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Jul 30, 2013

Right now...

I have to catch up on July photos, and I will...but for now, I want to capture some things that are going on right now.  Our world is about to be rocked!  Kindergarten begins in just 2 days.  TWO!

We went shopping for supplies a couple weeks ago, and he was excited to pick out what he needed.  It hit me when we were into the grocery department of Walmart and I got teary eyed...my little boy had just picked out supplies for his classroom!  Crazy.  Still...I was ok.  He was excited, and I was excited for him.

Last week, I had a rough night.  I couldn't fall asleep and started thinking about how in just a week's time, my first baby was beginning kindergarten and my second baby was turning two.  Way too much for one week!  I was ok still...made it through the weekend and Riley's party.  

Yesterday hit, and Gavin started complaining his belly was hurting.  Jarrod was sure he had a bug, but I knew better.  I knew he was starting to get nervous.  And it came out at bedtime.  We all had a good cry (including a tear from Jarrod) and talked about things he could expect, read a book, and them moved on to finding Waldo.  :)  I turned off his light and rubbed his back, and he asked me if I could stay with him at his orientation which was this morning.  Sweet boy.  

Today, he woke up telling me he felt much better.  We went to Kindergarten Orientation and met his teacher.  He got to put his supplies in his cubby and do a worksheet (on which he said he'd take Riley with him if he was going on a pirate adventure...) and then he got to spend some time with a few new friends and his teacher while we went to a meeting with the principal.  He was definitely ready to leave when it was over, because according to him, he was tired from all that walking (on his tour)...we gotta work on his stamina! Lol.

We came home and he had his lunch today that I packed him.  Jarrod came up with the idea of doing that so that he could practice using all the containers and opening them.  It went really well and I could see how proud he was of himself when figured out how to open some of them.  I keep imagining him sitting at a big table in a big lunchroom...  He's still so little!  {So little, in fact, that the teacher had to move his cubby because he couldn't reach his!} 

So, we'll see how Thursday goes.  We're going to read The Kissing Hand again tonight, and tomorrow he gets a special lunch at McDonald's.  We're going to order pizza on Thursday to celebrate the first day - his choice!  And, I'm going to surprise him with freshly baked cookies when he gets home.  Hoping all these memories we're making will last forever...

Jul 26, 2013

Final pics

Here we are at the end of July {Riley's birthday, to be exact!} and I still have June pics to post.  So...prepare for a photo dump from the photos from when my parents were here.  These were all on the last day, when we were just hanging out and enjoying them before they left.


You can tell how thrilled Gavin is these days to get his picture taken... 
'No flash photography!' ~Gavin





I love these pictures...especially the first one.



And a mix of iPhone pics from the whole week...






 

Yay!  Caught up on vacation pictures now.  :)  Up next, 4th of July and celebrating Riley's birthday!  Woohoo!

Jul 23, 2013

Triple Celebration

We wanted to celebrate Riley's 2nd birthday a little early while my family was here, so I surprised everyone with one of Mara's fabulous cakes and we had a triple celebration.  It was Briana's 15th birthday and my parents 33rd wedding anniversary that week, too.  Sounds like a good enough excuse for a cake to me!

Jul 19, 2013

Pool days...

I can't even tell you how glad we are that we found our pool last summer.  It's been used so much, especially this summer.  When the family was here visiting we spent a couple days at the pool with them, too. 
 


While Gavin loves to go to the pool, he's still super cautious about his face getting wet, doesn't like jumping in, etc.  Riley, on the other hand, is our fish that just wants to do it all on her own.  She had fun 'going down the slide' with Beepa.  {Her version of going down the slide is we put her at the end of it and she jumps off to us.}




I'm quite certain that by next summer, she'll be ready to swim on her own and will be teaching Gavin how to do things!

Jul 16, 2013

Safari Time!

The safari is always a fun place to take visitors!  We hadn't been since Riley was born, so it was time to introduce her to the joys of the Wild Wilderness Drive Thru Safari. ;)
And, of course, Riley loved it!


We heard over and over again about the 'monkeys' and then, after the drive-thru portion, 'yaks.'  She even told me she saw a yak at Kohls one day after this trip.  Haha!


I don't have pictures of them, but there were SIX DAY old piglets there when we were visiting.  SO stinkin' cute.  Like, makes me want to get a pet pig-cute.  Crazy!  
 
The drive-thru part is always fun...there are camels, yaks, ostriches, and more that just stand in the road while you're trying to drive.  I'm surprised we've never had damage to our car while visiting the safari! 




Advice if you have a little one like Riley?  Bring snacks!  She ate her way through the drive-thru portion, of course.  The girl snacks nonstop!