Yes, it's true...Alexa will be graduating from preschool in just a few short days! Wednesday, May 30th to be exact! My last post showed an extremely excited 4 1/2 year old on her way into her new school building ready to start the year! Now 5 and nearly 1/4, Alexa has grown so much! In fact, at her last doctor appointment (one with several disappointing surprises...hint - needles, several of them) she weighed a whopping 40 lbs. and measures 42 1/4 inches tall. That, we would soon find out is tall enough to ride the next level of rides at the boardwalk! 

Since her birthday, Alexa insists on letting anyone who will listen know that she is in fact FIVE years old and that five year olds can do almost everything by themselves! She can actually do several things by herself now! The most exciting of which is that she has learned to ride her bike with, wait for it, NO TRAINING WHEELS!!! I never knew that I would be as amazed with such a thing until she actually did it!

In addition to riding bikes, Alexa passed  her Kindergarten readiness test with flying colors! But we kinda already knew she was born wearing her smarty pants! I (We) could not be more proud!

At the start of the month, Alexa's class put together their "LOVE Program," during which they performed several songs for moms & dads and made us special treats!

Yes, that is a black eye that you see! The weekend prior to the event, Alexa had a play date with Ty and while driving the Barbie Jeep, Ty reportedly became distracted and drove up the tree. The Jeep tipped over and Alexa got her first official black eye! So, you see, lots of firsts these past few months! On to a summer that will hopefully be filled with more firsts and several wonderful memories! Before we know it, Kindergarten will be here!

Alexa asked to grow butterflies again, something we had done 2 years ago. So, for her birthday, she received a new butterfly kit and we watched as each caterpillar turned into a chrysalis. And then, one after another the butterflies emerged and we fed them oranges and enjoyed them for several days. It was then time to set them free.

Maybe not the best photo, but this captures Alexa's look as she watched each butterfly take off toward freedom! She expressed a bit of sadness once they had all gone but I explained how important it was for each of the butterflies to spread their wings and find their new homes. She seemed okay with that and we carried on with our day!