First day of first grade

I can't believe Ryan is old enough to be in first grade already.  Where on earth did that time go?  He was so excited to go to school this morning and he was not the slightest bit nervous.   I, on the other hand, had the nervous stomach for him.  He couldn't wait to get on the bus and go to school.  Carter and I followed the bus to school and walked with Ryan to his classroom and got him settled.  We then went to Pump It Up to play and back for lunch with Ryan.  After school, we met the bus and Ryan chose Perkins for dinner.  He told us about his day - he loved his teacher, the fact that his buddy, Josh is in his class, and school in general.  To end our evening, we had an impromptu game of kickball with the neighbors in the backyard.  I'd have to say, that's not too bad of a first day of school for a 6 year old! :)

 

Does it hit you when you look at certain pictures how grown up your kids look?  That is the first thing I thought of when I saw this picture!

Bus stop buddies - 8 of them total, from 1st to 4th grade:

Not even a glance back...he's ready!!!

Getting off the bus at school with his friend, Lukas:

With his daycare buddy, neighbor, and classmate, Josh:

Getting right to work in the classroom:

His pod of 6 - he was in the same class as 2 of those girls last year:

Carter and I went to Pump It Up:

He loved it!!!  And we had the place almost to ourselves...bonus! :)

Getting off the bus at the end of the day:

Dad was videotaping and had his balloons waiting for him:

Ryan's choice of restaurant for his first day of school dinner, Perkins!

Put the DSs on pause long enough to take the picture:

Busy and content while we waited for our food:

Another first day of school...in the books!!!!  Here's to a great year! :)



Jewelry for Adria

I dusted off the jewelry supplies for the first time in nearly 3 months (what a wonderful break giving me time to spend with my boys!) and made my great niece a necklace for her first birthday.  I tried something new by using red, which actually looked a little pink in the dots and heart.  Perfect for our little princess! :)

Adria with her smash cake:

She loved it!

Carter playing on the playground during her birthday party (perfect birthday party location!):

Outdoor News

Kyle's turkey made the August 26 edition of the Outdoor News.  He is one happy kid!  Ryan and Carter are a little jealous that their older brother is 'famous'!  ;)

Fun on the Farm

We had a short visit up north this weekend, but packed a LOT into those two days.  After the tractor show, we spent most of our time outside - riding dirt bike and four wheelers, jumping on the trampoline, fishing, visiting Sondra and picking sweet corn, and just playing in the yard.  We had a great time but sure felt the chill - fall is definitely in the air!  I am not ready for that, but I suppose it's fitting, given the boys do head back to school this week!  Looking back, it feels the summer went by in the blink of an eye.  I realize we did do a LOT of fun stuff, but it sure felt too fast!  I hope the school year goes by as fast as the summer months (wishful thinking, right?)

Ryan dusted off the dirtbike and rode it around,

and around,

and around.

Mom has to have tracks in her lawn circling her house, as much as he rode this weekend!!!

My view from here...I was being pulled in a trailer on the four wheeler ride in the woods:

Grandpa and his hunters checked the trail cam:

Ryan resting on the trampoline - he had been jumping for about an hour!!!

He was showing me his crazy stunts.

He's been practicing at daycare on their trampoline and has come up with a lot of new 'moves'!

  

He can do a complete flip...who knew? 

I wonder where he gets this from?

We were laughing so hard, I could hardly jump!  This move took me back to my high school cheerleading days! :)

2011 Logging and Threshing Show

We headed to the Logging and Threshing Show once again this year, as we have every year, and I've blogged about for the past 3 years:  2010, 2009, and 2008.  The boys love the tractor show.  So much, in fact, that I asked Carter tonight what his favorite thing to do was ALL summer, since school's been out.  He said 'the tractor show'.  He was a trooper, walking around for 7 hours yesterday with Grandpa and Kyle.  The rest of us were there for about 3.5 hours and decided it was time to go home to relax!  Anyway, it was a fun show - the boys picked up a few 'treasures' from the flea market, pet the animals in the petting zoo, and watched the tractor parade.  It started to sprinkle for just a few minutes before the parade started, but turned out to be a beautiful day at the show.

Grandpa and Ryan watching the loggers:

Kyle on an old sled:

Ryan's turn:

And don't forget this speedster!

Boys checking on the calf at the petting zoo:

Next the horse:

They were laughing because it was nibbling on Kyle's shirt!

Geese were in the fenced area, around the water feature:

National Anthem before the parade:

Kyle, Grandpa, and Carter watching the tractor parade:

Roger and Ryan driving through the parade:

Roger and Ryan have been buddies since Ryan was a toddler - he is so good to our boys!!!!

He had to drive the tractor all the way up to the hill where they park them in Oliver row!

Sad Goodbye

We said a sad (tearful) goodbye to Danielle on Thursday; she has been Carter's speech therapist for the past 14 months.  She has been a phenomonal therapist and partner to all of us.  He has made amazing progress since he started therapy, and I give Danielle the credit.  We will certainly miss her - she is leaving private practice to go into the health care system.  Carter starts with a new therapist there on Thursday.  Unfortunately, his speech therapist that works with him through the school district has also moved to another area, so he will have a different therapist he will work with once a week for 30 minutes at daycare.  I pray he continues to make the progress he has been so far.  Fingers crossed for a good year for him!

He came out of speech every time with a huge smile on his face - he loved working with Danielle!



Bunker Beach

We had our last Bunker Beach visit for the 2011 season on Thursday of last week.  We couldn't have picked a better day - it was over 100* heat index.  I think everyone else had the same idea.  For the first time EVER, Bunker Beach closed it's doors due to being filled to capacity.  People had to wait outside until someone exited.  It was crazy busy, and the boys' favorite pool was closed, but we still had lots of fun in all of the other areas.  We also checked out the sand area for the first time.  I wish we had gone there before, because the boys both loved it!!  I am always so busy keeping an eye on both kids at Bunker that I don't bring my camera everywhere.  I need to get better about that!!!!

Better late than never, I took this picture as we were leaving, Carter was giggling after I wrapped him in his toga!