rapid approach of summertime

I know it's a well used phrase, but I have no idea where the time has gone.

You'd think that year two of delivering kids to pre-school 5 days a week would drag by painfully slowly. 

And yes, it's a good amount of work getting 4 little people up and at 'em early in the morning

let alone heading in to town and doing it all with a cheerful and loving good-bye...

But it's been a quick year.

Elsa has flourished and held tight to her own little personality (like super glue).

She dressed herself the other morning and I rolled with it.

Today she looks like she's lost trying to find her art studio to build her Procession of the Species costume...

She had her last day in the 3's class yesterday.  My last kid in Mrs. Holmquist's class- which is quite a rite of passage.  I can see how the last kid through each teacher becomes a big deal now.

The only reason she wore that skirt is because it looked like swim trunks.

Her last day of class theme was beach party.  She had on her swimsuit under her clothes (which showed off her nickels {nipples}).  

Apparently, she kept taking off her shirt and her nickels were showing.  

My little exhibitionist.  

She got to celebrate her last day with her best buddy Henry at Chuck E Cheese.  His mama is a saint, I tell you.

While they were celebrating I learned that I (at the ripe old age of 37) have the start of osteo-arthritis in my knees.  Which accounts for why I was uncomfortable after running 8 miles a few weeks ago and had to downgrade from the half marathon to the 5 miler this year.  

Not that I properly trained in the first place.  

Looks like I need to follow the rules for training for the next go around.

The group I attempted to train with but could only make it to 2 runs with them.

HS friends from the Capitol City.  What the heck am I doing with my neck?!

Charlie had a field trip to the zoo (Elsa had one too but we combined the two trips and went with just Charlie's class, she's like their mascot anyway...)

Monkeys!

I was tempted to skip the field trip.  

I had memories of trips to the zoo in the past with strollers, roaming toddlers, and one little boy terrifyingly squished in the metal round-abouts to exit the zoo.  

It was Carl's field trip (the first year he did the 4s class) and I had Elsa and Charlie in the stroller trying to push through that darn roundy thing but it was stuck.  It took me a minute to look up and see my sweet Carl trapped in there trying to hold the roundy thing back with all his might because I was pushing my way through and didn't look up and see him there.  

He was so terrified he couldn't make a peep.  

I still shudder every time I think about it.  

I can see his little body shaking to hold it back.  

I don't think I stopped shaking afterwards until we were all the way home.

I have to say it spoiled the zoo for me.

But this trip was wonderful.  

My kids are now old enough to move about on their own two feet.  

They (mostly) listen when I call to them.

And Charlie LOVES the animals.  He absorbed every bit of those creatures he could.

And because it was cool and overcast (but not raining) the animals (which I used to refer to as "poor pathetic caged creatures") were the most frisky I've ever seen at the zoo.  

They were actually entertaining to watch.  

We saw monkeys swinging all over the place, playing catch with their lunch, taunting each other.  We saw polar bears wrestling the way Hunter and Ollie do but on a MUCH larger scale.

It was fun.

Today was Charlie's pre-school graduation.

I cannot believe next year 3 Schreck kids will be bopping onto that school bus (granted it'll only be 2.5 days a week for Mr. Charlie) but that's big time!

Unfortunately, today (during Charlie's graduation) it was also Carl's Read-In.  He read 500 minutes in one month to earn a read-in in his class.  And part of that celebration was to have family read-in time.  When we explained to him that Mark and I would be at Charlie's graduation he cried big huge tears.  Thankfully we have a fantastic grandma who could go and cuddle and read with him  AND a big sister who was able to get out of her class to sit with him and read.  That village sure does come in handy.  Especially when Mama and Daddy have to make some tough decisions.

At the ceremony they sang Kindergarten Here I Come and See How I've Grown and If I Were A Butterfly. And Mrs. Stoddard shared what he said about what he wants to be when he grows up.

I took this photo the other day.  I have no idea when Charlie started to look like he's the same size as has big brother.  They are 25 months and one week apart age-wise but it sure doesn't look like it in this picture of them playing Mario together.

And here's the big guy squeezed into his size 12-18 month monkey costume.  

He and Elsa actually fight over who gets to wear it.  

I had to hide it stop the fighting.

front

Looks comfy doesn't it?

I've been busily pinning free and fun summertime activities on pinterest.com, trying to brace myself for the upcoming kid time.  I wish I was more creative and fun with the kids.  Seems like everytime I want to be fun-mom a chore distracts me or a kid does something to make me grumpy.

This summer will be different.

Time to get ready for the birthdays, the camping, and the together time.

It will be great, it will be great, it will be GREAT!