Maddie's Last Day of School

6/11/08

Maddie's last day of school.  

BFF Brendan

Maddie with her teacher Ms. Beltran

Her cute class.

Maddie was telling me about some of the games she and her friends made up at recess.  In her words:

"One game is Horse Spy.  You have to pretend you have a horse you have to think up a name for you and your horse.  (Maddie's name was Violet and her horse was Rose.)  Then you have to pretend to pack up your things and go on fun adventures around the playground.

Another game is Shoe Fly.  You have to unbuckle your shoe and then dance and run and if your shoes fall off you're out and once you put them back on you're in again.  You can also kick your legs out to see how far you can get your shoe to fly.  Mrs. Beltran doesn't like it when we play Shoe Fly."  

MmmmmmMolly's

After Maddie's graduation program, we went to a cupcake shop I had heard good things about.  Molly's Cupcakes.  

Best cupcakes in town, I say.

Yes, those are swings up at the counter.  The kids were charmed.  They also had fun board games to play at the other tables and a Sprinkle Station!  Cute!

Max only eats frosting.  

Maddie's Bachelor of Rhymes

6/9/08

Maddie's Kindergarten Graduation Program theme was Mother Goose's Bachelor of Rhymes.  It was so cute hearing her singing the nursery rhymes in anticipation of the show.

She was the sheep in Little Boy Blue.  Here she is after finishing the show and accepting her diploma.  She had the biggest smile on her face!

When I asked if she was going to wag her sheep tail during the program, she said, "I wouldn't want any of my friends to think I was shaking my booty at them!"

Maddie's Kindergarten class is a fun group of kids.  She made so many great friends this year.  Maddie is such a sweet and open-hearted girl.  I love how she considers everyone a friend and overlooks grouchy behavior in others really easily.  In the end, she even got the infamous playground bully to join one of her clubs!  

The Butterfly that Thought Maddie's Shirt was a Flower Field

6/7/08

After our day out at the Planetarium, we stopped by McDonald's for lunch. As we walked in, Max noticed a butterfly in the doorway. He ran over to it and stuck out his finger yelling, "I want to hold it!"
He did it just right, without touching its wings. It hopped right onto his finger and stayed a while. Max was so excited. 

After a while, the butterfly flew over onto Maddie. It crawled up her arm to her back and tickled her a bit. Then it flew right onto the front of her shirt. It wasn't moving after that. We went outside to set it free, but it wouldn't budge from her fluttery flowered shirt. Maddie said, "I think it thinks my shirt is a real flower!" Maddie's gentle approach was not motivating the butterfly to fly away home. Maddie very excitedly told me she had an idea. "I am going to take the butterfly over to a real flower. The it will crawl on that and it will be safe!" She ran over to a flower pot, lifted the part of her shirt with the butterfly near to a bloom, and the butterfly crawled right up onto it. She was thrilled that her idea worked.

Fly Me To The Moon

On 6/7/08, we went to the Adler Planetarium to see the new movie "Fly Me To The Moon".  It is a 3-D animated show about three flies that sneak onto the first Apollo moon landing.  It was very cute and enjoyable.

They give everyone magnifying glasses for an activity after the show.

Throughout the Shoot for the Moon exhibit, there are tiny pictures of the fly characters along with hidden messages.  The kids find them and read them with their magnifying glasses.  It is a fun way to experience the exhibit.  The  kids were thrilled with the movie, and loved the extension of it into the rest of their visit.

A real meteorite?  Cool!  Let's snuggle it.

I love the picturesque skyline outside the museum campus.

Max was having fun running around outside.

Tag!  You're it!

Max's Last Day of School

6/6/08

Max's last day of school.  He carried out a little plant that he grew from a seed.  He was so proud of it.  We hung out afterwards so that Max could take pictures with his preschool buddies.  

Robert, in the blue shirt, is Max's favorite kid.  He is a year older, but they are still good friends.  His mom told us that he makes up stories about Max during soccer practice.  

The curly-haired blonde girl is Katie.  Max talks about her a lot.

Max had a great year with lots of fun field trips and a very cute class.  He really hit his stride about mid-year.  I think the speech therapy really helped him to be able to communicate with his peers and build stronger friendships.   He is still a big teaser, but he is good-natured about it.  That is why all the kids love him!

To celebrate Max's newly found freedom, we went to Max's on Western for their famous "Ghetto Fries". Fries smothered with Merkts's cheese sauce, bbq sauce, gravy, and hot peppers. Yes, it tastes just like you think it would.

David Roger's Big Bugs! at the Morton Arboretum

On 5/31/08 we celebrated the last day of May by going to the Morton Arboretum. I was excited about all of the programs for kids I saw on their website. An etymologist was outside with specimen displays. They had fun crafts set up throughout the Children's Garden. Also, they have a great sculpture exhibit through July called David Roger's Big Bugs! These twelve larger than life bugs are laid out in a path around Meadow Lake. The kids become Bug Detectives with their official bug detective guides that includes a special badge on the back.

Maddie liked the Tropic Millipede.

Children's Garden

Crafts at the Good Bad and BUG-ly program.  The kids made fireflies and a clip-on spider.

Big Bugs!

The kids enjoyed their walk around Meadow Lake.

   

The kids enjoyed the sound of the bullfrogs and watching the damselflies zipping around them like helicopters. It was a beautiful day and a lovely place. We'll definitely be back.