Last day of kindergarten (June 13th)

It's over. Finished. The last day of school has come and gone.



Eden finished kindergarten today, and she's not looking back. She definitely enjoyed the school year and made lots of friends. Through the year her reading and writing has improved quite a bit. She's been to the first grade classroom regularly since the winter to check out book from their bookshelves to read every night. Whenever they have free-time activities in the classroom she is more likely to head to the reading and writing station than any of the others. Her journal has been fun to read.

Stephanie has been taking Britta and Avery to the park in the mornings and all the girls to the pool in the afternoons. Eden seems very enthusiastic about extra play time with her sisters. Undoubtedly, princess role-playing will be at the top of the list. It will be interesting to see how Britta and Avery fare with their older sister back home to claim the throne!

Ben is 30!

Today I turn 30 years old. I took the day off to spend with my family. This morning I made the family breakfast, sent Eden off to kindergarten, and enjoyed a leisurely morning ith the other girls. Stephanie and I took Britta and Avery out to Babies R Us to look for swimming aids for the girls. We stayed a lot longer than we originally planned, but had a good time looking for things for our boy. Next we hit Target for girls' clothes and Costco for free samples. (No sense in pretending, right?) I got a Costco card for me and we left with blackberries, hummus, and artichoke hearts. On the way home we got a chance to talk to my mom who is excited to see us this summer! She has picked several gallons worth of blackberries from their bushes. We've convinced them the freeze some of them so we can enjoy them when we get to Texas!

After lunch I took Britta to go pick up Eden from school before she got on the bus. We took her to Jo-Anne's fabric to get some buttons to fix one of her Sunday dresses. After that we went to one of my favorite plan places: Betty's Azalea Ranch! Though there is no azalea wrangling to be had at the ranch, there are acres of plants to explore. We love the koi pond and tanks tucked away in the back of the shrub area. We also love the water fountains and the outdoor furniture. We enjoyed the cool air and the shady locations. Now we are back home for a snack and to pass an hour until the pool opens.

Ordinarily we would have a family party tonight. However, a few weeks ago I was invited to a thank-you dinner for last year's DOI engagement teams. This year is a big year for me on the engagement, and I'm exploring the idea of a rotation in the audit practice, possibly even on the DOI team. So, I'm headed downtown for a work-related dinnner, and we'll celebrate as a family tomorrow night.

To me, this is almost a perfect birthday. The only thing I would add would be a slip and slide.