Milestone

Bye Mom!

It's not the first day of school, that's next week, but this is a big day to be sure! This is the first day that my big boy got on the bus by himself. He is off to his half-day "kindergarten camp" where they give the kids a bit of a preview before they jump into everyday school life with all the other students.

I suppose the first day of school would be the more obvious choice for blog fodder but to me this is the big one. The first time he goes solo, that is without me, he does know at least one little boy who shares our bus stop so he isn't completely "alone". I rode the bus with him yesterday for the first day of kindergarten camp, he hugged me so many times I couldn't tell if it was from excitement or nervousness. He does hug a lot when he's excited. His little emotions just bubble up and he gets all snuggly. I have to say that is something I hope he doesn't totally lose as he grows. I know it'll wane of course but I have my fingers crossed that at home, out of sight of classmates and friends, that I will always get big hugs from my boy.

Today I am feeling anxious/excited for him. I think he is feeling something similar. I never thought moms were silly for crying when they drop their kids off at kindergarten for the first time but I didn't ever consider that I would feel so much emotion over this. I'm not sad that he's gone for the day, I'm really excited for all he'll do and learn. . . I just want him to like it and be happy. I'm nervous that he will be nervous or scared or feel lost in the midst of all this. . . newness. He did brilliantly at preschool and has always rolled with the punches and done well (aside from dealing with his own mistakes, he's a bit of a perfectionist) so I probably shouldn't worry. It's just that school is really . . . big. And he isn't.

Blog, resurrected

Aaaaand we're back. I never thought putting the computer in the basement could make blogging so very difficult to get to. We finally moved it to the main floor of our not-so-new-anymore house and here we are. Since March we've done a lot of hanging out, some vacationing, a bunch of visiting family, and a very small bit of swimming/splashing. We also got a dog who is turning out bigger than we expected but just as loving and fun as we'd hoped. All in all life is good and we are enjoying this new place and new season of life as semi-permanent Virginians. I am not exactly a fan of the humidity when the temperature starts to rise so I am quite looking forward to fall and we are all excited for school to start. Rowan is very excited that he will begin Kindergarten (five full days a week, yikes) and Katie gets to start pre-school (three mornings a week). She is of course very excited too!

In honor of this milestone I have decided to start a family tradition. The idea is to go somewhere and do something really fun just before school starts. This year, with our "rising" Kindergartener and pre-schooler, our big exciting outing was...

It is a small, roadside attraction about an hour west of us that we've been to before and it is really great for little ones.



We got up (sort of) early and let our puppy Rob out for a stretch and a bit of a run around before he would be cooped up (no dogs at dinosaurland, sorry Rob)

The drive flew by thanks to Thomas the tank engine and his friends. Before they knew it we'd arrived!

Mr.Pteranodon greeted us

The girls were slightly nervous to go inside the shark. Last time we visited Logan went in with them to help bolster their bravery. This time it fell to Rowan to coax them in. He did a great job!

Gotta be quick or smiling Katie turns to goofy Katie

Evie really enjoyed her freedom today! It was her first trip to Dino'land out of the stroller.

Our brave boy!

 

Lil miss book worm was "reading" all the words on this sign

 More dino posing...

*smooch!*

Kick line!

Katie wanted to take one of me...

Last time we came Katie's experience with King Kong was... a bit traumatic. This time 'round she did pretty good. Until she looked too long at his face and felt unsure all over again.








Luckily they were all brave enough to sit while I snapped a few shots :)

This first shot here is one of my favorite shots from our previous visit. My thought was to recreate the scene so we could compare the sizes of the kids etc. Unfortunately the time of day was clearly different, my lens was dirty (didn't notice that until I got home), and this dino friend is at the end of the circuit which means everyone was getting hungry and antsy to browse the gift shop not to mention doing the "potty dance". But it's still cute and you can still see how the kids have changed and grown (especially Evie). So here you go . . .

May 2012

August 2013

We then perused the gifts and each kid picked out their special item. Rowan found a toy bow and arrow set, Katie a flashlight with slides, and Evie chose two plastic dinosaurs (her love of animals definitely extends to the extinct variety). I'm so glad we went today, it'll be interesting to see if this actually turns into a tradition or if we just buy ice cream next year, haha. I'm optimistic that it will thrive.


I don't think I will go back and unearth many picture from the last few months. Even though I want this blog to be about keeping you all up to date on the kids and our lives "abroad" I'm not going to backtrack too much, I can't quite manage the mental energy or time for it right now. I think the time has come for me to plant my feet, take a deep breath, and stride confidently into a new chapter of this blog. So here's to a new blogging start, a new scholastic season of life, and (*hopefully* before too long) a chill in the air and a fire in my fireplace!