And then I found out that our friend (the girls' violin teacher) grew up just a couple of miles from the park. So we planned a trip out there on the same weekend.
And then Christopher's brother found an investment opportunity out there that he wanted to check out, and decided to join our trip for one night with his family.
And then, as we were all driving to meet up at the Visitor's Center that Saturday morning, Jasmine's preschool teacher from last year texted the other friend to tell her that she happened to be in her hometown to visit Dinosaur for the weekend and was thinking of her. By total coincidence.
We ended up with quite a group!
The first day of the trip ended up being more "chatting with friends and arranging when to meet up next" and less "see what the park has to offer", but that was just fine. We re-visited some spots on Sunday, and visiting with friends was totally worth it. We swam at the pool the cousins were staying at, hung out in the visitor's center, had lunch at a cabin in the park, and then met up to hike to an arch.
Kaitlyn's favorite part was playing with the twins. The curly-haired one likes to zip away from the group quickly, and Kaitlyn spent a lot of time chasing her down! But they really enjoy playing with her.
The hike up to the arch didn't go perfectly. The trail is not marked, so we got a bit confused, and it was the hottest part of the day, which was probably a mistake. The arch was really neat, though!
We went to church with our friends on Sunday and relaxed, and then tried a longer hike on Monday. We bought a trail guide for $1, which was totally worth it. It gave us 16 stops along the way with something to read about each time. Jasmine was really excited to try and read the big giant words, and wouldn't even let Kaitlyn trade her for shorted passages.
It wore her out, though!
I loved that Tyler read a book the whole way home, too! We got back in time to visit with family at Grandma Skarda's house on our way home.
And then we had just one last week or so of school!
Kaitlyn performed in her school's talent show. A group of them wrote a comedy skit to perform, Studio C style. (I used my phone to take a video from the back row, so this grainy still shot is all I can do.)
There was dance festival day, of course. (Jasmine is second from the end.) Kindergarten had a percussion routine to "Happy".
And Fourth Grade danced to "Believer", which Kaitlyn loved. She is really into Imagine Dragons right now.
And then we had a Kindergarten program to end their year. I am pretty sad about this one moving on, to be honest. We have had a few years of her being my buddy while everyone else is at school and work, and we are going to miss each other next year when she is gone all day. And Mrs. Orton is fantastic, so we'll miss her. Not to mention, Kindergarten is one of my favorite ages. They are independent enough, but still adorable, and soaking up new things like a sponge.
They had an adorable play about seeds that grown into flowers. The "seed" masks were so hilariously cute!
Jasmine got the "Jane Goodall" award from her teacher for being so excited to learn about the world around her.
Tyler had a couple of extra school days after the girls were done, but since they were a field day and a half day, he didn't mind.
I wish I had a better picture of his last day of Elementary school, but that's okay. His school doesn't have a "junior high" and "high school" distinction, they just group into "Elementary" and "Secondary". So next year, he moves up to the Secondary level. He won't be changing classes and using a locker like some of the kids, it looks like, but hopefully it will be a good experience for him.
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