The Meltons

June was a busy busy month 'round the Melton house! We completed Kindergarten (I say we, because it really is a family thing...parts for everyone to play.) We've been catching lightening bugs, trekking to the Farmer's Market, doing crafts, playing in the sprinkler, playdates, and traveling to Charlotte (there's a separate post for that one coming up). I also rode my bike from the house to Harp's for the first time before school let out for the summer. It was nice to check that off my list and know that not only can i do it, but that it wasn't all that bad. I was pretty nervous about it, my heart was racing and not just because I was getting a bit of a workout. But in the end, I managed to navigate just fine and didn't run into anything or anyone! I even had to find an alternate route when a squad of fire trucks was blocking my way to the store. To think... this is just the beginning of our summer fun! Now on to the pictures!

Here we have the "Last Day of School" mix:

1) Aylin is very proud of her Field Day participation award

2) Last day of Kindergarten!

3) Last walk to school as a Kindergartener

4) Last lunch in the cafeteria with mom and Silly Selfies

5) Aylin with her teacher, Mrs. Scott, on her last day

6) Last day of school fun treat!

7) Last day of school crazy class pic.

Next up the "Play Time" mix:

1) Splash Park fun

2) Sprinkler fun

3) Experimenting with textures on clay at the Kids Art Park (at the Farmer's Market)

4) Same as #3 :)

5) Helping in a giant weaving project to be auctioned off, also part of the Kids Art Park

6) Gotta get a pic in the miniature Sam Walton pick up truck

7) Garden Tea Parties with a friend

8) Checking out the kids area at Crystal Bridges with friends

9) Shouting into the horn at Crystal Bridges with friends

And now for "Our Back Yard Visitors"

We've enjoyed the deer sightings in our back yard. It's been pretty surreal to see so many deer, in daylight hours, IN TOWN.

Next we have my "Random Pic(k)s"

1) All dressed up for a date with daddy!

2) A nice quiet (and cooler than normal) June evening, keeping the skeeterz at bay with my torch.

3) Getting our Farmer's Market on with the new wagon!

4) My bike parked at Harp's!

Aaaand last but not least "Flying to Charlotte"

1) Gotta ride the moving sidewalk!

2) Hysterical giggles, we're so excited!

3) Ooooh pretty!

4) Sleepy kiddo

5) City lights over Charlotte

I got the opportunity to tag along on a field trip with Aylin's class last week. We visited the Gentry Safari and the petting zoo. The kids had an amazing time. I rode along with another mom and we met the buses in Gentry. It was pretty wild being on the bus, though, packed with kindergarteners driving through the safari. I honestly didn't get to see much because I sat on the inside aisle seat so that the kids could stand on the seats and plaster themselves against the windows. I did manage to snap a few shots of the big cats, as well as a few others. Then I got to attempt to keep up with 4 of the kiddos and escort them through the various exciting sights through the petting zoo. That part was pretty fun. The kids got to feed the giraffes lettuce. Then I was given a loaf of bread to pass out to the kids to feed to any critter that would get close enough to eat it. Although most of the critters just got food thrown at them as the kids got timid once they got close to things. Especially the kangaroos. Notice how Aylin was the farthest away in the picture with the kangaroo. She was not getting ANY closer than that. Apparently the swift movements put her way out of her comfort zone where animals are concerned. We saw monkeys, pot bellied pigs, kangaroos, peacocks, rabbits, goats, various types of exotic birds. Lots of fun was had. Here is my picture collage to mark the day. :)

So this just happened today...

She's been waiting and waiting to finally lose a tooth, and now she's a member of the snaggletooth club!

Now she's anxiously awaiting the arrival of the toothfairy!

So Aylin got to experience the joy of getting her very first cavity fixed last Monday. I really hadn't expected to have to deal with that quite so soon... Clearly we need to work on getting those toofers cleaned better. Anywho... The dentist highly recommended we use the "happy gas" even though our insurance didn't cover it. So we went with it, and I'm glad we did. She was pretty nervous to start, and even cried just having to put on the "piggy nose" (happy gas) because "it was weird". But after having it on for about 60 seconds the happy kicked in, and she was quite the goofball. She cracked herself up several times, and told the dentist and his assistant that everyone that worked at the dentist office should wear shorts, swim suites, flip flops, and piggy noses for their daily uniform at work. He got quite the kick out of her. He also joked that he should start an anonymous twitter account for "things kids say while on nitrous", I'm sure it would be a hoot if Aylin was any indication. So here are our pictures from the event.

Honestly the worst part was a combination of waiting for the numbness to wear off, and that half asleep tingling sensation while her mouth slowly came back to life. She fussed with and bit on her lip enough while it was numb that she'd made it raw and swollen. She reacted to it the same way I do; it lasted FOREVER. She had the work done at 4pm and the numbness still hadn't gone away by bedtime at 7:30. Thankfully she was worn out enough that even though she cried herself to sleep, it didn't take long for her to just give in and fall asleep.

Last week was Dr. Seuss' birthday, so we had a fun day each day last week where the kids went to school with some wild and wacky theme. One day was crazy shoes day, and pajama day, etc. Friday was dress as your favorite Dr. Seuss character day, so Aylin wanted "Cindy Lou Who" hair. We started out with the side braids, and I was going to tease up the top and put a bow in it, but we literally almost missed the bus because the hair was taking way longer than expected. So I ended up doing a third braid up top and just looping them all up and around. And unfortunately, since we were late to the bus stop, I didn't get any pics of it while it was still cute and fresh. So these pics are from the end of the school day...

We did a lot of painting for the 2 snow days we had last week. The big paint project we did was a thing I found on Pinterest, which didn't quite turn out how I had imagined, but it was unique and fun no less. It instructed us to put elmers glue on canvas, let it dry, and then paint the canvas all one color. But when I actually followed the link from the original pin the instructions were something entirely different. So due to lack of other supplies we stuck with the elmers glue. It turned out, and it was fun. Just not quite what I was expecting. Then the kiddo used up just about all of the water color paints we own. So we'll need to restock on those soon. With that, this momma is done with snow days. If we have any more, I will be having a rather stern conversation with Elsa. It was nice while it lasted, but that second day just about did me in. So, no more snow! Got that, Elsa?!