Kindergarten, here we come!!!

Last week, Ryan started kindergarten and so far it has been terrific!!  We all joined Ryan for his first day of school and he could not wait to see his new classroom, meet his new teacher, Ms. Morris and make some new friends.  I really almost cried a few times thinking about what a big boy Ryan has become, but he was having so much fun and was so excited, it was impossible to not smile along with him.

Ryan was so excited to wear his backpack and stuffed it with all of his school supplies and we walked together over to the school.   Ryan practically ran there and Dylan kept saying " We are going to kindergarten" haha.  

The first day of school was only for a few hours so the kids could get used to the idea of kindergarten since most of them have never been to school before.  I am so thankful that Ryan went to pre-k there because he had a much easier transition than a lot of the other kids did.  The first day, only 1/2 the class went when Ryan did because they wanted to have two small groups so that it wasn't too overwhelming.   We were very happy that Jack, a boy we met at the park the week before was in our group so the boys each had a buddy to help them through the first day!

 When we got to the classroom, all of the students lined up against the wall and Ms. Morris welcomed everyone to her class.  I liked her from the start and I think she will be a terrific teacher for Ryan  - I think that she will be tough and won't tolerate a lot of nonsense, but she seems very kind and caring to the kids.   She is full of energy, is very animated and full of personality and I am told that all of her students leave her class able to read!  I think this is going to be a great year for Ryan.

I asked Ms. Morris if Ryan could take a picture with her for the first day and when they went to pose, Ryan put his arm right around her and she looked at him and said "Well, Ryan, you sure do know how to win me over.   I think we are going to be good friends"  

As soon as the kids got in the classroom, they were asked to pick a reading table and sat down and had book time.  Every morning, the parents are invited to stay and read books with the kids and the first day, Jay and I each got a chance to sit with Ryan for a bit which was really nice.

Dylan was not really interested in reading time and wanted to explore the classroom instead.   He kept insisting that he was in kindergarten and had a fit when it was time to leave.  "I need stay with Ryan, I go kindergarten too, prissy please?"  (he always says prissy please instead of pretty please, haha)

After reading time, all of the students were given a folder of important information and then the parents said goodbye and it was time for the kindergartners to begin the day.  Ryan was totally fine with us leaving, kissed us goodbye, went over to the rug for the morning routine and off we went.

 When Jay went to pick Ryan up at school, he said that he loved his new teacher, his new friends and he had a great first day!

 Every school night, Jay and I sit down with Ryan to hear about his day - I have to admit, it is usually the highlight of my day because some of the things he tells us are very funny although it usually takes 30 minutes to get anything out of him.   He always knows who was absent from class and why but rarely remembers who sat near him during lunch.  He can tell us exactly what he ate at lunch (3 crackers, 2 pepperonis, 1 grape etc) but is challenged in telling us about what he learned that day (What did you do today?   Answer: nothing)   As a result, we came up with Three Things - Ryan has to tell us three things about school that don't include who was absent or what he built at table time.   In honor of Ryan's Three things, here are 3 of my favorite things he has told me about school so far:

1.  The first day has was SO SO excited to report that he got a green star at school.  Green is his favorite color but he told us that he didn't get green because it was his favorite - rather he got it because he had great behavior.  He said only he and one other boy got green and everyone else got yellow "because they were only a little bit good".  When we looked over the pictures of the day, Ryan was so excited that we took a picture of his star.  Of course we realized at that point that the color had nothing to do with behavior, but it seems to have encouraged Ryan to be good in school so far, so I will take it

2.  The abridged version of a 10 minute story - "Today at school we played memory, not spiderman memory or nemo memory, a different one and Jack was my partner.   We were all sittin' niot in a circle, but in a 'C' shape and there were 4 people here, 4 people here.....yes mommy, you guessed it right, each group was playing their own game.  So on the rug where Jack and I were sitting, we were playing against the purple girl and the white girl and I thought we were going to win but they needed two more matches and we needed two matches.  And first we found the man and then a lion and then they made a match and then we found the man and the man but they found the next match so we didn't win"

3.   We try to mix up what we pack him for lunch so one day, we packed a container of cheddar cheese squares, pepper jack squares, crackers and pepperoni and here is his description of lunch "My lunch was delicious.   First, i tried the orange cheese and it was very yummy and i ate it with crackers.  Then i tried the white cheese and it was kind of spicy for me and I had to close my eyes when I ate it.  Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something under the cheese and it was pepperoni and I was so happy"

I feel so happy and relieved that Ryan is enjoying school - I think this year is going to be wonderful for him and that he will learn so much.   Can't wait to hear a year's worth of "Three Things"  - I have a feeling we are going to hear some pretty funny stuff!

New York City Bagels

A typical New York City Saturday/Sunday morning would not be complete without a trip to the bagel store.   We have two right up the street from us and man, do my boys love some Cinnamon Raisin bagels.

There is nothing like fueling up with some bagels and juice (and coffee for mom and dad) before heading over to the park for some fun. 

5.8

Yesterday, there was a 5.8 earthquake in Virginia that we felt all the way in New York.  Everything on my desk shook and many buildings in NY were evacuated as a precaution.  Back at the apartment, Elizabeth was home with the kids and all was ok there minus one ceramic cow that now has a broken leg - the apartment was shaking so much it fell off a shelf.   Eliazbeth said the kids were not scared at all and were laughing - she was putting Dylan to bed in one room when Ryan yelled "Lizabeth, you feel that shakin?"  - at first, Ryan thought that he did it because he "banged the frigidator door shut so hard but then it kept shakin everything" lol.  When I got home, he told me about his interesting day

He also told me "There was something very terrible.  In Virginja, there was a building and now it is just a pile of bricks and dirt - you are going to have to watch the weather I think"

Unrelated to the earthquake, we have had some pretty nice weather for the past few days (although that is supposed to end this weekend when we may get hit with a hurricane) so I have been meeting Elizabeth outside everyday and taking the kids to the park.  Sometimes they play so nicely together and it is so much fun to watch them try to impress each other. 

"We came in to the world as brother and brother; and now let's go hand in hand, not one before another" William Shakespeare

(I like this quote and it suits the picture although in the case of my boys, if they are doing something holding hands, it is probably because the each do not want the other to be first, haha)

Busch Gardens - Summer 2009

As I continue to clean up my computer to make room for the 1,000s of pictures I have taken this spring and summer, I have come across so many pictures that I have not blogged about yet.   I have laughed so hard at some of them, remembering some very fun times with all of you that might be reading this.   The more of us that get together at one time, the more potential there is for something hilarious, crazy or totally unbelievable to happen and our 2009 trip to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA was no exception.  

Aunt Carrie and Monty joined our clan and Erika and Richie met us there and two years later, I only remember three things from the day at Busch Gardens:

1.  At one point, Jay and I took the kids and split up from the rest so we could take them to Sesame Street's Forest of Fun which is an area just for children. 

 

Ryan had a great time running around and playing in the "forest".  Jay and I spent half that time sitting around because Dylan was too little to do anything and the other halfchasing Ryan around to pull up his pants because they were too big.  

2.  My favorite part if the day was Splashus Maximus, a game which most of us played (Grandma and Papa sat out and were the photographers for this event).  We all lined up in our cages and had one purpose - use our slingshot to launch water balloons at each other.  What could be more fun than that?? Ryan screamed and laughed the whole time and went back and forth between wanting to hit Jay and Erika...until he realized Michael was next to us!

PLEASE enlarge the picture above so you can get a better view of Ryan's face - LOL

3.  The rapids incident.  I don't think I need to remind anyone what happened.  Instead, here are some other pictures from the day. 

(the above picture makes me laugh because I am not sure if we are sweating, wet from a ride, or a combo of both) 

The next day we went to water country usa which was pretty fun and when it started to lightly mist, we were "fortunate" enough to find some tables under a big tent.   We got all of our food and sat down when it started pouring.  Of course we patted ourselves on the back for our smarts in going under the tent until we realized that the tent wasn't really a tent, but more of a sunshade that was filled with holes that did nothing to stop the water from coming in.  Within minutes, our fries and  hot dog buns were soaked and most of us sat there laughing at how completely ridiculous the situation was, while simultaneously complaining about how stupid the tent was.  There are pictures from that too, taken with my trusty water camera, but i have yet to come across those.

Next summer, the "3 year ban" will be up and Ryan might actually be tall enough to ride on the rapids so maybe we will have to make a trip back to make some more memories!

Guys Night Out

Last night, Jay called me on the way home and said he wanted to go out for a bit to the sports bar up the street but by the time he got home, it was around 8:30 and I didn't think the kids would be good in the restaurant.  So Ryan said " I have a great idea!  Why doesn't mommy stay home with Dylan and me and you can go on a date daddy.  Please please, isn't that a good idea?"  Ryan was jumping up and down begging to go out and really was too cute to refuse so we said ok and the boys started to get ready.  Ryan whispered to me that since the were going to watch the baseball game, could I help him find a special shirt?  He kept yelling while he got dresses, "Daddy, I will be right there, don't come in here" haha.   As they were heading out the door, Dylan went running behind them yelling "I go too.  Me dilly go too" - poor thing got stuck at home with me.

Ryan and Jay had a great time out and I have a feeling this will not be the last time the handsome dudes go out for "Guys Night".   

Your are cordially invited... (from March 28, 2010)

(from March 28, 2010 - good thing i write the posts when things happen otherwise i would not remember - trying to catch up on downloading pictures) 

to a Jungle party to celebrate Dylan's First Birthday!! Today we had a party at Grandma and Papa's house and while it was chaotic and loud, I think that everyone had a great time.

The big hit of the party was the train table set up - Jay and I set up the most elaborate tracks possible on two different tables the night before to ensure that most of the kids would be able to play at the same time. We debated getting a bunch of party games and I am glad I didn't because all of the kids were perfectly content to play trains the whole party. A jungle party would not be complete though without a little Pin the Nose on the Lion.

Dylan wasn't too into eating his cake or singing Happy Birthday but that was one of my favorite parts of the party, especially after watching the video (of course, I can't get it to upload). I was so proud of Ryan - how loud he sang, how genuinely excited he seemed to be singing to his brother, how he seemed to be ok with the fact that it was not his birthday party too.

Jay and I are very fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends and are truly appreciative that so many people wanted to help us celebrate Dylan's birthday (All together, there were 12 kids there under the age of 6 and about 30 adults). Thanks to everyone for making the day a huge success!! A special thank you to Grandma and Papa for making all of the food and allowing us to wreck your house for yet another party - it was a great day!xoxoxoxo.

Day 7 - Our last Day at Disney

I am so behind on this blog considering this post is more than a year old - trying to get some new material up soon

(from April 30, 2010)

The last day at Disney was split between Magic Kingdom and Epcot again.   We started the day at MK because there was a lot of kiddie things there that we had not done yet. 

We spent almost the whole time at in Mickey's Toontown, where the kids got to see Minnie and Mickey's house, go on mini rides, meet some more characters and finish with a ride back to the entrance on Mickey's railway.

On the way out of the park, we spotted The Pirates League and decided to check it out.   Ryan decided he wanted to be a pirate so "Captain Jack" and his crew transformed him in to one of them.   He got a new pirate name (Thomas Damploader), swore a pirate oath, and then sat down for the transformation!

Dylan was so patient while Ryan got his face painted and was content sitting with an apple - I love this picture of though because you can see he only has two bottom teeth then.

Half way through, Ryan said he loved it.   By the end he said "My face is kind of scaring me"

When the makeup was all finished, Ryan was given his "Pirate Booty" - a bandanna, earring and eye patch,  gold doubloons, and fake teeth.   He donned his sword and sheath and stepped outside to fight off all enemies!  He was invited to join the pirate parade that afternoon but the kids were napping and we missed it - I know Ryan would have been the best pirate in the parade though!

We really had a great trip and while the kids napped, we sat on a bench at Epcot and just looked out on the lake and talked about all of the fun we had. 

 The kids woke up and played together in this open area by the lake and watching them was one of my favorite parts of the trips.  For some reason (maybe the pirate scared them off), we had this whole area to ourselves and the kids were having the best time just playing with each other.  It was also very exciting because Dylan started to walk!

Our final stop was a playground in the Flower and Garden Showcase and this picture cracks me up every time I see it - although you can't tell by the picture, Ryan loved it but in this picture doesn't it look like he is thinking "Why doesn't anyone want to play with me?"  - probably because you look so freaky Ryan, lol.

On a side note, it took almost three days to get all of the makeup off Pirate Boy.

We spent a few hours at the pool on Sat before we headed to the airport.  

 When we got on the plane, the pilot asked Ryan if he would like to see the cockpit and when we said yes, the pilot said "well come have a seat then" - I couldn't believe it!! The plane was about half-full at the time and Ryan even got to make an announcement "Welcome Aboard Everyone".  I am positive I was more excited than Ryan.    We all had a great but exhausting vacation - Ryan is already begging to go back.