Stars & Stripes- NC in July!

We haven't been able to make it down to visit Steve's folks during the summer in a while, so we thought the 4th of July weekend would be a great time to make that happen again!  It was a full visit with a trip to the Museum of Natural Sciences, a trip to the movies, and a day full of fun Independence Day activities.  Maelee was thrilled to make friends with even more neighbors during this trip and the girls enjoyed spending time with their Mee-Maw & Grandpa.

The NC Museum of Natural Sciences was pretty awesome and the girls loved it! From fossils to live exhibits, a play room and a live animal show...  Then there was the gift shop.  We actually found a stuffed moon for Lilee!  Couldn't pass it up... And Maelee was pretty excited to find a baby sloth to go with her big one :)

The excitement for the next day was a trip to the movies! Lilee's first experience with the silver screen.  We saw Finding Dory (so sweet!) and Lilee wasn't too sure what to think of everything, especially after her seat swallowed her up sine she wasn't heavy enough to weigh it down!  Bless her heart.  She went between all three of our laps during the movie. :)

Just a little reading before the movies :)

Excited at first!

Then not so sure...

But overall, she loved it and has a little stuffed Dory in her crib now!

Our 4th of July started with a parade in downtown Wake Forest and we loved watching the adorable kiddos riding by in their wagons and on their bikes and scooters.  It was a little drizzly and the chilliest Independence Day I can remember but it was nice to not be scorching and the girls didn't seem to mind at all!

 God bless the USA!

After the parade, there were several bounce houses set up in a field with crafts indoors that included decorate-your-own cupcakes and door hangars, and patriotic tattoos.

I absolutely love this little smile on her which really says, 

"I'm proud of myself for doing that but don't want anyone to know it." :)

So proud of her craft!

Happy girls!

Maelee got in some good play again with the neighbors later in the afternoon and Lilee loved trying out the scooter all by herself! After a delicious dinner, it was time for our own little fireworks!  Our mini version, at least.  The sparkler/popper/bright lights kind that are legal and easy but the kids love!  (Most of them, at least, poor Lilee got pretty terrified when it looked like a huge tower of fire...)

It was a happy 4th and a fun trip.  And somehow we are at the end of July already...

Slideshow of our time in NC:

Aquarium Day and the End of K!

With all that was going on in the month of June, if you asked Maelee what her favorite parts were she'd probably list her special date with her daddy to the Baltimore Aquarium, and performing in her school's "Variety Show."  

About that Variety Show...

When the school announced try-outs for the end of year performance, Maelee immediately said she wanted to be in it.  She wanted to make up her own song about gymnastics, but couldn't quite decide on a melody or lyrics for that matter, so we encouraged her to go with something that might be more recognizable and well-received.  But we still wanted her to show her unique interests and  strengths.  Well, there's a periodic table song set to the music of Offenbach's "Can Can" that Maelee has loved watching before so we proposed the idea of coming up with a different song to that tune.  We suggested sharks as she had been reading one of her shark books an awful lot and she initially agreed (with excitement!), so we came up with a list of the sharks that she wanted to include in the song.  

Then Steve and I got to work.

She loved it at first.  Then didn't.  Unfortunately, the "didn't" came right before the audition.  She learned and memorized the lyrics quickly but wasn't very interested in practicing.  She went back and forth on going through with the try-outs, and on the actual day insisted that she wanted to.  Then she went back to not liking the song and not wanting to do it.  Then she found out she "made the show." And she was in full fledged "I don't want to do it!" mode.

Which lasted several days, with some off/on moments of wanting to at least perform on stage still...

We certainly did not want to force her to do this and kept reminding her that it was her decision, but we also wanted to encourage her to follow through.  Meanwhile, her love of all things "sea creature" is still going strong and we've been wanting to take her to the Baltimore Aquarium ever since we moved down, so this seemed like the perfect time!

And it made for the perfect daddy/daughter date for her and Steve.

 Parked and ready to go!

 Magalodon!

So cool to hold a horseshoe crab...

Really liked feeling the back of the ray...

 

And LOVED touching the moon jellies!!!
(Her favorite of the day)

An angler!

Piranas- eek!

And one of the main reasons for planning the trip for the Saturday before the "Variety Show-"

the black tip reef exhibit!

It included several different sharks swimming around, and there was another exhibit with even more.

Yay, sharks!!!

Such beautiful jellies...

So tickled over her new jelly fish lamp that looks like it has real jelly fish floating around!

Such a sweet and awesome day for these two.  And just what Maelee needed to start getting excited about performing a "Shark Song" that week!

Slideshow of aquarium trip:

Before moving onto the big night, here's a couple cute pics of some other end-of-year moments for our little Kindergartner.

Last day of Maelee's after school music class, with lots of cute little performances!

Our sweet little neighborhood crew on Field Day!

Which also happened to be the same day of the Variety Show performances!  One just before school ended for students, teachers, and staff, etc, and the other one for families that evening.  It was quite a big day for our little girl!

But she was happy with her daytime performance ("I wasn't nervous at all!") and was ready for the evening show!

Cheered on by pals Meleia & Caroline :)

Cutest, sweetest shark I've ever seen!

 
 She's up!

And here's  the video of Maelee's performance!

Maelee's Shark Song

from Becky Mason on Vimeo.

Password: Shark1

It was pretty hard to hear her until they got the audio fixed, but she did great!!!  We were so proud of her!!!  The sound also didn't get synced up right with the slideshow (which ended up being very difficult to see anyway), so we included a video of the slideshow with the lyrics and fun pictures below.  Steve worked really hard on this and it totally helped turn the tide with Maelee's attitude about it!

Video of "Shark Song" slideshow:

Maelee Mason - Shark Song from Becky Mason on Vimeo.

Password: Shark

Proud, adoring family

And our littlest lady loved seeing her big sis up there!

She was such a trooper through the show.

(snuggles with Nana didn't hurt!)

Happy girl :)

Celebrating a fun show with lots of talented kids at Baskin Robbins with Caroline.

Quite a day, but thankfully, she was all smiles in the end!

Popsicle Party after school the day before the last one!

Celebrating her awesome K teacher, Mrs. Lennon!!!

The whole, adorable class.

With buddies Josie & Kaia

These three played together after school right outside their classroom most days of the school year!

The Three Amigos again :)

And for a fun comparison...

My big "rising 1st grader"
(sniff)

She definitely did lots of growing up this year and we were thrilled with her elementary school.  She is reading pretty much anything we put in front of her and just today was excited to do her summer "homework" packet that her teacher had put together for the class.  We feel very grateful for this little neighborhood gem of a school and look forward to many more years there!

Slideshow of end-of-Kindergarten fun: