After the boys of summer have gone...

They head off to kindergarten.

But before I let our last summer of complete freedom slip away the boys and I had adventure after adventure...at a glance.

The beach x2




Legoland x3

(oh and do I have a story about this last trip to Legoland and the ride home,
but it is a story for another day.)

Disneyland x2

Being that we are obsessed with Star Wars and Darth Vader at the moment, this was a particular highlight of our trip to Disneyland, as was the two rides on Star Tours. I had to use Mommy Mind Tricks to get both boys up on stage as the Jedi Master was choosing his young apprentices.

Evan using his Jedi Mind tricks.

Contemplative Padowan Ryan.

Ryan taking down Darth Vader.

Evan's turn.

Sea World



WIld Animal Park



This Cheetah Kiburi was in the nursery and we went to visit him several times a month, watching him grow, and running in front of his cage so he could run along side the boys. Ryan in particular, loved the little guy and would want to play with him forever if Evan would let him. He was heartbroken when Kiburi was no longer in the exhibit. This day we happened to be leaving when Kiburi was coming out as his new role as ambassador! Ryan was so happy to see his old friend, and I was really glad our timing was just right to see him.


Soccer started




Birthday party

Ryan requested a Moose Ear Hat, and a lightsaber.

And that was just the last three weeks.



And today we started kindergarten.

But first we had the opening our "cones". (For the second day of school they
would like me to make Harry Potter cones.)

Then we refused to pose for pictures.

We met our new teacher

She showed us where our backpacks go

...and we made ourselves comfortable.

...found some things of interest

"take a picture of me with the butterfly mommy!"

...and then we got down to business.

Culminating in a celebration after school with some ice cream and Legos.

Thoughts on the whole school thing to follow. Both mine and the boys.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First Day of School 2010

It's so hard to believe that it has been a year since the first EVER first day of school. A year ago I was in a panic, afraid that my kids would be crying, and sad. They were fine, had a ton of fun and never looked back. They had a wonderful, successful year where they made lots of friends and learned so much.

We had a wonderful summer, but I think we were all ready to go back to school. After three weeks of Ryan's "inactivity" we were all going a bit stir crazy.

This morning I gave the boys their Schultuete which were filled with books, cars, and a little Lego car.


Ryan insisted on building it immediately (after breakfast). He has an amazing ability to put these things together. He worked on it alone for a few minutes and was doing a great job following the directions. This piece is for a 5-12 year old, so it was a bit difficult, however he mostly needed help making sure the pieces were all secure. Evan, after he finished eating also wanted to build his. His attention span is not as long, or as focused as Ryan's, but he managed to work long enough to get his car together. They were both pretty excited and proud of themselves.



We made it to school and attempted to get the obligatory "First Day of School Photo", however the boys were not exactly co-operative. I have five other pictures with one or more boy looking in one or more direction! This, was the very best of the lot, and well, there was a line growing behind us!



Ryan made pictures for his teachers this morning, and he was very excited to present Mrs. C with his art work. I love that he thought of this all on his own, and set to work with out prompting. Such a big boy.




Evan walked in and went straight to work. The boys are so happy and comfortable. This is the same class room they were in last year, and Mrs. C is one of their teachers from last year too. I can't wait to hear about all of their adventures this year.

And so it begins...

a lifetime of learning.
Today was it. The day I left my kids for their first day of school. Big day for us. The first time I've ever left my kids with someone other than family, (or nearly family) EVER. EVER. Let me make that clear. EVER!

I was very excited. It is time. It is time for them to learn from someone other than me. For them to have to follow directions from someone other than me. For them to learn to work things out with out me there to help. BUT...I've also been very worried about how this would go over. These boys haven't exactly been eager to be separated from me.

I prepared myself for the worst. Lots of tears, shrieking, hysterics.



We wandered off to our classroom, buckets (we decorated them ourselves) full of a change of clothes, including shoes (the extra pair of shoes threw me, I had to go buy them more shoes!) a bottle of water, and our special friends (Snoopy and Ringo).



We walked into their classroom where they were greeted by their awesome teacher, they learned how to put their buckets on the shelf and we washed their hands. By this time they were chomping at the bit to get to the stuff laid out to play with today. I saw shaving cream and trucks, but I didn't really look too closely. By the time they had their hands washed they were ready to play. I gave them each a kiss, and told them I would see them later. I got a "where are you going?" from Ryan, and a little look of worry, but I told him I would see him later, and off I went...to wait in the church courtyard...to wait for all hell to break loose...for the tears and hysterics.

I waited for an hour.

And then I went home and waited with my cell phone close at hand for two more hours.

And then I went to pick them up.


All of the parents waited anxiously at the door waiting for it to open. We signed up for snack days, and looked at pictures from the days activities. Then in turn we each stepped into the classroom while Mrs. F asked the class "who does this Mommy belong to?" and we each got to watch as our kids eyes lit up and smiles came across their faces. Ryan couldn't wait until I got to his seat, he came running over to give me a hug and knocked me to the floor. We went over to where they were sitting and Ryan let Evan in to hug me too. Evan was so excited, SO EXCITED. His feet were dancing and he was hugging and kissing me, and he was making this noise he makes when he is really happy. It's hard to describe, kind of a high pitched moan, or a mew? He was so, so happy to see me.

It was this moment that almost made me lose it. I was really happy to see them too.

We got home and during lunch we talked about what they did in school.

This is some of what they had to say:

Ryan: My water spilled two times, I said oops.
Ryan: We had cereal for snack.
Ryan: We didn't dance with bean bags. (Me: Mrs. F said that you did) No, (shakes head) We DIDn't
Ryan: I didn't want to do it. (the bean bag dance) I picked a chair and sat down in it.
Evan: I writed (Me: You wrote?) Yes, I writed. (Me: what did you write?) 17.
Ryan: Sometimes we color at school
Evan: I danced with bean bags and I stood up.
Evan: We pretended our buddies were bean bags. (Me: Ah ha! You didn't use bean bags with the bean bag dance, you used your buddies! Is that right Ryan?)
Evan: YES! and we POPPED them into the air!

This evening I gave them their Schultuete. I read about these "first day of school cones" in a blog a couple of years ago and filed it away as a neat tradition to start with the kids. I was going to give them to the boys before school, and then one of the mom's I know suggested that they might not want to leave to go to school after they got all of their treats, so I adapted.





Scott also thought to get the boys a special treat!!!! Look at how excited Evan is to get his "American Flag" hackey sack. He promptly asked if he could take it to bed. I said yes, and he replied, "Now I'll have two hackey sacks in bed!"


I love how simple things make these kids so darn happy. I wish you could bottle that joy. I guess the next best thing is to have your kids share their happiness with you each and every day.