Hiking the Y

 We decided it was high time to hike the Y. Gramma and Papa joined in as well.

 Porter showing us the way we should go. He did this at every post and he would quickly declare whether we should turn left or right. I don't know how we would have found our way to the top without him!

 Porter and Papa were racing each other. It may look like Papa is pushing Porter out of the way, but Porter doesn't exactly fight fair either. He uses his little elbows to get the best of Papa.

 I was so proud of Bridger, he hiked the entire thing by himself. And I think he only asked to be carried once or twice.

 Porter interpreted this sign for us, "Don't let your dog eat us."

 Porter almost to the top. He also hiked the entire thing by himself. Here he is at the top of the last hill and he's taunting Papa by telling him that he's going to win.

 Porter doing his best "Y" on top of the Y

 Disclaimer: Bridger hiked UP all by himself, but he got a piggy-back ride from Papa on the way back down. I turned the corner to find them like this. Bridger apparently told Papa that he (Bridger) needed a rest and he needed to lay down. Papa was happy to oblige.

It was a great hike, and a beautiful view. A little too busy of a trail for my taste, but I'm glad to finally be able to say that I've hiked it. I was so proud of my boys and how well they did with the hike. We'll be finding a lot more hikes to take this summer.

graduation

Porter had his graduation from preschool tonight. I didn't know I could cry so much about something like a preschool graduation (especially because he's not truly graduating... he'll be doing preschool again this fall) But I got a little teary-eyed seeing my little boy not look so little any more.
He's definitely growing up and the kid is smart as a whip. I was so surprised to see how many things he's learned in school that I never knew about.

He knows the Pledge of Allegiance by heart, which he has never said at home. He can sing The Star Spangled Banner word for word as well.

I never knew.

He's sang several songs that he learned from preschool, but somehow these ones never came up.

He's definitely the most active in his class, Porter doesn't sit down for long. All the kids were given an award from their teacher... Porter's was the Busy Bee award because he's always keeping himself busy. And it only took the other parents about two minutes to see why that was Porter's award.

 They sang songs and performed dances for us and in the middle of one of Porter's favorite songs, he stopped and ran over to me. "Mom! This is my favorite shirt! I love this shirt Mom!!" I quickly told him to go back and join his class. "Okay Mom, okay!!" And he was off again. (It may appear that he is showing his friend his tummy, but he's actually showing her the shirt.)

 He's sitting next to his best friend in preschool. Little Avlyn is so sweet and she has made Porter her best friend. Avlyn's mother was so excited to finally find out which little boy was Porter because Avlyn apparently can't stop talking about him at home.

I'm so glad we got Porter into preschool this year... it has made a huge difference for him. He loves school and is always so excited to go. He loves his teacher too. Miss Nicole has been great.

After graduation we went out to celebrate and we got snow cones.

This kid has personality oozing out of him. He's such an amazing little boy and I'm surprised at how much he has grown. I think I held it together pretty well tonight, but I don't know what it will be like in another year when I'm looking at sending him off to kindergarten. It's been weird having him at preschool and realizing that he has this entire other life aside from me. He goes on his own, has his own friendships and knows things that I wasn't aware of.  And while it makes me a little sad, I'm just so tickled that I get to have him the rest of the time.

Miniature Golf

This year we purchased the Pass of all Passes and we have been taking advantage of it every chance we get.
We took the boys to Trafalga for miniature golf a couple weeks ago and they had so much fun... however the pronunciation of miniature golf was lost on both boys. The correct term is "magicker golf" in case you were wondering. (Best picture of the three boys... Porter's not crying, just really bad allergies poor boy.)

 Kyle tried to teach the boys proper form, but when left to his own devices, this is how Bridger went about it.

 After he would take one swing he'd grab the ball and drop it in the hole.

 Porter liked to scoot his ball in the hole with the club.

Both boys have been begging to return for "magicker golf" many times. We'll be going again soon.