Bowling Birthday

 In 2 more days my little guy will turn 5.  5!  I can't believe it!  Anyway, Saturday we decided to have his birthday party.  A bowling party in another town.  Man it sure confuses a little guy to celebrate early!  The last couple days it's been am I five now?  Here he is with his cake.  He LOVED it.  I saw him dragging parents over to admire it with him. 

Next photos are of the set up, since Phil had to miss the party.

 Almost every kid, if not all but Matthew, had never been bowling, so they were really, really excited. 

 Later the parents got in the act and bowled too.  Halfway through we broke for cake and lemonade.
It was so much fun!

 It makes me giggle everytime we get these 2 together.  Matthew continues to jolly green giant over Alex.  One day Alex will outgrow him I'm guessing.

Oh those boys!

First T-ball game

He had an awesome time.  For the most part he did quite well.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of him catching balls, at the pitchers mound.  He did a good job.  At least for this game, that was his position.  His Mamaw, Angela, and I showed up to cheer him on.  Next game is Sunday.  We play almost every Wednesday and Sunday till July 8th.  It's going to be a little busy this summer.

Rodeo, First T-ball practice, and Harvesting Wheat

 Last Friday was the rodeo.  It was cold and had been raining.  I didn't feel inspired to take many photos.  Especially when we couldn't even wear our new cowboy gear because it was too cold.  Oh well!  We still had a good non documented time.

 The Budweiser Clydesdales showed up.  They are very impressive.

 Here they are showing the docking move.  The horses swing in an 180 arch.

 And they end up going the way they came from and the wagon has turned in position to be docked at the place they need to unload.  Very cool.  I've never seen anything like it.

Sunday night was Matthew's very first T-ball practice.  We only waited a month and half to get started.

It went very well.

 I just didn't feel like hanging out at the fence, so I didn't get good photos.  But since Phil is missing his son's first game tomorrow night, I will have to step it up a notch.  I've already been informed.

 Last night we got to ride in the combine, while they harvested wheat.  It was awesome.  For those of you who have never been in a combine, this is what the wheat being cut by the header looks like.

 Here is the wheat being collected in the bin.

 Matthew was in heaven.  Mayflies collected on the windows.  So he tried to shoo them off from the inside.

 Yeah, he has a little farmer in him.  He only comes from a bloodline of farmers at least 6 generations back.

Camping and Reading

 Yesterday Matthew and I made a big purchase.  We finally bought a little non-fancy tent that we can erect in the yard.  It's rainfly can be left off the top, so you can sleep under the stars and still be inside mosquito netting.

Mamaw and Hershey came in to visit us.

We posed...

...and Hershey posed.

At 7 last night, we went to the summer reading programs kick off party, at the lake.  This year's theme is Dream Big! and has a strong astrological theme.  We made flour stars, moons, and Matthew creations on the road.

The obligatory shot in a rocket.

The kids played games.  Here they are showing how big the solar system is.  The guy in blue on the far left is the sun.  Matthew on the far right is Mars.

Now they are trying to rotate like the solar system.

Somehow the solar system compressed.  Must be a deep space thing.

Here they are playing blind man's buff with the kids making nocturnal animal noises.  Matthew is on the left, blindfolded.  We also got to look through telescopes.  We got to see the sun's spots, Mars, Saturn (and yes we could see the rings and 2 moons), and the moon.  It was fabulous!

Everyone was given glow bracelets so cars wouldn't run over anyone in the dark.

Here is Matthew's.  I thought it made a cool picture.

We ate s'mores, fire popped popcorn, drank lemonade and listened to scary stories around the campfire.  At 10:45, we finally got in the car and drove home.  We washed faces, brushed teeth and then it was lights out and into the sleeping bags.  I don't feel that air mattresses make for real camping, but after a night on the hard ground, I think I may finally be old enough I have to get one.  Matthew was worried about coyotes, but decided that Scamp would keep them at bay.  (Scamp did spend most of the night sleeping by the tent.)  Matthew slept the whole night in the tent.  I was proud of him.  We had the chance to camp at the lake for free, but I thought that for the first time out, our yard would be a better bet.  And it was.  And tons of fun!

Pre-K graduation

 Can it be true?  Our little boy is already graduating preschool?

 He's almost 5.  Wow.  In a blink of an eye, it will be high school.

Here he is after receiving his diploma.  He sat so seriously and calmly taking it all in.

 He's graduated!

 His celebration cake.

His helium balloons with his diploma decoration that was on his cubby at school.  Such a proud boy and a proud family!

There is so few photos of the graduation because I videotaped the whole thing.  I planned to post the video on the blog, but since all 13 graduates full names are announced, I decided for their privacy and Matthew's, not to post it.  If anyone wants to see it, contact me and I'll send it to you.