Gymnastics and Ballet

Both kids got to participate in a summer recreation class this year.

Evan took a Gymnastic Class at Byer's Gymnastics in Roseville for four Mondays in the morning with his buddy Cameron and Evie took a Ballet Class in Rocklin with the Parks and Rec with her best girlfriend Ariel on Monday afternoons.  Made for a busy Monday, but the kids loved it!

They especially enjoyed having a chance to learn a new skill and couldn't wait for their classes to take place each week.

Here are some pictures captured of each of their experiences.

Evan's Gymnastic teacher was Mr. Dominic.  Evan thought he was pretty cool!  Evan loved gymnastic and was getting really good by the end.  I am biased, but I think he is a somewhat natural gymnast.  We may consider more permanent lessons if he desires someday.  It was so much fun to see him excel and grow in this sport. 

Here he is practicing one of his favorite moves, the handstand.

Here are Cameron and Evan together.  Side note the outfit that Evan has on in this picture was his favorite.  he felt like it was his gymnastic uniform, especially since Evie had to wear a leotard and shoes, etc. for ballet.  He felt pretty cool wearing it and wanted to wearing each week, but I told him we needed to mix it up a little bit. :)

Watching Mr. Dominic demonstrate a drill they were to all try.

Reverse somersault, Evan got pretty good at these too and really liked them.

Morning stretches

Mr. Dominic marking smiling faces with chalk on the trampoline.  So the kids would know to just jump on their smiling face.

Jumping on the trampoline.  The kids just loved this part.  The challenge was staying in their designated areas.

More handstands.

Final lesson pep talk.

Evie's ballet class was a little stressful for me.  No parents were allowed in the room during practice and you couldn't even easily watch through a window.  The teacher put up blockers so you could only look through small cracks.  She did this to prevent potential distraction.  I was not a big fan, but we continued the class because Evie was having fun.  Nonetheless, my pictures of the class were not too great.  I had to take pictures through the window and over my head to see above the blockers.  Here is a great example of what I am talking about.  You can actually see my reflection in the window as I take this picture and how I have to lift it above my head. 

However, I was able to get some cute ones of Evie outside of the class in her outfit too, which was great!

Here's our little ballerina!  We couldn't get enough of how adorable Evie looked in her ballet outfit.

Here are some other attempts at pictures from the classes.  Luckily my camera has a decent zoom lens.  Their teachers name was Ms. Sue.

 

  

Two of the Cutest Ballerinas Ever!

 

Both working to show us some of their new moves they learned.

 

 We even got some real cute pictures of them outside too!

A few more pictures from some of the other lessons below. 

Here are the girls after their class again.  They would always get a hand stamp when class was over.  Here Evie is tell us all about what they learned.

 

Overall, the kids had a great time learning a new skill.  Jim and I were so proud of both of them.  Way to go Evan and Evie!  We love you!!!

Visit with Grandma Knight

This is a super old post, but I started it awhile back and then life happened and it got stuck in my draft folder.  I am determined to finish it though.:)  

This is when we had a nice visit with Grandma Knight back in April.  Here are the kids all posing with her in our backyard.

Her visit included a bunch of fun activities.  On Saturday, April 13 we took her and the kids to play at the Sacramento Children's Museum. 

Everyone had a real nice time.  Here she is in the dress up area with Evie and Elaine showing them the nurses outfit/equipment similar to the one she wears at work.

The big kids had a great time in the art room where they got to paint on this cool window.  It made for some nice photo opportunities too.

 

Everyone also really loved the cool contraption on the wall.  It involved scarves and fluffy balls and lots of air going through these cool tubes.

Another huge hit at the museum was the water room.  Elaine especially enjoyed it.

 

 Lastly, they had a special train exhibit modeled after Downtown Sacramento Cityscape. 

 

On Sunday after church we took Grandma to Incredible John's Pizza.  We all had so much fun and enjoyed some great food.  Here are a few pictures from our time there.

 

The roller coaster was a blast.  I think Jim and I enjoyed it as much as the kids.

Evie's first day of Preschool

Evie had her first day of Preschool today, Tuesday, August 20 at Ms. Netty's Preschool.  She was so excited to be going to school too like her big brother.  Ms. Netty has them all bring a bucket to help the artwork they do in class to dry a little easier and not get a backpack to messy.  You can easily wash out a bucket.  Evie is bringing this adorable Minnie Mouse one pictured below.

Here are my two super adorable kiddos all ready for school.  There were three cute pictures I got of them this morning.  I couldn't decided which I liked best so I am posting all of them.

 

Elaine wanted to get in on the pictures too, especially since Evie had a cool bucket.  Here she is with her bucket too.

 

After we finished with these pictures we headed off to school first taking Evan to Kindergarten again for day two, and then proceeding to take Evie to Ms. Netty.  When we arrived they were able to take their picture together. 

Mommy got one with her big Preschool Girl too!

Just look at her all ready for the day.  She jumped right in and started playing.  She couldn't have been more excited to be at Preschool.

Here she is at the end of the day with all of her classmates.

 Ms. Netty gave her a final end of day hug.

We got one more pose outside with her bucket now full of beautiful artwork.  Then rushed home to feed her lunch.  She was starving.  This is what she told me anyways.  Preschool worked up her appetite for sure! :)    

We are so proud of you Evie Joy!  We know you are going to do some awesome things in preschool and we can't wait to go on this adventure with you.  Mommy and Daddy love you so much!  So do Evan and Elaine!  Way to go Big Preschooler!!!

To top the day off, she got to have a play date with her best friend Ariel and eat cookies!

A perfect first day!!! :)

Evan's first day of Kindergarten

Today was Evan's first day of Kindergarten.  He was so excited.  Just look at the beautiful smile.  He shirt was awesome too!  We found it at Macy's and it says "School is Cool!" with the starts of Monsters University.  Here is a great shot of him just looking like such a handsome big boy!

 

 He also got a few cool moves in there too.  Here he is doing a Ninja pose. 

Here he is talking to Daddy.  He gave him a little pep talk when we arrived at school.  Reminding him to smile because everyone wants to be friends with someone that smiles.  Last night he and Mommy had a little talk too about how everyone gets nervous when starting new things after he told me he was a little nervous about starting Kindergarten today.  I told him that I was nervous too when I had to go to his open house last week and meet the other parents and teachers, but when I arrived and got to get to know everyone I felt much better.  He couldn't believe that adults got nervous too and felt much better. :)  

Then the crew gave me a thumbs up.  Evan looks a little nervous here, but quickly warmed up as you can see in the following pictures.  Evie was super pumped up though!  Just look at that sweet smile.  (Side note, while Evan was at school Evie wanted to make him a little note saying "Great job today Brother!"  She colored all sorts of pieces of paper and put it in a special envelope with his name on it.  I traced his name in yellow and then she wrote over it in green.  This was all her idea.  I love this girl!!!)  Elaine just woke up before we walked out the door, so she is is taking it all in.

Isn't this sign adorable and a little hard to believe..."Class of 2026!"  The Kindergarten teachers made them for all the kids to be able to pose and get pictures underneath.

We got there plenty early so we were able to take some real special pictures. Here is our little family all standing next to his classroom.

At promptly 8:15 a.m. when school began his teacher, Ms. Jordan opened the door and welcomed all the families and students in.  Evan first hung up his back pack.

Then he quickly sat down and starting checking out the awesome toys on the table with some of the other boys.  

He was a natural!

 

Mommy and the sisters got one last picture and kissed him goodbye.

Then it was time to pick him up.  All the kids came out in a line wearing adorable crowns, lead out to the flag pool by Ms. Jordan.  We saw Evan right away he had a huge smile!

Here he is pictured with his awesome teacher, Ms. Jordan!

He can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Way to go Evan!  Your family is so proud of you.  We love you big Kindergartner!!!