The Lake

We just came back from a 3 night stay at a cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks. We have done this the last 3 summers and love it. This is the earliest in the year we have ever gone so subsequently, the water was a little too cold to go swimming at the beach. We still had a great time and will be back near the end of July. (sorry, this blog is very pic heavy).

My three monkeys:

Of course, we had to bring the wii:

Here comes Papa and Owen with our boat :)
Mmmmm...chocolate granola bar...

ehh....maybe not so cold after all:A little fishing is fun:

Making s'mores right outside the cabin:

At the little beach they have:
Me and Jon:
Beautiful

The Last Day of School!

Well, this is it! The day we finally look forward to: the last day of school. The kids have had a great school year and made a lot of new friends. That is the one thing that is sad about schools in this area. 90% are military so they leave a lot. There are constantly new people coming in and old friends leaving. The boys seem to adjust pretty well, but I do feel bad that they have not had one consistent friend. Anyways, the last day is just one big free-for-all really. A lot of cleaning and a lot of playing.

Here is a few shots of Justin and his classmates:

They are actually in the pto room here. I snuck them out so they could write in a scrapbook I was making for Mrs. Cash:Nathan and his teacher Mrs. Crabtree:Out the door! Justin and Nathan with their photography club teacher Mr. Helton:I can't believe what will be happening next year: Nathan will be in FOURTH grade and Justin will be a MIDDLE SCHOOLER (aaahhhh!). Now, fortunately, they kept 6th grade here at Wood. Then when he is in 7th grade, he moves to the actual middle school. Next year will be fun/scary for sure!

3rd Grade Awards Ceremony

Today was Nathan's 3rd grade award ceremony. Nathan had another great school year. He was the only one in his class who made straight A's for the whole school year. In fact, since kindergarten, he has never had a single B! He is such a great artist and gets recognized each year for it!

The principal with the opening remarks:

Mrs. Crabtree, Nathan's 3rd grade teacher (she was also his 2nd grade teacher):

Overall Achievement Award:Physical Fitness Award:Art Award:Straight A's Award:

5th Grade Awards Ceremony

Today was the 5th grade awards ceremony. It is an end of year celebration of achievement. Justin has much to be proud of this year. First of all, going all the way to State with his Science Project. Also, he received straight A's for the whole school year. He was the only one in his class to do this.

Ms. Campbell, the principal with opening remarks:

Mrs. Cash and her last 5th grade class:

Overall Best Achievement:

Science Award:

Honor Choir Award:

Straight A award (the only one in 5th grade). The other students had the very impressive A/B award.

Honor Club Field Trip

Justin is in the Honor Club at Wood Elementary School. The club is only open for kids in grades 4-6th, otherwise, Nathan would have the grades to be in it also. He is looking forward to next year. Anyways, they had a bake sale and raised enough money to go to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede in Branson. This is a great dinner show with horses and long-horn cattle, etc. See it here: http://www.dixiestampede.com/ The principal, Ms. Campbell, was kind enough to allow my whole family to along (paid for). Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed once you get into the facility, but here are some pics before and after the show:Looking at the horses:

Ms. Campbell, the Principal:

Onondaga Cave

Nathan and his 3rd grade class had a field trip to Onondaga Cave today. It was very nice but a looong walk. A lot of the kids were cold and it kinda stunk under there :). All in all, everyone had a great time and it was nice to get away from the usual school work also.

If you would like to read more about the cave, you can read it at http://www.mostateparks.com/onondaga.htm