Giraffe of The Day

These giraffes had their first turn being Giraffe of The Day over the last few weeks! We are almost finished with our first round of "Giraffe of The Day" and once we are, we will start a new rotation with a new Giraffe Mystery Bag!

Colorful Giraffes!

We did a giraffe draw along with Mrs. Mitchell to decorate our classroom, and we are loving how they turned out! To make our backgrounds, we practiced making secondary colors by using finger paints to mix red, yellow, and blue to make shades of green, orange, and purple!

Safari Friends

On Friday, we got together with our friends in the elephant class for some Safari Time. We did some more comparing and contrasting, but this time, we were comparing second grade elephants and giraffes instead of wild ones!

Each of the giraffes picked the name of one of our 2B friends out of a box, and we worked together to find at least three things we had in common and at least three things that were different about us. 

It was great to get to know some new peers and reconnect with classmates from the past. We can't wait to travel to all of the second grade classrooms next week as we celebrate Johnny Appleseed! 

Summer Fun!

Hello, Giraffes! I hope you've all had an amazing summer so far. We still have a few weeks left to soak up some fun and sun with our friends and family! I've been very lucky to see many of the giraffes I've already had in class as well as some of the giraffes who will join me this fall for second grade on my many summer adventures. Here are a few pictures from my travels around New England and across the country:

My first trip this summer was to Lake Winnipesaukee. I had so much fun swimming and boating with my friend Shannon!

I've gone on several trips to Massachusetts to visit my family at Camp Kinneywood. My mom and dad are the caretakers of this camp, and my brother and I grew up here! They have lived there for the last 25 years

Next, we drove up to Bar Harbor, ME to visit with friends and hike around Acadia National Park. This is Bubble Rock!

Catching some incredible views with my friends Ryan and Amelia at the summit of Cadillac Mountain

we spotted a White-Tailed Deer outside our hotel!

Bass Harbor Lighthouse

We went on a Nature Cruise and we got to see the seals on Egg Rock!

I hiked Mount Major with Ryan and Amelia, too! 

Some of the cairns at Odiorne in Rye. I love to visit there on the weekends!

Hank (my brother's dog) on the pond at Camp Kinneywood. Hank LOVES the water!

Visiting the happy piglets at Heifer Project's Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA

My most exciting news to share from this summer: I got ENGAGED! 

My fiance Andrew (aka "Mitch") proposed to me on a boat ride at the camp where I grew up. I was completely surprised and overjoyed ! 

I couldn't wait to share the happy news with my mom and dad, who were in on the surprise too :) 

For our last big trip of the summer, Mitch and I hopped on a plane to Portland, OR to visit his family. We got to see so many incredible things while we were there, including Multnomah Falls...

The International Rose Test Garden

Mount Hood

GIRAFFE CAROUSELS!!

The endpoint of Lewis and Clark's expedition west  in Seaside, OR

Haystack Rock

Sunset over the Pacific 

and, of course, Bigfoot!

I hope each and every one of you are enjoying your own adventures this summer. I cannot wait to hear all about them and begin our year together in second grade :) Until then, continue having a BLAST!

Love, 

Ms. Riley