yummy and hot!  The weather has been a scorcher already.  Cooper and I had fun with the inflatables and a creepy nice clown.

 She made me an adorable giraffe who use to stand as tall as me and is now the size of a shriveled rabbit.

 Cooper kept a far/safe distance from Mrs. Clown and he received a fishing pole balloon with a blue fish at the end.  He practiced casting into the crowd the rest of our morning.

 Cooper was a bit short for the huge obstacle course, but I mounted that wall like a mountain goat.  Mommy couldn't believe her eyes and was a total nervous wreck as she watched me and snapped photos.

 I slid down the mountain side and was ready for more.  She is not sure if she likes this daredevilish side of me!

 Cooper went down the fire engine slide on Daddy's lap and decided he was ALL DONE with that.

 I have been asking for months to go on the miniature steam train at the local park.  It opens on Memorial Day weekend but since my birthday was during that time, we decided to go after our Taste of the Valley outing (might as well go big).... I was so excited to ride in the train car. 

 I even practiced my photography skills while riding the train and that is called multi-tasking!

We were shocked and saddened by all of the storm damage (from a few weeks ago) along the way, but were happy to know the train and tracks were OK!

 The train whistle was really loud at first, so we decided to cover our ears....

Cooper must not have believed us when we kept telling him that it was not loud anymore, poor kid looks traumatized!

 We hit the mall this past week because we needed outfits for our weekend photo shoot (photos to come in the weeks ahead!)  We emptied the quarters out of our banks knowing the mall received a new batch of "rip off" rides.  I loved the car the best and Cooper loves the mini tug boat.  We had to test drive them all which means we better save up some more quarters for our next trip.

 We did a good job sharing the wheel thanks in part to Cooper's short attention span; he just jumps off mid-ride and races to the next one.

 "Summer" just doesn't feel quite right yet.  Cooper and I run around the house with our backpacks on telling Mommy we are ready for preschool.  We put trinkets in our lunch boxes and beg to paint, color and do just about every messy project around home.  Mommy is a trooper and usually gives in to our requests.  Some days are long while others fly by.  We are most excited about warm weather and outdoor fun!  Also, we are happy that Cooper is changing up his hats.  Iinstead of always wearing "DUDE" he is branching out with some Gap hats :)

 Jenny took us down to the park along the river and captured a few photos of us.  There are hands all over town that are hand painted in various themes.  Not sure what this one is, but Cooper found it a great spot to rest.

 We love throwing rocks into the river and watching big splashes.  For the occasion, Cooper and Mason wore matching monster shirts.  Seems fitting to me!

So that we don't get entirely out of routine, we will go to Jenny's house once a week (with a 2 week break in July).  This will help Mom go to appointments and attend some teacher workshops this summer.  We love Jenny too, so it is a win-win for all of us!

 Today was a fantastic day!  We celebrated Jimmy's baptism in the cities.  Jimmy is 6 weeks old and they chose this week to baptize him because he was able to wear Uncle Jim's baptism outfit.  Baby Jimmy is growing so fast!  We love that he looks at us, studies our faces and is beginning to flash an adorable, huge smile.  It melts our hearts.

Many special family members came to the baptism.  To read more details, we are sure Karri will post a full report on her Lindell Chronicles blog this week!  Papa and Grandma Sharon are home from Florida and Indiana (Grandma's house).  We are happy they will be around for the next few months so that we can plan some fun outings together!

 We attempted a "grandchildren" photo and it wasn't looking so great at the beginning.... but Coopie pulled through with the cheesiest smile.  We are so lucky to have such awesome cousins!