Did Someone Say Awards????

The day after we got back from our vacation was Awards Day at school.  Evan's awards were first.  Mrs. Austin had worked so hard this year to teach Evan all he needed to know.  She went above and beyond her job duties.  She was tough, but only because she had great expectations for her class.  Mrs. Austin presented Evan with the following awards:

A Honor Roll

Math Award

Reading Award

Language Award

Science Award

Social Studies Award

Handwriting Award

B.E.S.T. Award (Because Every Student Tries)

We were so proud of Evan because she presented the awards based on the top two for the year in every subject.  Of course Evan realized he didn't get the Spelling Award.  He is such a competitor that he wants it all! Mrs. Austin also does a prediction for every student in her class.  She predicted that Evan would be the valedictorian for the class of 2021.  We know he can reach this goal if he continues to work hard.  She also predicted him to own his own baseball team and compete against Zach Garsea's baseball team.  Evan choose the Texas Rangers as his team, and Zach choose the Astros.  This will be something to look forward to in the future!

It was such a special day that Paul, Mo Mo, Pop Pop, Oma, and I were all able to attend the Awards Program.  Oma had to leave early, so I didn't get a picture of her.

We were also very proud of Evan's friends in his class.  They all received many awards and did such a great job this year!

I also found out about Evan's STAAR Test scores this day.  I am so proud of him for how hard he worked all year.  It really showed on his results.  He scored a perfect 100 on his Reading exam and only missed one on his Math exam!!!!!  Paul and I are some very proud parents!

Last But Not Least......Ava's Award Program!

Ava also had a wonderful teacher this year, Mrs. Lopez.  She pushed Ava to be more responsible and to really push herself in her school work.  Throughout the year Mrs. Lopez would come tell me stories about how Ava would soak all the information in and could answer all kind of amazing math problems. She was really amazed at Ava's knowledge.  Ava received the following awards:

Composition Award

Achievement Award (95% or better on her IOWA test for Reading, Language, and Math)

AR Award (171 points!!! That's at least 342 books read this year!!!)

A Honor Roll

Math Award

We were so proud of Ava because Mrs. Lopez also based her awards on the top two for the year in her class.  Ava has learned so much this year that it amazes Paul and me.  She has worked so hard to do her best all year.  Mrs. Lopez did a slide show on what each student wanted to be when they grow up, and Ava said she wanted to be a Vet.  Paul and I both know she can easily reach this goal if she continues to work hard.  She can achieve anything she sets her mind to.  I always tell her she is a triple threat!  (Smart, Nice, and Beautiful)

Oma, Mo Mo, and Pop Pop also attended Ava's Awards Program.  I got a picture of Oma this time, but not Mo Mo and Pop Pop.  I promise I will try to do better with this picture thing!

Ava's big test this year was the IOWA test.  Her results were 99% in Reading, 99% in Math, and 95% in Language!!!!!  She did amazing!  Again, Paul and I are such proud parents. 

Ava took a picture with our next door neighbor.  They have been friends since they were born.

I know a lot of my blog is about all the extra curricular activities we do, but nothing can make Paul and I more proud than our children doing well in their education!  It is the foundation for their future. They hold the world in their hands.  We are so thankful for our wonderful teachers!  We are SO PROUD of our children!!!!!!!!!!!

By:  Mom

The Whitehead's Road Trip

We started summer a little early this year and decided to drive up to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine.  Mom and Dad surprised us by putting tv's in our car.  We were so excited!  About an hour into our trip Evan and I started getting car sick.  We blamed it on Dad's driving, but he says he is the best driver in the world.  We aren't sure he is telling us the truth.  Mom saved the day by letting Evan sit in the front seat.

Ava was so excited to have mom sit in the back with her!

Dad and I got to talk about guy stuff in the front seat while Ava and mom enjoyed visiting about girl stuff in the back.  Even though mom was in the backseat, she still kept an eye on how fast dad was driving!!!!  I think he was trying to make it to Grapevine in a record time.

Dad taught me how to fill up our car with gas.  It was pretty awesome.  I love when Dad teaches me new things.

When we walked into our room at Great Wolf Lodge it was the coolest hotel room we had ever seen!!!  We had our own room with bunk beds.  However, I didn't sleep in them.  Ava slept on the bottom, but I stayed in bed with Mom and Dad.  I thought they might be too lonely by themselves.

Our room was painted like a camping tent.  There were bears and animals all over the place.  It even had a  window to climb through to get in and out of bed.  It was awesome!

Every night at the hotel they have story time in the lobby.  Mom made us go the first night we were there. Ava wore her pajamas, but I just wore my clothes.  It was so boring that mom let us leave early.

We also got to play the coolest scavenger hunt ever!  It is called Magiquest.  You run up and down eight flights of stairs looking for hidden objects.  The talking tree will you give you clues on where to find them.  When you find the object you wave your magic wand in front of it, and it stores which items you have found in your wand.  The faster your find the objects the better your score will be.  My player name was the Dominator.  Ava's player name was Puppy Paws.  We both completed the game and became Master Magi's.  

Another fun thing at Great Wold Lodge was their watermark. It was so cool.  We rode some really fun watersides that made our stomachs drop.  Ava loved the watersides!  They also had water basketball that Dad and I loved.  The kids jungle gym was fun because it had a place where you filled up water buckets and dumped them on the heads of people in the lazy river.  Mom and Dad joined us on dumping water on everyone's heads.  We all couldn't stop laughing.  Dad got caught under the big bucket of water on top of the jungle gym.  Water poured all over him.  Mom couldn't stop laughing at him.  I think it was the funniest thing she had ever seen!

The only bad thing about the water park was the chlorine!!!!  Look at our poor eyes after a day a fun.

Everyday we indulged in our favorite treat at Bear Paws.  ICE CREAM!!!!!

 Mom surprised Ava with a day at the Scoops Spa.  She had her first chocolate facial.  She was treated like a princess there.  She wore a pink robe and a crown.  Adults weren't allowed in the spa, so Mom had to sit outside and then sneak in for pictures.  I don't think it looks like fun, but Dad said that is what girls like.

The last night we were their Mom and Dad took us to Medival Times.  It is the best place I have ever eaten at!  The knight we were rooting for was the red knight.  They gave us red crowns to show our support.

Before the show started we got to go to the horse stables and look at all the horses.  We tried to find our knights horse, but we never did.  They also had all kinds of armored men around to look at.  It was pretty neat.

The royalty appeared before the show and did a honorary prince and princess ceremony.  Ava and I weren't chosen, but I made her an honorary princess myself.

I talked Dad into buying me a sword.  It ended up not being such a good idea.  You know how Dad is......a BIG KID.  He played with the sword and posed for pictures in front of everyone!!! (Look at the people in the background looking at him)

Ava and I were so embarrassed.  We begged for him to stop!

Finally I got to play with my own sword.

Dinner seating was like stadium seating with a table in front of you.  On the table we had flags to wave in support of our red knight.  My favorite thing about dinner was that you didn't have utensils to eat with.  You had to use only your HANDS!

We cheered on our red knight as loud as we could.  We also booed all the other knights hoping they wouldn't win the fight.  Unfortunately, our red knight lost in the end.  It was disappointing, but it was still the best place I have ever eaten at.

The next day we were sad to leave the Great Wold Lodge.  It was our best vacation ever, but little did we know that we still had a couple more stops before heading home.

Mom and Dad took us to Lego Land.  We got to play in a giant lego jungle gym, watch our first 4D movie, and build race cars with legos and actually race them against other peoples cars.

They even had a they city of Dallas made out of legos!

 Ava and I think Mom and Dad enjoyed this place because they got to sit and relax while we ran wild.

Well, we thought this was our last stop, but on the way to the car Dad said he wanted to just drive by the Texas Ranger's Stadium.  We happened to drive by and see that their last tour was about to leave.  Dad parked the car, and Dad and I took off running through the parking lot to try and make the tour.  The lady let us in just in the nick of time!

Ava wasn't very happy about touring a baseball stadium.

Mom just knew the humongous escaltor would make Ava smile, but it didn't.

Dad and I loved the press box.  They have a great view of the field.

The view didn't impress Ava!

We also got to go into the press room.  Dad made me go sit at the desk like I was getting interviewed.  I was kind of embarrassed.

Ava just held her head in her hands wishing she wasn't there.

I was so excited when we got to go into the hitting cages.  To our surprise Napoli was hitting.  The sound of his bat hitting the ball was so loud!

Dad even tried giving Ava a piggy back ride to make her happy, but that didn't work either.

The last stop of the tour was the dugouts.  It was sooooo cool!  I sat on every bench I could.

Just look at the view from the dugout!

At this point, I think Ava was praying for the tour to be over.

They had already stocked the dugout with the players favorite snacks for the game later that night.

Mom made me go stand on the edge of the field.  I don't think we were suppose to do that.

That was the end of our tour.  I thought it was an awesome experience.  We all know what Ava thought about it.  Ava finally smiled as we walked to our car!

Ava slept most of the way home, and I watched some movies and didn't get car sick this time.

It was an amazing vacation with many memories of fun and laughter.  It is one vacation none of us will ever forget!!!

When we got home I ran and put my Ranger's jersey and hat on and snuggled on the couch with Dad to watch the Ranger's game.  Crazy enough, Napoli hit a home run!

By:  Evan