Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Kindergarten is a blast!

When you are a mom, the days pass by slowly sometimes, but the years just fly by.   We celebrated a bittersweet milestone today when Rylan started kindergarten. I am so thankful he got into our first choice of schools and his new teacher seems very nice, so it was really a very joyful day.  Neither of us cried today, I had my weepy moments already in anticipation of the day.  I was really glad to have all the first day jitters and some of the carpool questions behind us.  It will be great when we can settle in to a new routine.
At pick-up, Rylan was full of excitement and funny stories. "Mom," he said, "Trust me, kindergarten is a blast!"  He was quite horrified that one girl didn't follow the rules and evidently had to visit the principal.  He also told me about the "high-tech security guard that talked from a box in the ceiling"  (the principal giving morning announcements over the intercom).

Very similar to our preschool picture last year.  They can be so sweet to each other.
Love this one.
My big kindergartner.
The Clarke men.

 
It is like pulling teeth to take pictures of my kids these days. However, I was not going to forgo the first day of kindergarten pictures for any amount of attitude.  They are just too important!
We coaxed a bit of a smile out of him.
First coloring assignment.  Coloring has never been one of Rylan's favorite things, but he was a good sport about it.
At his desk and all ready for his first day.
Brand new sharp crayons make coloring a bit more bearable.

Grammy's visit Summer 2012

Charlton's mom visited us for a few days this past week. It is always fun to spend time with her and we enjoyed going out to dinner, swimming, shopping, going to the park and karate, and just hanging out together. The kids were not terribly cooperative with taking pictures, but we got a few good ones.
Grammy was a good sport about swinging with Caroline.
Caroline was getting tired and cranky and did not want to take a picture at all. I was thankful she didn't throw a royal fit and end up in the water behind the gazebo.
Another attempt to get a  picture of Grammy with her grandchildren. Not perfect, but definitely lots of love being shared.

Pirates Cove

A few weekends ago we redeemed a groupon for a fun little water park in Denver. It was hot and crowded, but we had a memorable family day. I think our favorite part was riding in tubes in the lazy river. We went back twice and stayed in for several laps. Caroline had to ride with me or Charlton, but Rylan was just barely big enough to man his own tube. He was so little his rear end sunk way down into the hole and his legs stuck up like tooth picks, but he had a huge grin on his face the whole time. The sand pit was a close second favorite and the only place I took pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera.
This is the closest thing these Colorado kids get to experiencing a real beach. Hopefully we can remedy that in a few years.