The Grays

It is truly hard to believe that Lilly has finished Preschool.  We had a lovely time celebrating this milestone with friends (a big class of 14 students graduating this year) and all of her wonderful teachers, and are so thankful to Sunflower for these past two years.  Lilly was literally counting down the days to her graduation ceremony.  Congratulations, Lilly!  xo

For the complete set of photos, click here.

A beautiful day in Boulder for the girls’ first trail run! 🙂

Today was Robin’s last day of preschool for the school year and Lilly’s last day of preschool EVER!!  Graduation is on Thursday.  Happy/Sad.

I think it’s safe to say this was our best Memorial Day yet.  My parents were in town and they babysat the kids while Bill and I ran our 3rd BolderBoulder together.  Then we all rode down to Folsom Field together to watch the pros finish the race, followed by the ceremony to commemorate Memorial Day.  We had no idea what the ceremony would be like and were blown away; there wasn’t a dry eye in the stadium!

For the complete set of photos, click here.

We enjoyed a nice weekend that included a bike ride out to Hygiene, brunch at the Walnut Cafe, and dinner with Nana and Boppa to celebrate both Mother’s Day and Boppa’s 65th birthday.  We had a random snowstorm on Sunday but it was a good excuse to stay home and spend the day with the girls.  Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday, Boppa!

The past few months there have been moments of real frustration between Lilly and myself as well as moments of the purest joy when I can actually feel my heart swell with happiness.  Our little girls is so obviously breaking away from the place she has filled for so long and is ready for ‘Kindergarten’ and all of the changes and excitment that come along with it.  In general we accept her as this mature and capable person but there are also many times that remind us of how small she is, like when I pick her up from school and she is absolutely enchanted by her latest project, or she needs extra attention at bedtime because something scared her and we wake up the next morning to find her sleeping between us.

My two most favorite Lilly-isms on this date are:

1)  When she is happy, and I mean worry-free-total-kid-enjoying-the-freedom-and-complete-awesomeness-of-life-happy, she skips.  And skips.  A lot.

2)  When she is talking excitedly about something, she talks in long sentences with dramatic pauses and a deep, inhaled breath at the end of each phrase.

TOO cute!!

At 3 years Robin brings warmth, laughter, and undeniable cuteness to just about everything she does.  She loves animals and dolls and building forts or working on projects with her big sister.  Lately Robin is into all things ‘dress up’ and she has recently been spotted wearing her princess dress even on the soccer field.  At school she has many friends but also spends a lot of time with Lilly.  She loves to dance and sing and has recently showed a lot of interest in speaking Spanish.  Robin would probably say that her favorite thing to do is to  ‘go swimming’, which we hope to do much more of now that it’s Spring!  Her vocabulary is excellent but we are focusing on encouraging her to pronounce her words more clearly (generally she speaks much more clearly at home than she does around other people).   She has taught us so much and we love her to pieces!!

Happy Birthday, Robin!  After deciding that we would have a ‘family birthday’ this year, Robin informed us that she wanted to have a ‘unicorn birthday’, so we made sure to surprise her that morning with a unicorn balloon and birthday t-shirt to get her special day off to the right start :).  We spent the morning at the aquarium and had dinner with the Gronholm’s at Lucky Pie (Robin dressed up in her princess gown and new accessories for the occasion).  Neighbors and friends came over for Sweet Cow ice cream cake and gifts.  A great day celebrating our wonderful little girl!  xo

For the complete set of photos, click here.

I had a particularly lovely birthday this year, thanks to a morning hike up Mt Sanitas and a day filled with kind words from family and friends.  Thanks for the birthday wishes!

We had another Easter with beautiful weather, which made for a good time at our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hike! This year we went back up to NCAR and it was crowded but fun. The girls each found enough eggs to fill up their baskets, and every time Lilly got upset that Robin found a cute egg, Robin would give it to her (this has been happening all of the time lately – cute but we’re trying to teach Robin that she doesn’t always have to give in!). Yesterday evening it was raining so we told the girls something magical happens when it rains the night before Easter. They each ‘planted’ a handful of jelly beans in the backyard and when they woke up they turned into lollipops!  🙂

As usual, they were also spoiled by the Easter Bunny and family.  Thanks to all and Happy Easter!

For the complete set of photos, click here.