Swimming Fun!

Phew! It was quite a whirlwind, the end of May. End of preschool, visitors, birthday...now it's time to relax. Before Cora was done with school, Mom took me to the pool a few times so I could get accustomed to the water. I've been doing really well in the water so far. I've stuck my face into the water, gotten so deep almost to my chin, and once Cora finally came to the pool with me, she got me to go on the sprayground. Man, I wish I hadn't been so afraid of it because it is lots of fun! I'm so proud of myself, I even suggested to Mom that I need swimming lessons! Plus, because I'm now willing to go into the spaces, I finally got my own pair of goggles!! We also took time to go back to the dump where we climbed the hill not once but twice! From the top we flew kites, waved to Dad and screamed at the top of our lungs!

A few days later, Mimi and Papa came to visit. Before we picked them up at the airport, we got to visit the observation deck and see lots of planes take off and land. Because it was later in the afternoon we weren't able to do much more than take a walk to the park after dinner. The next day though, we visited a really cool place at UNC Chapel Hill called a planetarium. It was so cool! Inside the dome theater we watched a movie about Earth Sun and Moon where it seemed like we were looking at the night sky! Just like the stars and planets hanging on my ceiling! After experiencing the planetarium we walked over to the art museum on campus where they had an exhibit of large human size spinning tops. Cora and I took a few spins (Mimi and Papa said they would get too sick) before heading down the street for lunch. On the way we were able to cool off in a plaza where there was a mister coming from a piece of art. We headed home after that and spent the rest of the day doing indoor activities because it was a HOT day! The last day, we hung out at home and played lots of board games and enjoyed spending time with Mimi and Papa. I love visits with them, especially when Papa lifts me up and twists me in the air like a jet plane!

I am 5!!!

I was surprised to find when I woke up on my birthday, I was no taller than when I went to bed... But I quickly forgot about that and was happy it was my big day! Against Mom's wishes I helped decorate my elephant birthday cake in the morning after we dropped Cora off at the bus stop. It was nice because I got to pick out the exact colors of my icing. When she was done, I got to open my presents from Mimi and Papa! I got some cool space themed things from them: a space commander suit and planets to decorate my room! I wore my space commander uniform for the remainder of the day, including our trip downtown to meet Dad for lunch! We were going to eat downtown, but the plaza was too crowded so we went somewhere else. Luckily, we ended up eating in a plaza where during lunch a fire truck and ambulance whirred right in front of us and I watched them as I ate lunch. I felt sorry for the person they were helping, but it was so cool to see the trucks right there for my birthday!! I enjoyed the afternoon with Dad; he let me help him mow the lawn. The weather was beautiful enough that we could eat my birthday dinner (mac and cheese) outside on the porch! After dinner we celebrated my birthday first with opening presents followed by my delicious cake! I loved all of my gifts, some of them only after it was explained what they were. I got a new lunch box and water bottle for kindergarten, Hungry Hungry Hippos, a box for my Legos, a fort building kit and a new watch! I spent the rest of the evening enjoying my gifts and my special day! Sometimes I really can't believe I am 5! When people ask me how old I am, I still forget and say 4!

My birthday kicked off a long Memorial Day weekend. It was a relaxing weekend and we took the time on Memorial Day to talk about why we celebrate the holiday. When Cora was back in school on Tuesday, Mom too me to the Museum of Life + Science in Durham. I had a wonderful day with her, my favorite part of course was the Dinosaur Trail. We walked the circle 4 times looking at all the dinosaur sculptures! We also visited the Hideaway Woods, a new area with tree houses that was fun to explore. I'm so glad she took me back there because I missed my field trip with school while I was at kindergarten orientation.