From Tootie's View: Splash Pad

I know, I know...Fall is in the air and Summer is on it's way out the door but I'm not ready to let it go that easily. As I long for just a few more warm days, I'll share the pics of a beautiful Summer day spent at the splash pad with the kiddos.

LOOK! It's a bird! It's a plane!
No...It's just my Mom with her camera in my face again.
Maybe, if I don't look at her, she'll go away!
Good, now she's found a new target. No, she's not going to use the head in the middle of that circle as a target, you silly! I mean she finally found someone else to take pictures of.
I guess I should give her some credit. She brought us shopping, then picked up McD's for us to eat at the park and now onto the splash pad that, until now, we had never been to, and all just because she is the best-est Mom evah.
It is also the splash pad I still haven't 'been' to yet because I am too busy swinging and ignoring my picture crazed mother. I know she really wants me to put on my cute little swim suit but I don't want to give her any more reasons to keep taking pictures of me. Maybe if I just sit here, like a lump on a log, she'll take pictures of Grant again.
My brother sure does look like he is having a splashing good time though!
Now look who's getting sick of my Mom's lens following him all over the entire pad. Oh great! Now she is turning around to take pictures of me again. Phooey!
Thanks for nothin', Brother!There, the ole' stick your tongue out at the camera tactic worked! She's taking more of water-logged-willie over yonder!
Ooop, looks like someone is all done splishin'-and-a-splashin' and it is time to blow this pop stand!
Later Dudes!

Sleepy Siblings

While have been sleeping on the (blogging) job, my little rugrats have been sleeping, welllll...all over the place!It has been harder and harder to convince these two to take scheduled naps so it is the unexpected naps that have been happening around our house...literally!
This was a Saturday afternoon the other weekend. While I was cleaning out the kid's room, they dug out the portable DVD player, stuck in The Little Einsteins and had a little party of their own. Actually, I think they are all partied out at this point!
Some time during the nap I walked out to the living room and Audrey was missing. Apparently the couch got too uncomfortable and this is where I found her...
Yep, the hard laundry room floor was a much better option, I guess!
The whole Grant sleeping in his own bed thing has been going FABULOUS! He has not slept in our room at all since we made the waterpark deal. So proud of him! He did crawl into bed with his little sissy one night though :)
I do have to say it was one of the cutest things I have EVER seen! They fell asleep and slept like this the entire night. Love that they have become such good friends.
The lack of updates was because I was out of town this past weekend participating in the North Shore Inline Marathon in Duluth. The weather was cold, foggy and a little rainy so the roads were wet the entire race, then about half way through the wind picked up and that SUCKED! My time was not what I had hoped but I'm not feeling too terrible about it since the conditions were so crappy. Oh, and I wiped out around mile 3 so I have some nice road rash on my knees and hands and a nice bruise on my left thigh. Regardless of how hard it was, I would definitely do it again only next time I think I'll just train on a rough hilly road so I'm used to the terrain on the race course. Plus, the night out with the girls after the race was a complete hoot! My stomach hurt the next morning from laughing so hard! All in all it was an awesome weekend!!!

The BIG Day - Grant's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was the BIG day that Grant has been waiting for....the 1st day of Kindergarten!!!
By now, it should probably come to no surprise to you that I took TONS of pictures to document the monumental day. This also means that it should be no shock that this is going to have many, many photos :)
Today was more of an orientation day for Grant. I took the day off because our time slot was from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and man was this morning a LONG morning.
Grant was up at 7 bells and immediately asking if it was time to go to school. Over the next 3 hours I think I heard 'Is it time to go to school yet?" about a thousand times! No lie!
After a couple of pictures, it was time to head over to the school. He was one happy boy :)
I also made Grant stop on the walk into the school to snap a quick picture. I wasn't super happy with how the first shot turned out so I tried for one more but the wind was fierce thus the following shot. I couldn't help but post it because the look on his face cracks me up!
Time to head in. He looks so little next to the big school and with that huge backpack on!
I just love this pic. If you look at the reflection in the doors you can see me taking the picture and a little girl running towards the door. And hey...the school was built the year I graduated from high school!
One more outside shot for good measure...
Once we got inside, he was in awe. The halls we a buzz with kids and teachers. You could just feel that there was anticipation and excitement in the air. We walked past his room and he took a quick peek in.
Next, we found his locker. He spotted his star right away and, what do you know, his star is his favorite color...red!
The kids were taken on a tour of the school while the parents attended a presentation put on by the Kindergarten teachers as well as a Q & A session. Then it was back to the room to meet up with the kiddos and to do a couple of projects.
Looking at these pictures, it is hard to believe that over 5 years have past since we welcomed Grant into this world. I know this is so cliche but, it seems like just yesterday.
Now he is beginning a whole new chapter in his life. One that involves independence, socialization, self confidence, good manners, obedience, learning and much, much more. A parent can only hope that they did a good job laying the foundation that the teachers will now build upon.
Speaking of teachers...this is Grant's teacher, Mrs. Bierbaum. He is pretty comfortable with her since her son was on Grant's T-ball team this summer so he was able to meet her prior to at school.
Once orientation was over, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Grant was super excited to be able to spend the day together, just me and him.
Let me tell you, we made the most of it! Since it was lunch time, Grant chose Space Aliens as the first destination. Wouldn't you know it, Tuesdays kids eat free with an adult entree and he got 10 free tokens, plus it was super quiet there since it was the first day of school! Super score!
He loves their fire roasted pizza (he calls it 'fire pizza') and he ate almost the entire thing all by himself!
Next we did some clothes shopping and got him some new gym shoes. He sure had fun picking out all of his clothes and I sure enjoyed watching his excitement as he picked out his Lego Star Wars shirt and jimmer jammers!
Today was the first day of Grant's scholastic career. I can't wait to see where the years lead him, what activities he becomes involved in, the friendships he makes...there is so much to look forward to but I can't help but be a little sad that my little boy is growing up so quickly. Tomorrow is going to be the emotional day for me. I drop him off at Kids Company in the morning and pick him up there after work. I have a feeling I am going to be bawling the whole way into work. {sniff, sniff}
Pass the tissues, please.