May happenings

We got a backyard play set that Ella is in love with.

She is fearless on the slide

But her favorite part is going in the little play house on bottom and shutting the door.  She's obsessed!

Jack knows how to spell his name, and is even learning to write a letter "J".

He was thrilled to ride his favorite animal, a wolf (or as he says it, wuf) on the zoo carousel.

Zoo day with one of his favorite bike riding buddies.  Our across the street neighbor.

Preschool Graduation

Tuesday marked Jack's last day of preschool for the year!  We went to the park with his friends for preschool graduation.  I didn't take my camera since we decided to ride our bikes and I didn't dare carry it while having Ella in the bike seat behind me, so there are no pictures to document this huge milestone in his life.  The good news is this, he still has another year of preschool!  Maybe two, depending on when we decide to send him to kindergarten.  This year we did a preschool co-op with five other kids in our neighborhood, and it has been such a great thing.  There are all cute little buddies and it has been so fun getting to watch Jack interact with his friends.  Here are a few pictures from throughout the year.

Here they are in just their second week of preschool back in September

Enjoying some candy heart math in February

Jack at Wheeler Farm on a preschool field trip in April

The three boys caught red handed playing with the doll house

Playing in the sandbox at the end of our last day of preschool at my house last week.

These kids sure have grown up during the year.  I'm so proud of Jack and the great boy he is becoming!  He has learned so much this year from preschool.  Not only about letters and numbers, but also about sharing and how to be a great friend. 

"Two hotels and a gas station"

The first weekend in May, my brother Brett and his wife Sheree blessed their cute little baby.  We made the trip to Rexburg, and since Steve had some places he needed to stop by in Wyoming, we tagged along for a couple of days and made a trip out of it.

9 of the 12 Bingham cousins after John's blessing (we always miss our Indiana cousins!)

Jack was very into fuzbol.  We had dinner in the clubhouse at Brett's apartment complex and Jack now thinks that Brett lives there and wants to go visit again soon.

Steve and Dusty in a mean game of pool.

After everyone else went home, we went with Brett and Sheree and took a little walk around the BYU-Idaho campus.  It has sure changed a lot in the 10 years since I graduated.  There are several new building, and some that are completely renovated.  I was making a big deal to Jack about the fact that this is where I went to college, so when we walked in one of the buildings and saw some comfy chairs he said, "is this where you used to relax."  Then we walked by the cafeteria and he saw some tables and chairs and said, "is this where you use to color."  It was fun to see my old stomping grounds for a few minutes.

The next morning we headed off for our tour of Wyoming.  We decided to stop by bear world on the way out of Rexburg, but it was still off season and not open on Monday.  It was a little sad since we had talked it up to Jack, but he moved on quickly.  Steve was really the disappointed one.  We made the pretty drive through Driggs and into Jackson. 

Beautiful spring day in Jackson!  Ella had so much fun spending 3 days non stop with her hero, Da!

We had to take a picture under the famous antler arch

We had lunch and let the kids stretch their legs by walking around a toy store, and then we hit the road again.  We drove to Star Valley, and then over to Pinedale.  By the time we arrived in Pinedale, we had been on the road for 11+ hours.  Basically like driving to Disneyland, without the end result :)  The kids were trooper and were really great to travel with.

Jack unwinding with an I-pad show after a long day in the car.

The next day we drove through Kemmerer, Evanston, and made one last stop in Coleville, Utah before making it home.  The things I learned from this trip were:

1- Little kids don't care where you go, they just have fun seeing new places as a family.  Case in point, when we got home Jack was telling our neighbors about our awesome work trip family vacation and said enthusiastically, "we went to two hotels and a gas station!"
2- I'm so glad I don't live in Wyoming!!!