The school put together a great slideshow that showcased the year in the Pre-K and K classrooms. I’d be lying if a tear or two didn’t come to my eye! Then the Pre-K and K class each did a song.

Finally each child was called by name to get his or her diploma.

Caden and his teachers, Mrs. Peeples and Ms. Dotson.

Then each child got to pick out of a bag for one more prize. Caden won a Family Movie Night Prize Pack which included a movie, popcorn, popcorn bowl, candy and Cream Soda.

Caden’s team took 1st place in their league!

Caden was named the “Most Improved Player”

He was one of only a few players who had Perfect Attendance

Finally, Mike and Caden placed in the Scotch Doubles Tournament that was played the last week of bowling.

Caden making a Mater Truck. You can put together your very own Cars replica….choose the frame, wheels, spoilers and whether you want it to be a push car or a remote control car.

All the kids were invited to sign the card and write what their favorite part of the new store was .  Caden wrote “I made the car”

There is a new theater area where kids can watch short Disney Cartoons.  Here they showed a preview for Cars 2.  Then all the kids stood up and did Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s Hot Dog Dance. 

  Tinkerbell also flies around the room on the walls.   Periodically the witches from the Disney Movies takes over the store and the lights go out.  Everyone in the store then needs to rub their hands together to create Pixie Dust for Tinkerbell to get rid of the witches.

We had a blast and will keep an eye out for more events like this at the Disney Store.

I then headed over to Connor’s classroom for some snacks and water table fun! Connor gave me a book that he made!

It was a lovely afternoon. Thanks to all their teachers for all the work to put together a great day!

Our original thought was for the adults to alternate riding rides and hit the kids stuff in the middle since I didn’t think there would be enough to keep the kids busy the whole day. As a teenager or an adult without kids, I can remember running from roller coaster to roller coaster, trying to get to the rides before the wait was too long. I guess I never slowed down to notice all the other small rides and shops there were at Six Flags. We started off with a few kid rides and then found more kid rides and more kid rides. We ended up spending all of our time on the kid rides and moderate, smaller roller coasters that the kids could ride.

The kids started out simple….the carousel. They rode on the top deck and had a great time. Next stop was The Condor….a big step for the kids. The Condor takes them 112 feet above the ground and spins parallel to the ground. Once again the kids loved it, but Luke commented that he liked “a little more carousel and little less that!”

One of the highlights was going to Wiggles World. Caden loves the Wiggles and was so excited to see all the rides based on the Wiggles. The kids rode Dorothy’s Tea Cups, The Big Red Planes and The Big Red Cars.

We also watched “Get Ready To Wiggle”, a show with actors singing The Wiggles songs.  Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog were all there.  Caden got a front row seat and was pretty excited.   Our family knows all the songs and have been to a few concerts, but this show was pretty awful.  If you have never seen The Wiggles before, don’t see this show and make a judgement about The Wiggles.   Even Caden was a bit disappointed…he barely danced or sang along.

After lunch, we rode some more kid rides and once everyone’s food was sufficiently digested, everyone wanted to ride a roller coaster.  So, all of the kids (except 1) were all tall enough to ride Spacely’s Space Rockets, a kiddie roller coaster.  They also rode the Little Dipper, a roller coaster that I remember from my childhood at KiddieLand.  Everyone had a great time!

 Of course we ended our Six Flags fun in the gift shop and all the kids got superhero capes!

We then went to Giordano’s Pizza for some Deep Dish Pizza and reminisce about our great day!  The pizza was so good as it is something we greatly miss it in AZ!

Warning: Minor Spoilers Ahead

My mom treated us to a day at the movies while Mike was at a Diamondbacks game. We decided on Shrek The Final Chapter, the 4th installment in the Shrek series.

Caden had not shown interest in seeing the first 3 Shrek movies so when I asked him if he knew who the Shrek character was, I was surprised that he actually knew. He also was pretty excited about seeing the movie. This would also be Connor’s 1st trip to the movie theater, but I’m not sure if this counts since he had no idea where he was. I was a little nervous about being “that person” who brings their infant to the movie theater and makes everyone else’s experience miserable. However, I was pleasantly surprised that Connor watched almost the whole movie and only started fussing when it was time for a new bottle (which I was prepared for!).

The story of this movie was pretty much just like “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Shrek is a husband and father of 3 and is frustrated with the current status of his life. He makes a deal with Rumpilstilskin to change his life back to when people feared ogres. Of course he realizes this is not what he really wanted deep down.

It was a lot darker than previous Shrek movies and at parts could be a little scary for little kids who are sensitive. It also didn’t have the comedy of the 1st movie, but did have a few chuckles. I was thrilled that all of the actors stayed with their characters so no one’s voice changed.

Overall, it kept my attention (and Connor’s) for the whole movie. Caden got a little antsy at the slower parts, but what 4 year old doesn’t?? I would definitely recommend seeing this movie with your family, especially if you have been following the series.