Last Day of Kinder

A first day kinder on the left....last day kinder on the right!

As of June 18th, our baby is officially a FIRST-GRADER! Wow! We couldn't have asked Leila to do a better job in kinder this last year. She continues to LOVE reading, is kind to others, helps those around her and has a spark of energy that is contagious. Her report card was excellent! 

DISCLAIMER: Stop reading now if you don't want to read some bragging. Hey, I'm her mom, so I get to do this! Her teacher wrote: "Leila is a joy to know. Her sweetness has made the whole class better. She is willing to share, help and do whatever is takes to ensure others feel the same success she does. She is academically superior in her performance as well as knowledge. She has good reasoning and never shirks from a challenge. She has strengthened herself in all aspects of school. She will be a super star in first grade. My joy in knowing her is immeasurable." Of course Chris and I were proud of her for her academic marks, but more importantly in our book, we are so pleased that she is kind and helpful to others and that her joy is shared with those around her. Can't wait to watch her shine in first grade!! 

Artist

 One Saturday morning, as we waited in the Starbucks drive-thru lane, a caterpillar plopped on our windshield from the tree above. It managed to stay put for the ride home. Leila ran inside and got her bug box. She spent much of the midday talking to him, naming it, feeding it and sketching her new little friend. We let him go that evening and luckily, there were no tears. 

Happy 94th!

Christopher's Gramma turned 94th on June 14th! Wow! We had a little family get together at her and GP's house. Happy birthday GG!

Seattle Birthday

Last year I had my birthday all planned. I really wanted to ride the Ducks in Seattle! You know, do one of those totally tourist things that you never do because you don't usually tour your own city. Well, that was what I was looking forward to and then Leila got sick...for the entire weekend! So, this year we didn't talk too much about our plans...in fear of jinxing them. Everyone was healthy, so we headed up to Seattle. We had just spent Saturday night at the M's game and then we turned right around and spent all of Sunday in Seattle too. What an amazing day full of so many memories with my favorites! The Duck Boats were a hoot! We loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back! 

Of course we bought a quacker!! 

For the out-of-town readers of this blog...this is the Hammering Man outside of the Seattle Art Museum. He is 48 feet tall. Although this picture makes him look like a shadow or a painting on the wall, he actually is free standing and his hammer moves all day long. He is quite impressive in real life! 

We had to travel on Highway 99 for a short time and Leila thought that was the coolest! It was super windy, we were going what she felt was relatively fast and there were no seat belts on the Duck! 

Halfway through the ride our Duck drove right into Lake Union for the water part of the tour. So fun!

Gas Works Park

The house where Sleepless in Seattle (one of my all-time favorite rom-coms!) was filmed. 

After our Duck Ride was finished, we spent the second part of the day at the top of the Space Needle. This was Leila's first trip to the top! We couldn't have asked for better weather. 

I had a wonderful birthday celebration in the Emerald City!! 

Edgerton Night at the M's Game

 The last Saturday of May, my school PTA hosted a night at the Mariners' Game. There were quite a few families from our school there. The weather was perfect for the whole night, the seats had a great view and our company for the night was fantastic. Thanks Sarah, for arranging it so the Cyphers and Taverns could enjoy each other's company while watching some baseball. Great idea! 

Weedie got a little flack for wearing a Red Wings hat to the game since the Mariners were playing the Detroit Tigers. So, needless to say, the Taverns knew we would be pleased with either team winning the game. 

Xander, Leila and Kennedy:

The Mariners ended up winning the game!

Backyard Soccer

 This June, Weedie has been totally into putting all her soccer gear on just to kick the ball around the backyard. I've even had to get out our one pop-up goal (the other one got broke at the last practice we coached!) for her to shoot at. I'm excited to watch her on the pitch this fall! Chris and I are not coaching her this year. She is moving up to U7 and that means a little longer season that ends up going into Christopher's fall play at the high school. Leila and I are excited to find out her coach later this summer and to see if any of the girls that she has played with over the last two years are on her team. Fingers crossed! 

Jurassic Quest!

The fair grounds hosted a dinosaur event called Jurassic Quest. Leila, who LOVES dinos, was super excited to check it out over Memorial Day weekend. Gramma Shawn with went us and we spent a good part of the morning and afternoon there. They had life-sized dinos to view, videos to learn from, dino crafts to make, dino models to ride, pictures in front of a green screen with the dinosaur of your choice, a paleontologist's digging area and dino themed inflatable activities. 

Drafting with Dad

A lot of you know that Chris has started working toward his master's degree. He was accepted into Southern Oregon University's Master's in Theatre program! This late spring he spent so much time completing costume sketches, analyzing the assigned plays, designing a set, building a scale model of the set and plotting a lighting design. Whew! All of this while completing ERHS's drama season! To help in his course work, he purchased a portable drafting table. Well, you can guess who wanted to be a part of all assignments that required that table! 

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge Walk

In May, Mom came up for a visit. I had been wanting to explore the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and Mom was game, so we headed down I-5 for an adventure. Leila was thrilled to head out into nature  with us. It was a great outing. We saw many birds, insects, frogs, snakes (not my favorite!), eagles and a great blue heron! 

Weedie took my picture with Mom...not too bad!

We borrowed some binoculars from the Visitor Center to help us look for wildlife. They were a necessity when searching for the heron. 

While exploring that morning, Leila completed the necessary activities to earn a Junior Wildlife Refuge badge. This makes three junior badges for her. I love that she is interested in adding more to her collection! Maybe this summer in Oregon we will be able to help in that endeavor. 

Hockey Guy

Leila and I used to watch Chris practice each week, but then school started this last fall and it was just too late for Leila to be out on a weeknight. This spring though we surprised Dad and popped in to watch him play hockey one week.