Springtime in the Garden

Just received this picture from TBC's school! He planted marigolds in the garden at school today!

Give a Kid a Camera: March

I recently came across a wonderful blog called Go Explore Nature authored by a woman named Debi. She has a monthly feature on her blog called Give a Kid a Camera. I liked the idea so much that I decided to give it a try. So after dinner tonight we went out into our yard (front and back) to take pictures of things that were signs of Spring. And yes, this was an idea we also got from Go Explore Nature. Here are a few of the things we saw:

All featured photography courtesy of TGC, age 5. It's a little hard to tell, but this is a dogwood about to bud.

TGC got excited about this one because she could check off another item from her 10 Ways to Explore Nature in March checklist that we printed to take with us.

Nothing like tulips to signal the coming of Spring. I love tulips! and I love purple!




Prickly Pear Catus








Broccoli left over from our winter garden that has flowered








Buds




Dandelion

We had fun on our photo scavenger hunt for signs of Spring! Hope you enjoyed our photos. Now go play in the yard!

Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch Playground has to be my very favorite local playground. Located on Signal Mountain in Tennessee, this place has it all: zip lines, sand boxes, a climbing wall, creative uses of old tires, swings, slides, all in a natural setting. TGC LOVES the zip line! According to the sign at the entrance, the playground was built by the community in 1996. Another cool thing about this playground is that the play structures are named after local landmarks, i.e. The Walnut Street Bridge (See play structure below).


Designed by playground architect Kit Clews of Portsmouth, NH, it was the first Landscape Structures playground in the state of Tennessee. In my opinion, they definitely got it right!

TGC seen here on the zip line






TBC climbing on a tire creature

Go here for more Pumpkin Patch photos.

Reader Extraordinaire

I received this picture from Spencer's teacher, Bethany, today with the following note:

Erik and Kelly,

Spencer has taken 20 book tests so far this year! What a great reader!

Ms. Bethany

Fall Yumminess

Sydney making pumpkin muffins at school

A Budding Musician

Kindergarten Graduate

Wow! Where does the time go? Spencer just graduated from kindergarten! It seems like he was just born! He's really excited about elementary school. I guess he hasn't figured out that means more work! But I'm looking forward to re-learning some things with him. He actually has a summer reading list for 1st grade! Nothing specific, just to read 10 books during the summer. It should not be a big deal for him! Other than the stubbornness factor! He's been reading pretty well since he was 4. Here are some pictures from the graduation ceremony.

Classic Spencer behavior here!



Looking through his backpack with an amazing teacher, LeNet, whom we will miss dearly. Although, Sydney should have her when she gets to preschool.

I also wanted to share these 2 short videos with you. The first video shows LeNet's class performing their version of The Carpenters' "Sing."

The second video shows LeNet's class receiving their diplomas. They each also received a really cool gift, a very nice hardback edition of Scholastic's First Dictionary.

A proud parent moment. Sniff, Sniff...