Playing with birthday toys

After school today, the boys were tired of being indoors. Michael had left to go do some hospital visitations, and so I tried to encourage Lucy to come on a walk with me and the boys. She wasn't exactly in the mood, and from previous experiences, you do not want to start a walk with Lucy if she is not up for it! So we decided instead to open up the boys bubble lawnmowers and bubble leaf blower that they got for their birthday. So without further ado, here are a few (ok, a lot!) pictures!

Charlie

Alex

Lucy had a lot of fun blowing bubbles for her brothers to pop!

I love how much fun these boys seem to be having in these next two pictures. . . 

Alex wanted a turn with the leaf blower!

 Charlie wanted to see what would happen if he had two mowers!

As we were playing, a cat came into the yard. I've never seen this cat before, so I don't know where it came from. Lucy freaked out, reminding me just in case I could forget, that she is very allergic to cats. Alex and Charlie though, have just learned to meow when they see pictures of a cat in a book. So they were SOO excited and kept shouting "Meow! Meow!" as the cat paraded around the yard. They were very good though and didn't go near the cat at all.

This cat sat and watched us play for quite a while . . .

After it became clear to the cat that no one was going to feed him or pet him, he decided to move on. Poor Charlie - he just couldn't figure out where the cat went! He kept asking, "Where did it go?"

Alex sat down after playing and talked with me for a little while. He babbles on and on . . .for not using any actual words, he sure has a lot to say! I think he was telling me about bubbles, but I really don't know. It's so cute though!

Lucy and Charlie were sitting on the step together, and Charlie kept leaning over to hug Lucy. I really think he missed her while she was at school today!!

The boys also have been having fun playing with their new basketball goal. :)

Lucy's first day of Kindergarten!

Well, the big day has finally arrived! Lucy started Kindergarten today - I know she is more than ready, but I have to admit, this day arrived way too fast. I guess I'm going to have to stop blinking, or she will be graduating before I know it!!

Lucy had everything ready when she went to bed last night - she had her outfit picked out, her bookbag packed, her lunchbox was sitting in the fridge, ready to go. We got up early, so that we would have time to go out to breakfast. Of course, we had to take some pictures before we left! ;)

A little "deer in the headlights" look . . . 

A little better . . .please ignore the date . . . it was late the night before when I made it . . .I do know that my daughter's first day of school was actually the 25th . . .

Charlie is really going to miss Lucy while she's at school all day!

We loaded up the van and left the house at 6:45 (Yes, that seems early, but everyone had been up for almost an hour!) and headed to Biscuitville. Lucy requested a honey bun for her first day of school breakfast.

We came back to the house to drop the boys off so that I could take Lucy to school. We snapped a few more pictures; yes, it may be a little excessive, but the first day of Kindergarten will only happen once!

Ready to go!

As we drove to school, Lucy opened up her lunchbox and read the note her Daddy and I had left her. I told her that was supposed to be a surprise when she got to lunch and she informed me that she just couldn't wait! We got to school and had to park in the library parking lot. There were parents and kids everywhere! As we walked up, we stopped and snapped a picture by the flower beds around the flag pole.

And then another one with the school in the background . . .

We walked inside and found our way down to Lucy's classroom. She is out in one of the pods in the back of the school. I haven't seen these in any of the schools I've ever worked in; it's not a individual trailer, but it is portable unit with about five classrooms within it. Once we got through the hall and down the stairs facing the pod, Lucy knew exactly where to go. She found her door and didn't object wen I asked to snap her picture in front of it.

Lucy walked right in, went straight to her chair, set her bookbag and things where they belonged and got ready to start on her morning work. She did let me snap one picture, but then gave me this look like, "Why are you still in here?" No kiss, no hug, just a "Bye, Mommy!" She was completely comfortable and ready to get her day started!

When she got home from school, she seemed to have had a good day. We asked her what her favorite thing she did was, and she replied, "I did so many things today, I just can't remember it all!" She did tell us about playing on the playground, about the class Chinese hamster named Coconut ( don't ask - I don't know!), her friend Vivian, and that she sits at a table with two boys. Maybe she will remember more about her second day of school! 

I'm glad it was a good day, and I'm so excited for all that she has to look forward to this year. Lucy, my sweet little girl, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of the amazing young lady you are. We know that you will have an amazing year - we love you so much!!

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. . .

Lucy starts Kindergarten in less than a week! Where does time go? I have already started back to work, so we are trying to squeeze in the last few days of summer whenever we get the chance before school gets started. (By the way, Mom, I titled the blog post just for you. ;) Now you have the song stuck in your head, don't you?)

 Tonight we headed over to the Splash Pad at Tanglewood park. I brought the camera along, hoping I could get a few shots of the kids playing. While we were at the splash pad, I did snap a few, but when my sweet little boys held their hand out to me to ask me to come play, I sat it down. :) But here are a few from this evening . . .

Alex laughed and screamed and had the best time . . .he is a happy kid, but he was so excitedly happy the whole time! :)

Charlie was playing as well and having fun - I just don't have any pictures of him because he always had his back to me! Everyone played and played and then, we discovered the lounge chairs! :)

Next, we headed to the kids activity pool. . . I wish I had pictures of them playing in it, but sadly, I don't have my own photographer who follows my family around and takes pictures while we play. :( But here's what the pool looks like - 

The pool only gets about 1 1/2 feet deep so it's easy to wade through. Alex, of course, didn't want anyone's help in moving around; he wanted to do it by himself. He did rather well and only went under twice. (Don't worry - I was right with him the whole time.) Charlie and Alex both want to kick their legs and float and stick their faces in the water . . .I'm thinking we may need some little boy swim lessons next summer for them! We spent some time turning the steering wheels in the middle area and then the boys had the best time standing under the colored buckets that you see in the back of the picture. They would watch as the buckets filled with water and then pour out with a big splash. Their Daddy even went and stood under it and got drenched while they howled with laughter. It was so cute and just even more proof that these kids can make their Daddy do anything for them! ;)

We then headed down to the Lazy River section of the pool (I know - this is such an awesome place!) and floated through one time. Lucy liked floating, but her little tiny body wasn't well matched with the size of the floats they had . . .she kept falling through! Charlie enjoyed floating, but Alex just wanted to play in the water and that dumb old float kept getting in his way! After that, we watched Lucy go down the slide! She chickened out the first time, but then decided that she really wanted to do it. I snapped a picture . . . it isn't the best, but hey, I had two squirming boys on my lap!

Going up to the top . .. 

Splash!

And finally, here are a few pictures I snapped during break time. Alex has learned to hug and it is just so sweet!! 

He even wanted to give his brother a hug . . I think Charlie thought he was going to try and take his Teddy Grahams!

The kids were WORN OUT after all that fun! Everyone will sleep well tonight! :)