Laura's First Day of Kindergarten

My little girl's first day of school

You're probably asking yourself, "Why is kindergarten starting so late in the year?" The district installed new HVAC units into several schools and the project needed extra time for completion. As a result, Laura's first day of kindergarten begins on an unseasonably cool (48 degrees at the bus stop), breezy, and rainy Wednesday, September 10th, 2014.

She was awfully excited this morning to pose for pictures outside and show off her new backpack, shoes, and Frozen chain (attached to her backpack). 

A few minutes in, she had enough of pictures. The rain was wet, the cold was freezing her 'fingers off', and the wind was ruining her hair. We ran in the house, got her jacket and then took the short walk to the bus stop. 

At the bus stop there were about 8 kids that Laura didn't know, so she stood next to me. I could tell she was excited to go but with her, you never know. Her emotions and feelings sometimes change on the dime.

When the bus arrived, Laura walk to the line. Before she took her first step onto the bus, she turned around and said in a cheerful voice, "Goodbye Dad." 

Mom and I emailed each other throughout the day stating how much we're thinking about her and hope that everything is going OK.

At the end of the school day, Mom, Ryan and I waited for her at the bus stop. In fact, Justina and Miranda were waiting for her as well. The bus approached and Laura was the second person off and she walked to Mom and gave her a big hug. 

Laura showed signs of sadness, didn't want to talk to anyone on the walk home. We feared it didn't go well. After an hour at home, she opened up and talked about her day. Laura had a great day! She made a friend with classmate Zoe, learned about the library, ate most of her 'cold' lunch, and shared a couple of funny things that happened during the day (a joke she heard from the teacher and someone's unexpected toot!).

All in all, chapter one of day one in her 16 years of public education is now the books. I suppose we can title it 'A Great Beginning!' 

"Make sure you get my shoes"

A shot of the "Elsa" key chain on her backpack.

Had to stand in front of colorful flowers on a dreary day.

Too bad the tulips aren't around.

"THE WALK"

Crossroads of emotion. Both happy and sad.

Welcome New Cousin

Hello, my name is Lucas.

Congrats to Uncle Scott and Auntie Lynn!
This morning Laura and Ryan have a new baby cousin. Everyone in our house thought the new addition would be a girl but Dad predicted boy...and I was right!

The Name
I asked Ryan if he knew what the baby name was going to be and replied, "Puppy Truck Bauer." Laura didn't provide a name - only hoped the baby would be a girl.

Nevertheless, we are excited to hear that Mom and Lucas are happy and healthy.

Ryan is Happy!

Mom had mention in an earlier post that Laura has immersed herself into pop music. She sings along and dances to the music. Little Observer Boy has noticed his big sister and joins in the fun!

In fact, when Mom broke her toe, the kids and I had to kill time while she was getting assistance in the ER. We went to Old McDonalds for a shake. Ryan and Laura both put on quite the performance by belting out "Don't Go Crying To Your Momma.." aka Ain't it Fun by Paramore. They turned quite a few heads.

Here is an example of Ryan singing "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

A Princess Quiz for Ryan

A short clip of Laura quizzing Ryan on Disney Princesses. I was absolutely shocked to hear him identify them all. Impressive. Way to know your women, Ryan!

Face-name recognition is a clear cut trait from his mother!

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation, Part 1: June

Summer break started early for us this year!  By the first day of June, we were already "on vacation."  This summer, no one is taking a morning nap, so we have a lot of free time to go out and about and do some fun things in the morning.

Face painting from the park party

In June, some of the things we did were: pool visit to Champlin, story time at Barnes & Noble (Laura listens to stories, Ryan plays at the train table), neighborhood park party, penny carnival at the park, Kids Concert at the park, soccer on Saturdays for Laura, road trip to WI with Grandma Barb, "Baby" Joey's 1st birthday party, Musikgarten class for Ryan, and swimming lessons for Laura.  Wow!

Party at Joey's!

The road trip was our biggest undertaking, 5 days in Wisconsin visiting Great-Grandma Mason, the Olley Greats, Auntie Annie & Daniel, and Great-Great Auntie Carol.  Good thing Grandma Barb could come along and entertain in the back seat!  The kids were great riders and adapted well to being shuttled all over. Laura particularly liked eating at Panera (three times!), twice polishing off giant cinnamon rolls, sharing a bed with Grandma Barb, looking at Auntie Carol's jewelry collection, and climbing up the pole in Grandpa & Grandma Olley's basement.  Ryan enjoyed playing with cars and trucks in Grandma Mason's basement, bonding with "Papa Woh-wee" (my Grandpa Olley), visiting the airport restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa (he still tells me "Papa Woh-wee...helicopter") and driving Matchbox cars around in their basement.  Always fun to see the WI relatives, which we don't get to do often enough.

Pit stop at Grandma Mason's for dinner!

Trucks in the basement

Visit to Auntie Carol's

Made it to the top!

Playing in the backyard with Papa Woh-wee

We've only been to Musikgarten once so far, but Ry exceeded expectations by staying seated in my lap, and following commands about taking/using/returning musical instruments.  He participated, sang along, and generally had a good time.  Yay, Ryan!  You may recall when I took Laura to ECFE classes that she stood in the corner at music time and WOULD NOT join in.

Laura had a good experience at swimming lessons the last two weeks, made even more fun by the fact that her daycare buddies CJ and Grace attended lessons at the same time!  This year she was in Guppies (step up from her 2 year stint in Tadpoles) but did not pass yet because she "just needs to get bigger and stronger."  Story of her life!  She also forgets to keep paddling and kicking when she wants to take a breath so there is definitely a little room for work there.  Soccer went through June and wrapped up at the end of the month.  I think she liked soccer, but was frustrated when she didn't score, it was "too hot" or she had to face off against kids that were better/bigger than her.  She certainly learned some skills she put into action on the field and it was fun to watch her try something new.

Soccer girl

So there's June.  Other current info is that Ryan continues to be obsessed with playing "cars and trucks" with Matchbox cars, and we are constantly toting buckets of his favorites up and down three floors of our house. It keeps him very focused and busy!  Walks are still a favorite and most days we make the loop around the block with Laura on her bike and Ryan walking or riding in the stroller.  Finally, Laura is growing up and enjoying pop music on the radio immensely and has several favorites (she will blast out of her room to announce what's on the radio).  Some are a little older and others more recent - here's Laura's "playlist":

* Ingrid Michaelsen "Girls Chase Boys"

* Katy Perry "Roar"

* Magic! "Rude"

* Sara Bareilles "Brave" and "I Choose You"

* Paramore "Ain't it Fun"

* Lorde "Royals"

Ryan's still digging The Muffin Man and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Glad I still have my "baby!"

Fishing Trip 2014

This year's fishing trip to the Lake of the Woods had cool, rainy days. In fact, the entire spring has been rainy, so much so, bringing water levels to flooding heights. See the dock submerged in a few pics below.

This year will be noted for the amount of northern pike caught. I caught a number of them, including a 31" and 37". 

Once again, I didn't hit my goal of a 25" walleye. The closest I got was this 21 incher. Maybe next year! :)

21 inch walleye

31" northern pike

37" northern pike

Massive rains this spring raised the water to flooding heights

Our last year at Sportsman's on Oak Island. Next year we're staying at Redwing Lodge.

Ry-Roo Turns 2!

Our adorable little buddy turned two last Saturday.  Such a big boy now!  We celebrated with a "cars and trucks" party and lots of family members were able to come and be with Ryan on his big day.  This year he did like to sit and open his presents, although he got distracted by playing with them along the way.  My sweet tooth son was very excited about cake and painstakingly ate every single bite of cake and frosting with his fork, long after all the big kids left their half-eaten pieces on the table and were off to other things.  He also loves singing "Happy Birthday" and was pleased to hear everyone singing it for him!

Ryan at Age 2:
Likes: Puzzles - has specific favorites, in particular the "Fox pussle...Yak" which is an animal/alphabet puzzle.  He can do a lot of them by himself and starts by announcing "Dump!" as he shakes out the pieces.  Still loves going on walks whenever the weather is nice.  He always wants to hold my hand on walks and right away offers his hand and announces "Hand."  We have our "usual loop" and certain things he likes to point out on the way: 1. "Circles" (manhole covers)  2. Slide on swingset  3. Flag (without a doubt his favorite landmark..."Flag coming!")  4.  Another flag  5. Another flag  6. "Ding dong" (chimes on somebody's back deck).  Cars - has certain favorites here too, loves to drive them on the "nap" which is a ramp/track he got for his birthday.  He continues to love books and singing at bedtime.

Dislikes:  It is easy to know Ryan's dislikes right now because he announces "Yike it," which really means "I don't like it."  Or sometimes just "Yuck." Things he says "Yike it" about: cars he doesn't like, freshly washed blankies, noodles, veggies, cheese.  Also says "Stop it Daddy" to anything he wants a person to stop doing (generally because Daddy is the offender).  It's funny to hear him say it to Laura when she is wrestling him or whatever.

We love this picture...a classic Ryan "look."

New Tricks:  I can't think of too many new tricks...he has finally had some new molars break through in back, but true to his teething fashion, you wouldn't even know it.  He can nap on a mat at daycare now and doesn't have to be in the pack and play.  There are a lot of books he's familiar with and can "read" them when he sits down with them by himself.

Love you little Rooster!

Soccer-girl

The highly anticipated soccer practice!

This little girl couldn't wait much longer to get outside and try out soccer. We've been kicking the ball around in the basement and backyard for two years-but it's not the same as an organized event.

Today, she happily attended her first organized soccer league. Not only did she learn techniques but she also scored a goal during 3-on-3 competition. Congrats, Laura!

Excited about practice!

After 30-mins of drills, time for 3-on-3

A little tired after her first shift

Helpful

Laura thoughtfully used her new box of sidewalk chalk to circle all the dried up worms on our driveway from Thursday's rain "so we wouldn't step on them."  Wish I would have taken a picture of this before the rain came tonight!

Also she has been giving me a jellybean from her stash each morning to put in my lunch bag for work, but really so she can ask to have one too.

She is becoming legitimately helpful on many occasions though, especially with her brother AND she has also finally learned to buckle her own carseat.  Hurray!

Ryan is almost 2! (23 months)

Sorry, bud.  We managed to knock one of these out every month for your sister, and you haven't gotten one of these updates in ages.  That's the breaks of being the second kid.  We are mentally filing away and enjoying these daily moments, but official documentation is spotty.

Height/Weight: unknown.  More than Laura when she was his age; he's already surpassed the 20 lb. marker.

Likes: "Walking" (going for a walk), "Cars" (organizing and lining up cars), "Bankie" (chewing on his blanket), "Teets" (treats/desserts), "Ahside" (going outside), "Futtin/Muffin" (banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast), "Gah-ko" (Hello Baby! book with a gecko in it), "Esores/Di-sores" (dinosaurs) and "Yizzards" (lizards), "Fo-nin" (Frozen, both the music and movie), "Feeshees" and "cahcahs" and "cahkees" and "toh-ss" (goldfish, crackers, cookies and toast), "Baby" (Hush Little Baby) and "Ahpa bahtda wahso high" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) at bedtime; much to his grandmothers' dismay, he has a strong preference for his Bapa and Papa

Dislikes: "Mah-ters...coming" (not sure if this is really a fear, but he's always pointing down dark hallways and announcing this), when he can't go outside or go for a walk, having to get in his carseat "buckle...stuck!" HAIRCUTS.  Really hates the haircuts.  We had to leave one at Great Clips back in March; he threw the stylist's comb and the bribe M&M's before going into full-blown kicking and screaming.




















Any new tricks?: Doing good with counting and can get to about 10, definitely looks like a lefty as he chooses to pick things up and throw with his left hand, walking up and down stairs rather than doing his trademark "slide," really good at singing Happy Birthday, familiar with praying before dinner "Amen?Amen? Eat!!"

Other funny Ryan things:
"Bah bah basssh" for toothbrush (due to song lyrics "Brush brush brush, brush brush brush, brush your teeeeth!")
Somehow knows to twist open Oreos and eat all the filling first
Calls Laura "Rah Rah"
Likes to tell you which way to go - "ee fay" (this way)