Graduation Season

A little overdue, but better late than never!  First up, in May, I had my “graduation”, our annual SHA brunch at Mario’s:

Then Calvin had his graduation, a dinner at a country club:

You would think there is a diploma involved, but they actually hand out a class picture:

And Calvin got the award for the best thesis presentation:

Next up was Eli, with his graduation from the 2x2 class:

They sang a special graduation song, had a snack, and played in a bounce house.  Fun times!  We were so proud of our little guy.  The teachers loved him, especially his big smiles!

And last but not least was Brian’s graduation from Camp Arrowhead!  This was the real deal, with caps, walking across the stage, and getting a certificate.  But before all the pomp and circumstance, there was fun to be had on the inflatable bounce things, just like the last two years. 

And on the playground with his buddy Cameron:

Then they lined up and marched around the amphitheater singing “Grand Old Flag”:

Then they were called up individually for their certificate:

And they stood together as a class.  Yes, Brian’s class this year was all boys!

They tolerated this as well as a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds might be expected to.  Then we had a BBQ lunch and went to play on the sprayground and in the pool!

If only all graduations were that much fun!

Letchworth hot air balloon festival

In the spirit of truly experiencing western NY before we have to leave, we went touring again today, to Letchworth state park.  They have a hot air balloon festival this weekend so we took the kids to see it.  I really took a lot of pictures, like a LOT, so I will let them do the talking. 

The first balloon was a fish!

Eli was very tentative about the whole thing. 

Brian was not.  He loved it. 

He touched a balloon, he waved at the people taking off, he just had a blast. 

Eeee!  More balloons!

Eli was there too. 

But it was Brian who stole the show.

More balloons!

One guy went with no basket, just a chair!  The boys loved it. 

Oh, and I was there too!

It was a little crazy but we all had a great time.  The only downside was that there was no time to see the park itself, which is also really nice.  Maybe another day!

Niagara Falls

Grandma and Grandpa are here while Calvin is away in Colorado, so we decided to go and see Niagara falls today.  I hope the kids will remember it, at least Brian!  It was a beautiful day and I took lots of pictures. 

The first thing we did was go to the Maid of the Mist, which had a nice overlook on the way down.  You could see a rainbow in the mist below:

We donned our ponchos and watched the boat pull in:

 

Brian and I went to the top deck where we had a great view, and got SOAKED. 

 

One last look at the falls on the way out:

We walked along the path at the top, over to Goat Island. 

It was very windy!

We had a nice lunch at the Top of the Falls restaurant, and by then we were seriously tired and goofy. 

A little out of it…

… so it was great to take the trolley back!  It made one little boy’s day. 

OK, probably two little boys.  Brian says he liked the boat the best, though. 

After one last tree climb…

…and looking at the crowd control they have ready for the weekend…

… we  headed back home.  Now we’ll see if we have the energy to go to the Letchworth hot air balloon festival tomorrow!

Mother’s Day

Some pictures from today; we had a picnic dinner at Maplewood park, which we had never been to and I’ve been wanting to see before we leave the area. 

Not great pictures, unfortunately.  Brian has inherited my uncanny ability to blink right as a picture is taken.  Seriously, it is hard to get a picture of this kid!

Anyway, after dinner we hiked to see the lower and middle falls of the Genesee river.  It was pretty nice, a little on the sketchy side, but the kids really enjoyed it.  Brian asked if it was Niagara Falls. 

It was certainly very loud, and kicked up a spray of mist that had the kids talking about the mysterious “rain” that was falling right there. 

I got one nice picture with them, which is what I wanted for Mother’s day.  I even dressed them up, can you tell?

After hiking we went for ice cream!  Yay!

How cute is that picture?  When we got home I tried to get a picture of myself with the kids for facebook or something but it was hard; my arm wasn’t long enough. 

Look how cooperative they were, though, at least for a few seconds!  It was a very fun evening, and these lucky guys got to stay up till almost 9 with all the activity!

Passed out

Brian fell asleep while lying on the floor playing with his cars today.  He also is now proficient in starting and stopping on his bicycle after only a couple of sessions of practice.