Kindergarten

Logan started three-day full-day Kindergarten today.  Just writing that gets me a little misty-eyed and nostalgic.  Where did the time go?  Wasn’t he just a snuggly newborn yesterday?

Yesterday we went to Logan’s classroom to drop off supplies and meet his teacher, Mrs. Fox.  He was a little nervous to greet his teacher, but he enjoyed finding his name at his table and was so excited to see that his friend Isaac is assigned to sit at the same table as him.

Logan also likes his locker and is even more thrilled that his is green, his favorite color.  :)

This morning, Logan was definitely more excited than anxious.  He assured Audrey that she will get to go to Kindergarten when she turns 5 and gave me the play-by-play of how close we were getting to the school.

I’m torn.  I know that today takes him one step closer to independence, and although I’m ready for that, it also takes him one step farther from me.  And even though Logan attended preschool, this is a much larger place with much older kids.  It’s real school.  I find myself feeling a mixture of so many emotions: anxiety (will the other kids like him?  will he fit in?  will he be able to open his granola bar wrapper?), excitement (I can’t wait to watch him learn and grow), nostalgia and sadness, but mostly huge, bursting pride. 

When we got to school this morning, we took a few pictures and then went around to the playground where the kids play before school.  I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids playing on that playground.  Logan didn’t seem phased by all the other kids, he just wanted to find his friend Isaac.  As we were looking for Isaac, a whistle blew indicating that it was time to line up.  It was at that moment that Logan teared up a little.  “Mommy, I didn’t get a chance to play!”  I quickly hugged him and assured him that they’d get another recess later, and then he found Isaac (teal shirt in front of him) who told him it would be ok.  (Thanks, Isaac!)

After that he was fine.  Excited, actually.  His teacher, Mrs. Fox (above, standing in front of his line with her arm out), is great and I trust she will guide Logan this year to help him learn and grow.

And with that he bravely walked into school like the big five-year-old he is (while I snapped pictures like the paparazzi).

At pick-up time, Logan was all smiles as he hopped into the car but didn’t want to share much about what they did at school today.  He told me what he had for lunch (which I knew anyway since I packed it), that his favorite time of day was recess, and that his table is the “Eagle” table.  Then he wanted to know what we did while he was gone (we went to a park, which made him a little jealous) and he wanted to know if he can stay home with me when Audrey goes to school.  :)  He’s excited to go back tomorrow, though, so I think that’s a great sign that it was a good day!

Galena

The second part of this past week (see the previous post for the first part) we drove 4 hours to Galena, IL and checked in a Eagle Ridge Resort where we had a vacation home waiting for us.  We took along my parents for a couple extra set of hands. (I think I only changed two diapers the whole time I was there!  And every morning I fed Emily and then handed her off while I enjoyed another hour or so of sleep – a luxury I never get at home.)  It also gave Luke and I a chance to get out for a date night while we were there.  :)

Out for a date.  What a view!

We went swimming a couple times.  Logan was a little fish and loved getting wherever he wanted to go with his floaties on.  Emily also loved the water, and even though we went right during her nap time, she kicked and splashed and smiled the whole time.  Audrey, surprisingly, was the most timid.  She kept saying that she wanted her feet to touch the bottom and liked to stay by the steps.  We did get her into Emily’s “boat” once, but she leaned forward and almost tipped out, and that was the end of that!

   

In true like-father-like-son fashion, Logan loved the arcade.

We spent one afternoon going shopping in downtown, historic Galena where there are many quaint little shops and boutiques.  The kids thought the store “Poopsies” was such a funny name and laughed and laughed about it.  The humor of a preschooler! 

Papa and Nanny treated us to ice cream at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

We let each child pick out one special toy/souvenir to take home with them.  Luke tried to convince Logan to get the gnarly teeth (haha)…

But Logan ended up choosing a fossil to keep in his night stand at home.

Emily loved a stuffed mermaid (that we found at Poopsies, actually) so we got that for her, and Audrey picked sparkly butterfly wings (also from Poopsies) that she put on and danced around the store flapping her fingers (yes fingers, not arms).  She actually flapped her little fingers all the way back to our car, wearing her wings.  I had a moment of thinking Here’s my two-year-old, wearing her butterfly wings and fluttering her fingers as she skips down the sidewalk.  Someday she’ll be 16, and this will be only a memory of mine.  The time goes too fast!  :) Anyway, here are the kids with their treasures.

We took a trolley ride on our last day to learn more about the homes and history of Galena.  The kids enjoyed the ride and the wind!

 

Just one last story about the Jacuzzi tub.  My mom and I thought it would be a fun thing for the kids to try a bath with the jets on.  I prepped them by saying it might be a little loud, so they could cover their ears if they wanted to.  Wrong words.  Upon saying that, both of them started screaming and crying and wanted to get out of the tub!  Not the reaction I was looking for!  Audrey ended up going back in, just to prove she could do it, but she sat there with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears as the jets swirled the water around her. 

The next night, Logan said he was going to “be brave” and try it.  But every time he said that, Audrey got scared and said she wanted to get out of the tub (revealing how scared she really was the first night).  We told Logan he could try it when Audrey was out of the tub.  Well, when that time came… Logan decided he’d rather wait until next year.  “I’ll do it when I’m six,” he promised.  :)

All in all, a great vacation with lots of fun memories made!

Camping

This past week has been a busy one for us!  Earlier in the week, Luke took Logan and Audrey up to Michigan to go camping with his mom and aunts at Channel Park in Muskegon.  The kids had fun sleeping in Grandma’s pop-up camper, exploring Luke’s aunts’ campers, and feeding the ducks at the channel.  They all came home happy, dirty, and tired.

Emily and I stayed back because she had a check-up at Comer Children’s Hospital with her pediatrician there (all’s well – she’s now 17 lbs 5 oz. and 26” long, FYI).  I thought this would give me a couple days to get some things done around the house, but boy was I wrong! 

Emily is usually such an easy-going baby.  She plays with her toys and doesn’t fuss.  When she’s tired, she rubs her eyes a few times and I put her to bed.  Imagine my surprise when I set her down to play, and she cried and fussed and wanted to be held… all day!  Teething?  Earache?  What could it be? 

The minute Logan and Audrey walked back in the door from camping, Emily squealed, kicked her legs, and was back to her old happy self.  She missed them.  Like crazy!  It doesn’t matter if her siblings are giving her direct attention or not, Emily loves to watch their busy activity.  She’s definitely my sweet “observer” third child.