A Star Is Born

Last week Molly was the Star Student of her Kindergarten class. Oh my, was she excited!

She came home with her blank poster and couldn’t wait to get it filled out. She told me about all of the special things that she would get to do with her new role. And each day she would get off of the bus just about ready to burst. She couldn’t wait to tell me all about her day as “the star.”

Here’s the close up of her poster:I loved that she wanted to put a photo of Baby Brother in her family picture.

I was thrilled that she got her special week to shine at school, but I hope she realizes that she is, and always will be my little  star!

 

Because two pictures are just not enough to make up a blog post, here are a few more random shots from the week.

Molly always returns from school ravenous. I feed her as soon as she walks into the door or we have the whole Jeckel/Hyde transformation thing going on. Here’s my goofy girl eating yogurt pretzels. Leave it to Molly to turn food into a fashion accessory.

Molly started Daisy Scouts. Here she is modeling her Daisy Tunic. I can’t believe they start so young. They even earn badges and sell cookies (read: have parents hound ask friends and family to buy cookies).

Molly’s new favorite pastime. We spend all that money on toys and games and this is what she choses to do instead. She can spend an hour climbing up the door frame, dropping down, climbing back up, dropping down. Seriously, an hour. And she wants to to watch each and every attempt. Oh well, at least it keeps me from having to play Candyland (the world’s most mind-numbing game) with her!

Climb on sister!

A Super Sleuth Birthday Party

Avery, Molly’s dear, sweet little friend, turned seven. Wow, seven!

Avery’s party is always a reality check for me. She’s a little over a year older than Molly. Attending Avery’s party each year is always a little smack in the face for me. A smack that I need.

You see, it happens the same way each year. I go. I say, “Yikes, she is old.” And slowly over the next year I accept that Molly will turn that age, too.

I’m glad that Avery is Molly’s friend for a number of reasons, but having her gently ease me into the inevitable reality that my daughter will grow up  is definitely a benefit.

This year, Avery had a party at the science museum. The kids got to be super sleuths for the day. The adventure started out with a little lesson on fingerprints. Then all the kids had their own fingerprints taken.

Later in the party they were asked to hold drinking glasses. This left greasy little fingerprints all over the glasses. The kids got to use their own fingerprint dusting kits to lift the fingerprints off of the glass. How cool is that?

That wasn't even the highlight of the party. No, the highlight was making the ice cream.

Avery poured all of the ingredients into a bowl and stirred.

Then liquid nitrogen was added and, voila, instant--and I do meant instant—ice cream!

The kids all thought this was exceptionally cool. No pun intended!

Molly loves her some ice cream!

Of course there was the traditional Happy Birthday song.

And good friends to hang out with while waiting for the sugar to arrive.

But seriously, it was all about the ice cream.

And maybe the cake. But definitely the ice cream.

The party ended with gifts. Here’s Avery opening the present from Molly.Luckily Molly’s was the first or second gift opened. Shortly after that, Avery was surrounded by kids, all needing to get a closer look. It’s a kids party tradition.

Happy Birthday Avery. Have a great year being seven.

And thanks for helping me face reality.

Kelsey’s Birthday

The thing about kids is that they grow up. And every year the have a party. And who doesn’t like a party?

Not Molly, she loves them!

Molly’s classmate and friend Kelsey had her 6th birthday party at a local entertainment center. I liken it to Chuck E Cheese, but it’s not near as obnoxious. And the pizza is better. Better stuff to do, too.

Like black light miniature golf.Molly’s never played miniature golf before and it showed. She held her club so that the head faced backward. I kept trying to correct her but she seemed to like her unique putting style. She was having a blast, so who am I to judge.

The theme for the miniature golf course was dinosaurs, which was right up Molly’s alley. She knew the names of all of the dinos scattered around.

Group shot of the party girls! Kelsey the birthday girl is top row, far left, eyes closed…sorry Kelsey!

After golf it was time for pizza.

And then time to bowl. Another activity that Molly has never done. I guess we need to get out more!

Molly faired better at bowling than at golf. Look at that ball…right down the center of the lane.I think she got a spare in that frame. Love the miniature bowling balls. So much easier for the kids to use.

Back to the party room to sing Happy Birthday to Kelsey.

Finally Molly’s favorite part: cake and ice cream.

One would think that this would complete the party. Not even close. Each kid was given a credit card that they could use for games and rides.

Molly and Kelsey riding the Motorcycle race course.

Molly racing her sports car. Judging from her performance, the BMV won’t be issuing her a driver’s license any time soon.Molly thought the party was “awesome!”

That’s her new word: Awesome. Makes me smile every time she says it. She thinks she is so grown up.

Ya know what? She is. Not much longer until my baby will be celebrating her 6th birthday. I am so not ready for her to be another year older!

Happy 6th Birthday Kelsey! Thanks for including us in your celebration.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back On The Blog…

I know what you were thinking when we moved. Be honest. You were thinking, “Thank God! Finally no more posts about the          %*#@! zoo!”

Well guess what?

The new town has a zoo! And we went! And I am posting about it!

Don’t worry. We don’t have a membership (yet) so you won’t see zoo posts popping up with the same regularity as before. But for today, you’ll have to suffer through.

At least the scenery will be different. That’s something, right?

Onward, to the zoo pics…

My friend Suzanne and her son Max invited us to a day at the zoo. Molly and Max had a few days off of school and the weather was beautiful, so how could we resist?

A chilly start to the day.

Off to the reptile house. I thought, “Wow, that’s a neat sculpture. The crocodiles look pretty realistic.”

And then one of the crocodiles moved. Umm, not a sculpture. Real crocodiles and my kid was leaning over the railing just a few feet from their ferocious jaws.I guess it was safe. I mean there were no signs warning of danger or to keep your hands away from the meat-eaters. But still, a little close for comfort if you ask me.

Molly poses with her favorite zoo animal: The Gorillas.

Woo Hoo! Molly was so excited to see that this zoo had a carousel, just like the one back home.

Max and Molly pose for a picture.

And another. These two fall into a pose with each other so easily that it reminds me of a married couple. Which I am not at all ready for. At all. At least not in this century.

A visitor to our lunch table.

The sun was right behind Molly's head so not a great picture, but this peacock strutted right up to her and demanded some lunch.

Another Molly and Max pic on the train.I hope you are not puckering those lips, Max.

Max on the playground.

Molly in the tortoise shell.

Max’s turn.

And one last picture to end the day. Uh, Max. Please take you hand off of my daughter’s thigh. Thank you.

Reader’s beware…I just might be purchasing a zoo pass in the not-to-distant future. And you thought you were done with zoo posts.

Bwaa ha ha ha!

Happy Camper

“Mommy, today was the best day ever!”

That’s what Molly told me on the car ride home. We spent the day back in the old town, with the old friends. There was a certain comfort that being back in the “old” provided for Molly. And me.

The morning began with Miss Lily’s Mandarin class. Molly started with Miss Lily when she was only a year old. Although she doesn’t always love Mandarin class, she always loves Miss Lily.

After class we went to lunch with Molly’s best friend Mia. Now that we have moved and Molly has started Kindergarten, she has tons of friends. I mean tons. She has friends that she plays with daily at home. Friends that she sees everyday at school. Friends that are at her extracurricular activities.

But ask Molly who her best friend is and she will reply without hesitation: Mia.

Molly was thrilled to go to lunch with Mia. These two always order the same meal. When they are together these two slowpoke eaters inhale their food just so they have more time to play with each other.

After lunch, we went to the China Friends playgroup. Molly has known many of these girls since she was two. The group has recently expanded and we have more formal monthly outings now, but Molly still looks forward to each and every meeting.

For todays outing, Annie’s mom Jill planned an exciting day for the kids. She had teachers from a local Mandarin school (not the one connected with our Families with Children from China where Molly goes) come over teach the kids all sorts of traditional Chinese activities.

Here are the girls learning about the Chinese Zodiac.

Next up was chopstick lessons.

Molly is already proficient with chopsticks so she enjoyed showing off her skills.

After chopstick lessons, the girls learned the hand signs used when counting from 1 to 10 in Chinese—different than we use here in the USA.

Then they learned a hand play using Chinese counting.

Finally they learned how to play a Chinese version of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

This proved to be great fun and they were still playing this game at the conclusion of the activities.

At the very end of the day, the girls took part in a candy tasting. The kitchen was filled with different stations where the kids could taste a whole variety of traditional Chinese candy and then vote on their favorite. How fun is that?

Sorry, not pictures…I was too busy tasting candy myself! And for the record, the sesame candy was my favorite. Molly like the lychee gummies.

The drive home was a quiet one. I had a tired little camper in the back seat. A tired little camper with a big smile on her face. One that though that this was the best day ever!