Back in Business

So, I'm a little behind on the obligatory Back-to-School blog posts.  Grant, Caroline, Ryan, and I have all been back for 2 1/2 weeks so it's about time I actually post some pictures and write about it.  The first day I was a little worried about how I would get all four of us (Ryan, the lucky guy, only has to worry about himself!) ready for school and out the door at the same time in order to get Jack on the bus and the rest of us to preschool in time.  Fortunately (?), the bus was running about 15 minutes late, which gave us a little leeway as far as getting there early.  However, it also made me later than I'd like to be to work.  I had to rush through my "first day of school" pics with Grant and Caroline. 

 

Grant's close-up

This is all she would do for me at school, the little stinker!

 

At home she was more willing to look at me and give me a smile.  This smile isn't her normal one, but her eyes look pretty "smiley" so I kind of like this picture. :)

The first day went well!  I have to say, it's always good to get the first one out of the way and to get back into a routine! 

 

Caroline has a class full of little girls she knows from Child Watch, which makes me feel good because I know their moms, too.  Miss Tammy, her teacher, said she did a good job sitting and listening during circle time.  She also sat on the toilet when all the other kids were going to the bathroom.  What more can you ask for from a 2-year-old?

 

Grant was much more reluctant to go to school this year.  For some reason he thought he was going to be in my class.  It made me sort of sad to send him to school, knowing that he was so unhappy.  However, I assumed that he'd be fine--and he was.  He made up a fantastic story about his first day that he told to both Ryan and me, only to confess the truth during his nightime prayer time with Ryan.  We still don't know exactly what happened that first day.

 

I cannot say that the morning struggle with him has gotten any better.  I figured we'd go through a few days where he would not want to go, but it has continued even into this week.  His teacher said he does a great job, though, so I guess we'll just keep working on it.  I am definitely thankful for such great teachers for my children and that they're my co-workers!  It's nice to ease into the school process by teaching in the same preschool where my children attend!

Sauder Inn Super Heroes

A few weeks ago we met up with Ryan's family at a hotel in Ohio.  We did this last year, and the kids (especially Jack) loved spending so much time with their cousins.  When I was growing up, we would meet at hotels with my cousins and swim and snack all weekend, and I had so much fun!  So many good memories!

 

Anyway, the weekend was much cooler than last year, and we spent some time wandering around Sauder Village, a historic village with costumed staff who explain the buildings and time period to visitors.  The kids, of course, enjoyed the interactive activities like the fake (and real) animals and the little house that had all sorts of old-fashioned dishes and toys.

Jack thought this looked like the statue Bruce Wayne used in "Batman" to go down into the Bat Cave. Their cousin, Will, got in on the action, too.



Grant, Jack, Drew, and Landon in the wagon with Will pulling it.  Good thing he's a strong kiddo and the boys in the wagon are pretty light!

The cousins hopped onto the prop wagon--not sure if it's really supposed to have kids climbing on it, but they definitely looked cute for a picture!

 

Most of the time, though, was spent at the hotel, swimming and, oh, creating superhero personas.  Ryan's mom found some ideas on Pinterest on how to make capes and masks and brought all of the materials for the kids to become superheroes.  The boys loved it!  They made their costumes and raced around saving the world (or something like that) the rest of the afternoon.  It even trumped swimming!  So cute! 

The older boys in their superhero poses

Braden, Will, Grant, Max, Violet, and Jack ready to save the world.

Caroline even made a cape and tried to run around with the bigger kids--love seeing her talking with her big girl cousin, Violet!

We also celebrated Violet's 6th birthday and Drew's 4th while we were there.  Karla made the cute cake for the kids to share (and the rest of us to eat).

This little guy was too small to get in on all the fun, but I'm sure Evan will be running around with the rest of the kids next year!

State Fair Pictures 2012

This year we went to the State Fair on Jack's second night of school.  It was pretty warm but cooler than it's been.  It was great because my sister, Melanie, was visiting us from L.A. and had never been to a state fair, Indiana or otherwise (though I do remember going to one in OH, but she may have been too young to remember that).  I felt a little guilty keeping him out so late with school the next day, but really, when they start school so early, what are you going to do?

 

So, since I wrote about it two years ago and not much is different (except for my kids' sizes/ages), I'll just let you look at our pictures:

 

The kids thought they were in a parade when we rode the shuttle around to the other side of the fair.  I love how they wave!

Love this pic--not sure I look the best, but Melanie and Caroline look cute.

Caroline had fun for her first year doing Pioneer Village.  The hat's a little big, but I think she liked getting one anyway!

 

My little girl immediately jumped onto the pink tractor but couldn't get the thing to move.

Even though Jack was too tall, they let him take a turn.

My serious tractor racer rider.

 

My little calves

 

Aunt Melanie with her nephews and niece

our attempt at a family picture--This one cracks me up!  This is real life, people!

Not to be outdone...

On the afternoon of Jack's first day of school Ryan decided it was time for Grant to try out riding his bike without training wheels.  I was a bit skeptical and expected a trip to the hospital soon after the lesson commenced.  However, after a bit my boy wonder seemed to catch on and balance himself well.  His main issue was steering, but I think that should be expected.  Why would my little daredevil want to go in a straight line when he could weave back and forth?



starting off on the driveway

onto the street

Batman (a.k.a. Jack) joined the riding lesson after his first day of school.

By the end not only was Grant riding well (though with some supervision from Ryan) but also was providing a running commentary.  He was pretending he was a Hot Wheels car in a race. I would expect nothing else from my Grant!  

First Day, First Grade

Yesterday was Jack's first day of first grade.  On Sunday we went over to the school for an ice cream social, which was a time for Jack (and the rest of us) to meet his teacher and see his classroom.  She is young and sweet but has taught for eight years so I was so relieved, feeling like it may be a better fit than last year.

Jack (with his latest interpretation of a smile!) sitting at his new desk at the ice cream social

The night before school started Jack didn't fall asleep until 11 pm, thanks to nerves and our week of vacation in Central Time messing up his sleep schedule.  Our whole family (Ryan doesn't start school until next week) was able to come down to the bus stop to see Jack off, and it was even more special because Aunt Melanie was here from L.A. to see him, too. 

our family picture--guess who didn't want to be in it

Jack in his "button shirt"--They have a strongly encouraged (but not mandatory) dress code, which is khaki or navy shorts/pants and a navy or white polo shirt.  Jack does NOT like shirts with buttons, and every Sunday used to be a battle.  He's been better lately, but he did say he wasn't excited to go to school because of the shirt issue.  However, I didn't hear anything about it from him that morning.  I just think he looks so handsome in his polo shirt!

Grant and Caroline found ways to entertain themselves while we waited for the bus.

Jack was a bit loaded down with supplies.  I may just buy them from the school next year.  This buying school supplies thing is WAY too annoying and stressful!  If it takes trips to four different stores to find everything on the list, something is wrong!

Finally the bus came, a half-hour late and after school actually started.  I'm sure it will take a few days for the new driver (and the children) to adjust, but fingers crossed it happens before next Monday.  Otherwise I'm going to be late to work!

He looks so little!

The whole day I kept thinking about Jack, wondering how and what he was doing.  When he finally got off the bus, he ran right into my arms and gave me a big hug.  I was a little confused, but I thought it was kind of sweet.  Later I found out that his afternoon bus driver had yelled at him to get off at a different bus stop, and he told her that wasn't his stop.  I was pretty impressed that he was able to stand up for himself, but if she causes a problem for him this afternoon, transportation is going to hear from this mama bear!  However, that was the only issue of the day.  He was excited to have two recesses and Cheez-Its (because his lunch is at 11) for a snack at school.  He found some friends from last year to play with outside and was happy to go back today.  And really, as a parent, what more do you want from the first day? 

Big Cedar Lodge 2012

Because Ryan and I are such great parents, we took our family vacation the week before school started.  Who needs to get their kids back on a bedtime routine and schedule?  Actually, in fairness to us, we scheduled this trip to Big Cedar Lodge before we knew that school would start so stinkin' early. 

We invited my parents to come with us and headed out on a Monday to Branson, MO.  We had been to this resort a couple of years ago when Caroline was only a baby so it was nice to know what to expect.  The boys were really excited!  (Jack actually remembered quite a bit, and Grant had seen enough pictures to know that he should be excited.)  When we arrived it was great for the boys to see the room and how similar it was to the previous visit.  Caroline had fun peeking through the curtains and riding on Papa's back.

A great thing about this resort is that they have a marina on Table Rock Lake.  When the kids are older it will be fun to go out on some of the boats, but at this age they're just a bit too young.  Caroline wanted to do everything the boys did, which caused my heart to race and blood pressure to rise a few times.

When I tell people that we're going to Branson I always feel like I need to clarify that we are not actually going to Branson.  We did, however, venture over Branson Landing once on both trips.  The kiddos loved this store full of everything you could possibly ever think you might want cluttering up your house.  We let each of them choose one item, which was really difficult thanks to the overwhelming amount of stuff there.

Grant chose this train.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize how LOUD it was until we got back to the hotel and put batteries in it.  Yikes!

Jack chose a couple of superhero coloring books and crayons.  He colored the entire time we were at dinner, which made the meal so much calmer and more pleasant.

One of the kids' favorite things was eating breakfast out on the balcony.  The boys didn't want Caroline sharing their balcony, so it was really fortunate that we had two!

Another favorite part of Big Cedar Lodge was riding on the shuttle that took us to pools, restaurants, and different parts of the resort.  (It is a HUGE resort!)  The boys loved calling for the shuttle and wearing their seatbelts on the bus.  Caroline, of course, had to follow suit.

One of the pools had a lazy river.  Everyone except for Caroline seemed to enjoy it.  Caroline rode on my innertube, and she kept trying to climb out of my lap.  It kind of ruined the ride for me, too, I guess.  Not quite so lazy if you're wrangling a two-year-old the whole time.

The last night we spent some time wandering around the resort.  One of the sweet parts was a visit to the Airstream ice cream trailer.  Yum!

Jack said they were climbing sausages on this climbing thing.  I loved that comment because I'm not sure how he even knows what sausage looks like since we don't eat it!

They have a mini-golf course, and one of the holes is in this big mouth bass.  The kids pretended they were Jonah in the whale, but their favorite part was when they acted out being spit out of the whale.  Am I surprised? :) 

They also had a popsicle social in the evening with games.  A couple of years ago they did s'mores, and while I love s'mores, it's not quite so fun when the temperature is 95 degrees!  One of the games they had for the kids was hula hoops.  Caroline picked up one hula hoop, couldn't get it to work, and moved onto another one.  Hmmm...oddly enough that one didn't work either.

The boys found the cornhole game and had fun over there.  I like the top picture with Jack sticking out his tongue.  He must have been deep in concentration to throw the perfect toss.  After cornhole they went over to the hula hoops with their sister.  I'm not sure they were much better than Caroline, especially when they were trying to do it with two hoops at once!

Our best attempt at a sibling picture--I actually think this one was pretty successful.  They look like they really love each other! :)