Last day + birthday.

Piper's final day of preschool was upon us. We would talk about it with such excitement, and she consistently fell to tears about not wanting to leave her friends and teachers and classroom, she is so tenderhearted. I would reassure her we would see them again and she would go through the whole group, tell me their names and favorite colors and favorite things. Covid made for a pretty small and tight knit group this year and the kids all benefitted. We truly love The Graham Academy and I will absolutely miss it, I feel like it finally hit me just now as I'm typing that my baby will be in kindergarten. 

We went from graduation to Sully's first baseball game. Baseball?! Who knew? Why not? He actually loves it and gets better with each game. 

We raced home to prep for our next Muncestream Adventure, we were packing the Airstream and moving at lightening speed when the DeBoers came over to share a bottle of wine and some muffins for Dave's 59th birthday. Yikes...how could we forget? All of the day's festivities took a front seat to Dave's day, but he prefers it that way. Another year around the sun, life continues to move at warp speed while we look forward to a bit of freedom with all three of the kids in school full time this fall. There is no doubt, the kids and I are so fortunate to have Dave as our's. He is an excellent provider, tender heart, great father, and a loving partner, we're looking forward to many years to come. 

An odd spot for this photo, but evidence we
occasionally get to work together. 

First Day. 

Last Day.

Piper with Miss Ashlyn and Miss Tiffany. 

The graduate and the birthday boy. 

Piper's fan club. 

Fam photo. 

Baseball, Sully plays first base at his first ever game. :)

An Airstream celebration with the DeBoers. 

Spring Soccer

Sully and Piper both played spring soccer, I was lucky enough to co-coach Piper's team with my friend Amy, which is really comical considering I never played soccer. It was really fun, we had some neighbor kids on the team and met lots of new people. We were the Laffy Taffys. We were very interested in dandelions, wishers, ring around the rosie, breaks, and treats and only mildly interested in actually playing soccer. The highlight of the season was the excitement when the kids scored their goals and when Piper scored at the very last game. 

Because of the schedules, I was only able to see Sully play his last soccer game which was really fun, his team has been together this entire year and they are getting so grown up and really getting the hang of it. His coach mentioned how well Sully had played on his final game and I'm convinced it was because I was in the crowd. 

Strictly business, Piper. 

Go Laffy Taffy! 

Coach Amy and Coach Suzie

Go Fury!

Mothers Day.

Mother's Day weekend was a call weekend which forced us to be home, which was nice. There is definitely something to be said about slowing down and finding fun right in Sioux Falls.  On Saturday, the kids and I went a graduation party and then found a new spot downtown for treats before Anna came over to hang for the evening, we went out for Mexican and played Uno (fitting ;)). Dave had to go from one hospital to the next early Sunday morning. The kids let me sleep in and Greta made me breakfast in bed, she FaceTimed Anna and Anna instructed her on how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave. She made them as soon a she woke up and delivered them to me when I woke up, at about 9, they were cold but delicious. We hiked at Good Earth State Park and then biked the Arboretum. We had dinner to Bread and Circus and then came home for a quiet evening. The kids keep life busy and interesting and I'm so thankful for them and how they fulfill our lives.  

A lovely day for a hike. 

Buddies

We're famous! 

Oakwood Lakes State Park Adventure

The kids were so excited to take their own mini maiden voyage with us. We chose Oakwood Lakes State Park for a few reasons. The number one reason was probably because they have pull through campsites so we didn't have to maneuver the trailer a ton with the kids. Much to our delight, our campsite was perfectly situated, no nearby neighbors and a lovely view of one of the lakes. Oakwood Lakes was also the campground we went to in the thick of COVID quarantine last year as a last minute get away while the kids were elearning. We had the best time. The kids rode bikes and played on the nearby playground and we just had the fondest memories, the park is also small and very manageable with great hiking trails and a charming little beach. We knew we wanted to come back.

We hit the road after a Saturday morning full of activities and arrived around 4. The weather was stellar, 80, sunny, and still. We hopped on our bikes and went directly to the lake where the kids braved the ice cold water and we watched the sun come down. Their giggles and squeals were perfect. We took the scenic route back, made a fire, had dinner and cocktails before getting the kids to bed (and falling asleep myself) around 10pm. Dave came in some time later and golldarnit if my phone didn't start txting and ringing at 11:15pm because our FIRE ALARM in Sioux Falls was going off. What a terrible feeling. I called my surrounding neighbors and was able to get ahold of Brett who walked around and meet the firemen (yes, they had been called by our alarm company) to let them in, at the same time, Maggie arrived because the alarm company also called her. To make a long story short, it was a false alarm, which is such a relief, but its also stressful. After a few hours of stewing, I eventually fell back to sleep and I woke up to the sweet sound of rain agains the Airstream, maybe one of the most soothing noises I've heard in a long time. The rain didn't last long and by the time we had breakfast and got moving for the day, everything was dry. We had lovely bike ride adventure before packing up to come home. It was a lot of work for 24 hours, but it was fun and provided us with some much needed information in anticipation of our mega maiden voyage later this month... stay tuned. 

The girls with their MayDay baskets. 

Adventure begins! 

Boynton Beach

Scenic Overlook

Dinner

Pajama Party 

Morning hike. 

Slow and steady into the storage garage. 

All cleaned up and ready for next time.