What a Difference a Year Makes

Today, was the last day of pre-school for my two. Kylie is thrilled to be finishing up the 3-year old class so she can move "upstairs" to the 4-year old class in the fall. Maggie is finishing up her 1st year of MDO and she will start the 2-year old program at Leika's next year. This morning we took some photos of the last day of school and I looked back at the 1st day of school pictures and wow! They have grown so much, Especially Mags. She has grown much taller and much more hair ;) Pics from the 1st day of school

Now pics from the last day of school -- May 16, 2012

1st Pool Trip

It's official, we have kicked off summer. Even though Kylie's last day of pre-school is Wednesday, we started our summer activities yesterday with the 1st trip to the SCC pool. The pool opened yesterday and my kiddos were over the moon. I thought they were going to lose it when we got unloaded and this happened...

Thankfully it was only a quick shower. We suited up quickly and got ready to dive in.

I can tell that Little Sis is going to have a love/hate relationship with her life preservers. She is thrilled to wear anything Dora, but just wishes it was not on a bulky life vest. Hopefully, she will get more comfortable in it the next few weeks. Big sis was all smiles!

She is still quite timid in the big pool. We will take swimming lessons again this year and hopefully something will click. She did lots of practicing in the baby pool yesterday.

Little sis did lots of climbing in and out. She made me quite nervous!

Big sis was thrilled when her friends showed up to play!

We giggled at Thomas Clay with the goggles on! =)

Both girlies love their TC!

And just when Kylie thought the day couldn't get any better, BFF Jane showed up with some cool new floats for this summer!

Hoping to hit the pool again this week. These white legs need some sun!!!

Dancin' Thru the Decades: Recital 2012

Woohoo! I can't believe it, but I made it through our 1st year of dance!!! I think dance was much harder on me than Kylie bug, she loved every minute of it. I, on the other hand, was completely a fish out water. Everything from getting her to dance (thank you wonderful friends for helping me with that!) to fixing dance hair to taking pictures proved to be challenging for me! It is safe to say that I am NOT a stage mom ;) Anywho -- Kylie thoroughly enjoyed her year at McConnell Twins Dance Studio.

Wearing her ballerina outfit to school the week of the dance recital (she would wear this everyday if I let her) Big sis was thrilled when it was finally time for the big recital! I think I was more nervous than she was. I battled stage fright as a kid, so I was hoping she would not face the same issues I had growing up. It was clear in the 1st 30 seconds of watching her, that she does not have the same issue! Ha! She danced and sang her little heart out.

Kylie and Miss Haley at dress rehearsal

Libby Lou and Kylie bug

These were a few pics I managed to get during dress rehearsal. I couldn't use my flash the night of the big performance.

Time for the big recital

Good luck from little sis

Getting ready for her tap performance backstage

One of the highlights of her night...being able to wear lipstick

The other highlight...flowers and a prize after her performance She had such a good time and all of the little girls in her class did great. No tears from anyone!

Street Fest

Two weeks ago, Ms. Frieda and I took the kids to the Arts Revive StreetFest. I believe this is only the 2nd or 3rd year of StreetFest and it is really fun. The event is held in the Arts Revive Carneal building and along Water Avenue downtown. Vendors this year included items such as scarves, flowers, appliqued items, beeswax candles, etc. There sure are some talented folks in Selma!!

BankTrust has a kids booth set-up which is a hit for the girls. They made necklaces and sand art this year.

Lee's Leadership Class hosted the annual Billy Atchison Fish Fry at StreetFest and sold over 800 plates of catfish!!!! Mr. Billy is the late father of our friend Tommy and although I never got a chance to meet him, I know he would be so proud of how hard these guys have worked on this event!! The proceeds from the fish fry go to benefit Crimestoppers, which is an awesome organization that helps provides information along with rewards to stop crime in Dallas County.

After grabbing some lunch, we loaded up to head home. The girls had a great time and it was a fun way to enjoy a warm afternoon!

Horses, Juleps, and Hats

Wow -- lots to catch up since my last post. Last week, one of our equity providers hosted clients in Louisville to take in the Kentucky Derby festivities and attend a mini-conference. This was hands down one of the best work events I have attended. We were treated like royalty and had such a good time. We stayed at the Seelbach Hilton in downtown Louisville. It is an amazing hotel and is supposedly where F. Scott Fitzgerald 1st began his novel, The Great Gatsby. Very neat place with lots of historic fun facts! Also home to the Old Seelbach Bar, which is noted as one of the top 50 bars in the country. I am sure that acknowledgement has a little to do with the extensive bourbon selection (more brown water than I have ever seen) and the fact that they can whip up the most amazing mint juleps in the City. We arrived on Tuesday and after settling into the hotel, took a cab over to the Blugrass Brewing Company for a welcoming reception. We had a private room and got introduced to everyone over cocktails. My boss is a bit of a "foodie" so we snuck out early to go to one of the hottest, new restaurants in Louisville, Harvest. This restaurant was awesome. The concept of the restaurant is basically farm to table, meaning everything is locally grown and all served fresh. Pretty cool. After leaving dinner, we had a night cap in the Seelbach Bar and headed to bed before a long day of racing on Wednesday. On Wednesday, we took a bus to Churchill Downs. Races were held all week leading up to the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. We had a private room, the Stake Rooms, which was A.W.E.S.O.M.E!! From our suite, where we had a private catered lunch, we had access to an open bar and private betting counters. We also had views of the full track including the finish line and the winners cicle, the Paddock, the twin spires, and downtown. Fabulous! Cannot imagine how much it would have cost to watch the actual big race from that room. We caught 10 races on Wednesday and had a blast betting, eating, and drinking. (wow--that sounds kinda bad, huh?? hehe)

(Please excuse the photo quality, all I had was my cell phone)

The grounds were amazing!

The famous twin spires

Another view of the track, we are above the finish line and this looks out to the winner circle

View of the Paddock from the back balcony -- this is where the horses get ready right before the race

Churchill Downs was much bigger than I expected

This was a hat boutique that set up in the lobby of the hotel. Ladies donned hats all week and they were gorgeous! I swear I believe the only event that could top the hats in Louisville for Derby week is a royal wedding. The hats are so beautifully detailed. I would say the cheapest at this shop was about $500 and went well into the thousands of dollars. I hated to not wear a hat, but I did not want to check a bag at the airport so I stuck out being hat-less. Hopefully, I can go again next year and will be prepared with a hat!! After a long day at the track, we got ready for a developer dinner. Carl Pascarella, the owner of horse Animal Kingdom, who won the 2011 Derby was the speaker. Such an amazing story, we got to watch the 2011 Derby over with Carl and he nearly cried as he recalled one of the happiest moments in his life. Great story. Carl also is the former CEO of Visa, so his resume was impressive to say the least. Very cool to hear his story about being a horse owner and amazing business man. We headed home Thursday afternoon after a great 2 days. Being there on Derby week made watching the big race on Saturday much more exciting. I was favoring Bodemeister to win, but he was surpassed by I'll Have Another in the final turn. Who knew horse racing was so fun???