Celebrating Mediocrity: Kindergarten Graduation

Pre-graduation thoughts: I can't help but think of the film The Incredibles any time I hear the words

"kindergarten graduation." A few lines:

Helen Parr tells her husband Bob that he cannot miss their son Dashiell "Dash" Parr's graduation.

Bob Parr: It's not a graduation. He's moving from the 4th grade to the 5th grade.
Helen Parr: It's a ceremony.
Bob Parr: It's psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity.

And so it is with hearts brimming with pride that we announce

Kaleb Benjamin Murdock's

kindergarten graduation

Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 9am

Pima Butte Elementary

I learned my ABC's and 1, 2, 3's,

to tie my shoes, and when to say please.

I lost 4 teeth and learned to read.

I love to spell, play tag, and PE.

The year's come to an end, I've had lots of fun.

Watch out world, now I'm off to grade 1!

Post-graduation thoughts:: It was cutest darn school event I've ever attended, and after teaching for 5 years and being a student forever, I've been to a lot of 'em!

The stage was lit, the processional was played, and the kindies marched on stage all gussied up in their Sunday-best topped white cardstock graduation caps.

Kaleb was selected to welcome the audience and lead them in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Have you ever heard kinders sing the National Anthem? Cute, cute cute! They then had a few students interject with speaking parts and while all performed rhymes and songs. They sang their way through the school year with several color songs, 5 Little Pumpkins, Jingle Bells, Skinnamarink, a Dr. Seuss recitation, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and for the grand finale complete with jazz hands: Start spreading the news, we're leaving today, I want to be a part of it, 1st grade, 1st grade! It went on and on and ended with arms linked and the can-can. Seriously cute! The teachers then each said how proud they were of their students, and each kid was given a real diploma and shook hands with the principal.

A few were asked to share what they wanted to be when they grow up. One wanted to be a police officer, another a daddy so he could play and have lots of money,

one wanted to be a mommy so she could do nothing all day, and then Kaleb said he wanted to be a doctor so he could learn about the body and why people get sick. News to me, but we'll go with it! Kaleb had an ear to ear toothless smile and I must confess, I was a proud mommy.

Kaleb's teacher, Mr. Davis,

invited us all to the after-party in their classroom where he had a slideshow of the year playing.

They ate cake, punch, took pictures and left with a baggy full of goodies and a CD of the slideshow. What a fun way to celebrate a fun-filled year full of so many firsts for Kaleb and our family. I will never mock kindergarten graduation again....well okay, until it's Dylan's turn to celebrate his great accomplishment. One down, many, many, many to go, K-Buzz!

Travelogue, Day 5: Kapaa Bikeride

We finally slept in! With the three hour time change and my 6 am internal alarm clock, I was waking up at 3 am every morning, and trying to stay in bed for another 3 or so before I'd wake up Ben. We didn't have a lot on the itinerary for Kauai, but had a few things in mind.

First we found a cool dive to lunch at, Bubba's, with lots of photo opps.

(This one's for you, Bobyn! I'm not sure what I'm doing with my face.)

My dear friend, Chelsey, had been to the island last summer and told me one of her favorite parts was going on a bike ride. We looked up Coconut Coasters, rented a tandem bike, and were on our way!

There was an 8 mile bike path in Kapaa that was RIGHT along the beach.

Gorgeous views, gorgeous weather, gorgeous husband.

It was our most unexpected fun day: the simple pleasure of a bike ride together, singing, laughing, just enjoying every minute of it.

Afterward we shared an ice cold coconut milk and fresh juice Hawaiian shaved ice. YUM! We grabbed some snacks for our BIG adventure the next day, and headed back for a swim at the resort. That night we dined at Tidepools and our table was RIGHT next to a Koi pond. While we were enjoying the meal, these fish would jump so high and splash us. I wished the kids were there. The food was great, but the dessert was divine: molten lava chocolate cake with drips of raspberry sauce. It was a gooey explosion of chocolate yumminess, but reminded me of my mama's hot fudge pudding cake. I may have to recreate this one. Hello chocolate, goodbye waistline!

Travelogue, Day 4: Aloha, Kauai

Many years ago, you know before we had kids, Ben and I spent our second Christmas together in Italy. Unintentionally, we ended up spending Easter in Hawaii. I'm wondering where we'll go for our next holiday. :) I started my day off with some ocean side yoga (LOVE) and Ben slept in a little. Then we got ready, packed our bags, and headed off to Kauai. The flight was maybe 30 minutes....just long enough to have a tropical punch, but not really long enough to get into my book.

We headed to the rental car place and made friends with a lady who worked there. She had spent the night before cooking for her family and had already had an Easter feast that day. Her aloha spirit and smile were contagious and she asked if we were celebrating anything. Of course I told her it was our 10 year anniversary. "Honey, I'm going to give you an upgrade! Do you want the (ugly boat of a car) or the convertible Mustang?" What kind of a question is that? Convertible Mustang in red, of course.

It was soooooo much fun, riding with the top down, and jammin' to the island music. We headed off to our next resort and found a tunnel of trees.

It was gorgeous, green and lush everywhere we looked. It felt a bit like Oregon, amazing green overgrowth everywhere, I really felt at home there.

When we arrived at our place, we dropped off our bags and found some lunch. This is our room: INSIDE

& OUT (the view from our patio)

We had the best club sandwich either of us had ever tasted...my mouth is watering as I type. We shared it, a salad with yummy fruit, and a pineapple-guava juice, then hit the pools. POOLS. As in several. There was an adult only section that winded eventually to a family pool. It was like a winding river without a current, and had these little waterfalls and mini caves you could hide behind. There was a waterslide, 3 hot tubs, a huge area for basketball/volleyball, and a separate salt water lagoon that looked like it was part of the ocean. The bottom of the lagoon started out as zero entry with sand, and it winded around and had hidden treasures along the bottom, if you wanted to snorkel. There were cabanas, hammocks, beautiful plants everywhere. It was nice (understatement). I think I could have stayed at the resort, for several days, without leaving...good book, good club sandwich, nice view, perfect husband. I think eventually I would have missed the kids! ;)

That night while we were getting ready for our next luau, Ben surprised me and asked me to be his wife again and gave me the most amazing princess cut ruby ring. Did I mention I have the BEST husband ever?

We went to the luau, had tropical punch, and met a nice couple to spend the evening with. The food was awesome! It had a lot of the same food as the PCC luau, but the stand outs were the teriyaki steak, jasmine infused coconut rice, and the yummy desserts: coconut cream cake, coconut pudding, pineapple upside down cake, and a very rich chocolate cheesecake. Of course we sampled them all! The show was nothing in comparison to what we saw at the PCC, but the host was fun and good at getting everyone involved, the dancers were decent, but it was just numbers and songs, not the story that we experienced the night before. Afterward I took a picture with one of the dancers (insert crazy long tongue dancer photo...can't find it!)and Ben ordered a custom bracelet. I also found my mom a pretty silver plumeria necklace. All in all, another perfect day and night in paradise.

Wordless Wednesday

RUBY-GIRL

18 months going on 18!

Ruby already loves boys,

chocolate,

purses,

shoes,

shoes,

and more shoes!

She knows she can get anything she wants by flashing that smile

and batting those lashes,

including 3 cutie oranges

and sitting on barstools on her special day.

Look Mom, one hand!

Happy 1.5 Ruby Abigail Rae!

You are a girl after my own heart.

Travelogue, Day 3: Polynesian Cultural Center

Our third day we started our day with a nice, long walk along the beach. I saw my first bike on water (have you ever seen such a thing?) and Ben's twin. We also saw the BEST old people...you know the ones, they don't care what they look like and they're just all sprawled out for the world to see. We took a dip in the ocean, read, laid out a bit, then got cleaned up for the PCC.

We opted for the guided tour and our hostess was named Sarah. She was from the island of Japan, a newly wed, and really cute. We were put in "families" while we were there and toured all the islands together. The first show we saw was a canoe show.

Each of the major islands had a dance they did on canoes and it was very impressive.

I loved the Tahitian hula dancers the best.

They are the ones you think of when you think HULA and they know how to shake it! What I would do for those abs... They tried their best to teach me, but I think I'm unteachable when it comes to dancing. If you've made it a third of your life without knowing how to shake it, you probably just aren't going to get it. Oh well.

We then went and visited the various islands and saw demonstrations in music, dancing, and cooking. We also went on a little boat ride and it was very beautiful.

Everyone there was so happy and I just loved it. The scenery was also lovely.

The best part, of course, was the luau dinner and show. They gave us a fresh flower lei, ALOHA!, and then seated us in a huge room with a stage in front.

They brought up the roasted pig from the ground and had entertainment while the buffet began.

We ordered special frozen drinks in pineapples that tasted like dessert. They were so nice after a humid day in the sun.

We ate traditional Hawaiian food including these slimy, translucent noodles and purple rolls made of taro. The best was the kahlua pork and sticky rice though! During dinner we were recognized with about 50 other people for celebrating an anniversary. We did an anniversary slow dance on stage and I think Ben was embarrassed the whole time.

After dinner we had time to take pictures and buy souvenirs before the show began. Ben likes tikis. They each mean something: prosperity, long life, etc.

The luau show was called HA: The Breath of Life and it was stunning! I absolutely loved it!!! It was BY FAR better than the other luau show we went to on Kauai. There were probably 50 dancers that told the story of one boy's life as he journeyed to manhood. It was amazing. I loved the dance they did when he was married, the tradition they showed of wrapping the couple together in a quilt, and also the visual representation of death and the afterlife. So awesome! Oh, and how could I forget the fire dancers?!? He had to prove himself worthy of marrying the girl of his choice, so they taught him to walk on fire, then he joined the fire dancers for a number. It was so cool! Okay, wrong choice of words, it was so HOT! They served yummy pineapple icecream with frozen fruit and a maraschino cherry during intermission. It was an open air stage, we had very good seats down low and center stage, and a perfect night.

If you ever go to Oahu, I highly recommend spending an entire day and night at the Polynesian Cultural Center.