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Leah's class has been learning about the rainforest, so to reinforce their lessons we headed to the National Aquarium on Wednesday. Leah was super excited that I was coming along and riding on the bus to get there was an exciting start to the day!

As the kids arrived, they examined a turtle shell up close. They were then tasked with the mission of counting how many turtles they could find at the aquarium.

After seeing lots of little fish, this big guy was quite a surprise.

Leah and Norah loved eating lunch together while being entertained by the dolphins and trainers.

Who knew dolphins love Jell-O? The trainers played a little Jell-O baseball to give the dolphins a treat.

I was chaperone to three of the girls, so I paired up with the chaperone of the other three girls and we all explored the Aquarium together. Looks like these girls had a great day!

I joined Leah at preschool for Dad’s Day yesterday. Since school’s out for Father’s Day, they celebrate in January. All the dads are invited to come to class for the day and share in the fun. Here’s Leah learning about keeping her teeth healthy.

Leah’s drawing her favorite food (Neapolitan ice cream). I guess she likes the strawberry the best, since that scoop is much larger than the vanilla or chocolate.

We made our own snacks - fruit kabobs.

Leah and Norah had a good time working the cash register at the grocery store.

Here’s the whole class. Items of note - Leah’s a bit bored waiting on me to take this picture. While most kids are focused on tasks, there are a couple of kids chasing each other over the theft of the cash register money. And, of course, a couple of girls are wearing dress-up dresses (though, surprisingly, not Leah).

Gotta love snack time. I’m ready to go back to preschool.

Leah had her class Halloween party, which included the traditional singing in costume for all the parents to watch. She did great.

Lots of superheroes in the class, including several from comics and a couple (like Leah) of their own invention. And, of course, one Swedish pop star, as you’d expect in a preschool class.

Molly’s school had a costume parade for the parents as well. A huge sea of parents showed up for a very quick parade. I had to be fast to get a picture of Molly before she blew by.

And they’re gone, with only capes and tails in view.

Molly’s class took their first field trip of second grade to the Howard County Antique Farm Machinery Club’s Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. It’s a non-functioning farm that they use to teach about what it was like on a farm before electricity. I went along.

It was an action-packed day with 10 groups and 10 stations. Each station got 8 minutes to present what they wanted to show, so there was no time for goofing off. Fortunately, large groups of second graders never goof off...

Our first stop was the blacksmith, who made a mini horseshoe for us.

We then processed corn stalks, learned about grains, checked out where they milked cows, learned about making brooms, made some rope, and learned about bees (sorry, no pictures).

Next, Molly used the corn sheller to remove all the kernels from this ear of corn, leaving her with only a cob.

She took those kernels and put them in the grain mill to make cornmeal.

After that, we headed into the farmhouse to see how they did laundry, cooked, and lived without electricity.

The kids had a good time and learned a good bit, but it was an exhausting pace. I think all the parents breathed a sigh of relief when the kids got back on the bus to head back to school.

Leah’s preschool had a picnic (as they do every year) and lots of fun was to be had. Molly found if she stood on this stone wall, she could pop the bubbles that floated up high.

Molly loves to hula hoop. She was doing 4 hoops at one time later as well.

Molly found an old preschool friend (the older sister of one of Leah's classmates), who showed Molly how to make a hula hut.

These girls thought they could hide from my camera. They were wrong.

Molly does love to spin.

We also had some yummy waffles from the La Pearl waffle truck. We'll pretend like that was a healthy dinner and not a dessert.

After much celebration, Leah’s actual birthday finally arrived. After lunch, her mom and dad took her to Yogi Castle for a sweet birthday treat.

Later that day (after Molly got home from school), Leah had a few more presents to open on her actual birthday. Happy birthday Leah!

The day after her birthday, Leah got to be the birthday girl at school. Here she is enjoying her class singing Happy Birthday to her.

Snack time is better on your birthday.

Leah wanted to make sure she got a birthday picture with her buddy.

The end.

Monday was Leah’s first day of her last year of preschool. Here she is, ready to go.

For comparison, here she is on her first day last year.

Note that Leah has redecorated her duck bag for this year. Last year’s glued on gems did not stay glued on very well. So, Jen cleaned it off and Leah started fresh. Note that it includes pictures of her sister and cousins.

Last year:

This year:

Last year, we hosted a Back to School BBQ for Leah's preschool class. This year, Jen decided to change it up and switch to an ice cream party. Yet again, we had around 60 people (a bit under this year) at our house.

Immediately upon arrival, the kids decided running or rolling down the steep hill in our back yard was a fun activity.

We supplied the ice cream and everyone else brought lots of toppings. While everyone couldn't fit in the kitchen to fill their bowls at one time, here's a shot at the initial onslaught.

We fixed bowls inside, but then headed outside to eat. It was very nice in the shade on the porch.

Some decided that the hill was not just for running/rolling, but also for eating ice cream.

After ice cream, there was a lot of playing. This included frisbee throwing. It only got stuck on the roof twice.

The hill is not just for running, rolling, or eating ice cream. It can also create new sports. Here the kids put the soccer goal at the bottom, carried soccer balls to the top, then rolled them down toward the goal like a bowling ball. I call it hillside soccer bowling.

While many of the kids played outside, many others packed into our basement playroom for some fun with toys.

The party was a lot of fun. It's a bit sad to know that this is the last beginning of preschool we'll ever celebrate. But we'll just focus on the fun year of preschool we've got ahead of us instead of thinking about that.

As they do every year, Molly's school had their back-to-school picnic. Leah couldn't wait to get her face painted.

Molly got her face painted after Leah, which gave Leah plenty of time to check out her reflection.

Face painting, complete. The girls were actually very excited about the result, despite their faces.

Molly participated in the hula hoop contest. She didn't win, but had a lot of fun.

These four friends had a lot of fun together.

The picnic even had a green screen photo booth to put you on exotic backgrounds.

And here's a look at what the photo booth spit out for the girls.

The Friday before the first day of preschool meant it was time for a classroom visit. Leah was excited to see the new ponies and trains to play with.

Here's Leah with 3 of her teachers. Sadly, number 4 was sick. We hope you feel better soon.

We're looking forward to a great final year of preschool.