My Little Scholars

Today was the first day of school & everyone survived. I asked Ella whether first grade was different from kindergarten. "Yes!" she exclaimed, "We have a totally different playground, go outside at different times and don't have to finish eating at a certain time." She has three guinea pigs in the classroom, so no surprise what her favorite part of the day was (touching them).

Charlie & Greta wanted to call Nick & tell him about their first day.

N: Hello?

C: Hi Dad.

N: Hey buddy, how was your first day of school?

C: I went poop.

N: Well, that's good. Did you like your new teachers?

C: It was a huge one.

N: Oh.

G: Hi Daddy.

N: Hi, Greta! How was your first day of school?

G: I'm in the Blue Class. Does your wrist still hurt Dad?

Apparently, Greta left her class today & went down the hall to the bathrooms. She took a detour & stopped by the toddler classroom. She proudly proclaimed she was in the big kid class now, used their potty & headed back to class.

And, for the record, yes, Nick's wrist still hurts. Doc #1 recommends shortening one bone, Doc #2 recommends lengthening a different bone. We'll see if Doc #3 can break the tie.

Land Ho!

Dad was a super-grandparent getting up at 4 am EST, flying to Utah, spending the day with the kids & then helping me fly everyone back to Indiana the same night. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Delta keeps the direct flight going for a while. It was so nice to keep the twins happy for just one leg of travel.

After a late night, we had an easy morning exploring Grandpa's property.

All eyes on deck were looking for the beaver.

Grandpa & the beaver have had quite a contentious relationship this summer. He took down the beaver dam (again) and the beaver had already started rebuilding it by the next morning. We didn't see the beaver, but we did see lots of birds & frogs (not toads according to our resident expert).

Les Gateaux

The twins only request for their birthday was that they wanted a cake. Greta wanted a pink cake & Charlie wanted a red cake. I have been so honored to make a cake for someone. Greta was THRILLED when she learned I was making HER cake. She helped me to stir & crack the eggs. When Ella cracks eggs, it takes about 15 taps. Not Greta. She grabbed the egg from me & SMASH! When she couldn't sleep that night, Nick brought her to the kitchen to see the finished cake & her face lit up. I wish I could freeze that moment. I realized after the fact, that I made her cake wrong. I was supposed to make 2 cakes with the bundt cake on top of two 9 inch rounds. That explains why I was looking at my cake trying to figure out how they fit the doll in the cake (you don't need to amputate the doll like I did). Oh well. Greta was excited.

Originally, I thought I would make Greta pink cupcakes using this cute recipe. However, I realized these were too little to be considered a cake by a 3 year old. These little sugar bombs were high octane! One of these days, I'll do a post on the cupcakes. I learned a few things in the process that I did wrong. I think they could taste better.

Greta & Ella helped me decorate Charlie's cake while he went to get a haircut. The icing was a little pink which made the girls happy - any excuse to liberally apply red sprinkles! Ella picked out the toppings for his cake.

Little Red Engine

I think the grown-ups were as impressed with the trucks as the kids.

Ella & her best bud Noah.

Charlie & Greta's favorite friends Hayden & Nate ("They are twins too!") They had so much fun going to Nate & Hayden's birthday party the day before.

It was fun to see the twins so happy. They've been retelling birthday party stories with great gusto!

Happy Birthday To Us!

Because of our crazy schedule over the next 6 weeks, we had Greta & Charlie's birthday party a little early. Charlie is a little obsessed with all cars & especially fire engines these days, so we were thrilled when the local fire department was able to give a safety demonstration at the party.

Most of the kids had fun working the fire hoses (used for brush fires). We invited the neighbors to join us for pizza & cake (Eli wasn't too thrilled to be hanging out with such young kids).

The fire department did a great presentation & I was amazed at how long the kids paid attention.

You Mean They Have Animals Here?

We went to Zoo Booster Night recently. The zoo is about a mile from the kids' camps & it was a fun treat to go out for spaghetti & hit the zoo during the cool evening hours. The only

stipulation was no playground during this visit.

We sat for an animal show. Ella could not stop laughing when the owl looked "directly" at her. It was her favorite animal of the night.

During the snake demonstration, I noticed a milestone moment with Ella. She has transitioned from little kid question asking ("I know someone who had a snake.") to actually asking a question ("Does the snake swallow its food whole?")

There was a canopy above us that screwed up the lighting, but all the kids (including Charlie!) touched the animals. After some hand sanitizer, we set off to get rock star tattoos & meet up with Nick. I made the mistake of suggesting that we go see the baby snow leopard. When we got there, the area was flooded by 200 people. The kids were so disappointed & I was kicking myself for suggesting it. A quick train ride calmed them down & we made it home in one piece!

Goose Egg

The last thing Grandma said to Greta was, "Now Greta, slow down & maybe you won't have so many bruises." Greta didn't listen.

15 Minute Escape

Jessica & Kevin recently reserved a group site up a nearby canyon. We took the kids during the day to grill hot dogs & enjoy the great outdoors. We didn't bring Hogan since he really hates being tied up (I don't know why we didn't think about that for our Bear Lake trip). It was so much fun. Charlie was really in his element. He was mesmerized with Kevin's fire making skills & Jessica's hot dog cooking techniques. Kevin let the kids fish a bit in the stream. We made s'mores & hung out until nap time beckoned. I hope we find another night to try this before the summer nights slip away. It's less than a 15 minute drive from our house to the picnic site, yet you feel like you are in a different world.

Life.

At the beginning of the summer, we each listed what we wanted to do while the weather is nice. By the end of July we had almost completed our check list. Big Sky. Check. Park. Check. Play with friends. Check. Go swimming. Check.
My must-do event was Bear Lake. The last two summers, the kids & I have gone to Bear Lake with Jessica & Kevin. We always have fun (even that time Charlie got car sick all the way home). The lake has gorgeous blue warm water, there is a really big sand bar so the kids can play, they have the best raspberry shakes & its only a 2 hour drive from home. I really wanted to share the experience with Nick. As our free weekends were numbered, camping was out of the question, but I found one free Sunday & we made our plans.
I could see the day clearly. We would leave the house by 9. Arrive by lunch. Enjoy raspberry shakes at a diner. Play on the beach for few hours of blissful summertime fun and then bring home 3 sleepy, sandy kids. Because Hogan was so limited in his activities over the winter, I thought it would be nice to let him come swimming too. I was sure he would have a great time & thank me by sleeping by my side of the bed.

8:30 The day is starting off great! Nick & I do an imaginary 'high five' when we realized the kids were fed & ready to go. Ahead of schedule!
8:31 Dad calls. Since his calls are never long, I answer.
8:35 I join Nick in the garage where he is loading the car.
8:36 Nick rolls his eyes when I ask where the dog is & curtly replies he is around.
8:40 I take the kids in the car to try to find the dog while Nick goes on foot.
9:15 Gimpy was found happily treeing a squirrel & stuck on the wrong side of a fence.
11:45 Arrive at Bear Lake without further incident. We've missed the feeding window & the kids are a little grumpy.
11:47 First bathroom break for Greta.
11:55 Arrive at restaurant. Since it is Sunday, there are two restaurants to choose from. Both with long lines. Get Hogan out of car.
11:57 Greta's body language suggests that she has absolutely no interest in walking Hogan with me while Nick, Charlie & Ella get to stand in line.
12:00 Hogan goes back in the car.
12:15 Second bathroom break for Greta. No success.
12:30 Food arrives.
12:31 Third bathroom break for Greta.
12:36 Fourth bathroom break for Greta.
12:50 Fifth bathroom break for Greta & we are ready to hit the road.
{dispute between Pilot & Co-Pilot as to directions from brother-in-law}
1:15 Call brother-in-law & turn car around
1:30 Arrive at beach! Apparently all the rain in June raised the lake level & removed quite a bit of the beach. Now, it is about 10 feet wide.
People are packed more closely than I was expecting. Regretting that we brought the dog.

1:35 Hogan begins acting like a colicky baby. He won't stop barking unless I am walking him.
1:36 Greta declares she is starving.
1:37 Hogan declares he is starving.

Momentary Bliss (do you see Greta & Charlie saying "nanny nanny boo boo")!

2:05 Charlie begins crying that he wants his clothes back on.
2:07 Ella begins crying that she hurt her little toe.
2:15 Greta cries for no apparent reason while Hogan continues to bark.
2:30 We start packing up. Kids don't cry when we tell them it's time to leave.
2:47 A fully dressed Charlie falls into the water. And cries.
2:55 Dress Charlie in Greta's pink clothes & start home.
It was an exhausting day. Not at all like I imagined. I felt so badly that Nick's day off was so draining.
We stopped for pizza on the way home. Nick asked the kids if they had fun & surprisingly they all squealed "yes." Favorite part of the day?
Ella - getting dirty in the sand
Greta - swimming all day
Charlie - eating pizza (he is so in the now)
My favorite part? When we got back in the car, I expected Nick to complain about how poorly the day had gone. Instead, he merely said "Next time, the dog stays home."
Next year. Two four-year olds & a seven year old. No potty training. No missed nap times. I can already imagine it now.

No Slug Bug Back

This summer has been a crash course in tween pop culture. Ella has learned SO MUCH at camp. One day she excitedly told me that she had learned a really cool new game that she wanted to play with Greta. It's called Rock, Paper, Scissors. It took Ella about 5 minutes to discover the reason she was losing - Greta isn't the savvy player Ella thought, she only known how to pick Rock.

There are songs, and sayings and movies and hairstyles to keep up with now. Her current favorite camp song:

Peppermint Patty from Krista Weber on Vimeo.

We are curious what new social discoveries she'll make in first grade - we escaped the High School Musical craze, but I don't know we'll be so lucky next time.

Unnaturally Sweet

Ella (dramatically): Mom, look at this cut on my thumb, it hurts so much. And, today, Drew STEPPED ON MY TOE. And, Max BUMPED INTO ME during lunch. And, it hurts. And, I bit my tongue. And, my cheek. And, my tooth hurts when I eat ANYTHING. And, I scraped my foot when I was swimming. (pausing expectantly)

Me: Ella, you are falling apart.

Silence.

Greta (sounding genuinely concerned): But, who gonna be my sister when Ella be broke?

My Silly Jack-o-Latern

This week it is silly faces theme over at I Heart Faces. There have been scary moments with Ella lately - something wise & mature come out of her mouth & I'll look over to see what happened to my little baby. Logic I didn't know she understood. Her milk mustache is a happy reminder that I may have a few more years of innocence ahead.

Check out other silly faces HERE or click the link below.

What's Missing?

Now, this is a photo that I would be sad to lose.

Prize Photo

My camera card died recently - full of fun photos with Grandma & the kids. I took Kevin's camera to the zoo & I tried to make up for it by snapping more pictures throughout their visit, but couldn't recreate the magic in the kids faces as the played with the new toys from Grandma. I did manage to snap one photo of an elusive creature (above). Grandpa prefers to observe the craziness from afar, but this day he was right in the action, watching the kids & dog run (into each other) through the sprinklers.

I've been trying to decide how to present my photo-a-day project. In hindsight, maybe I should have just done a simple photo book with three pictures on one page & four on another. I could have journaled right on my photos. Maybe I'll do that next year. Instead, I bought some digital scrapbook templates that are designed for this project. I've learned a thing or two as I've started this project such as:

1. This isn't going to be an historically accurate book. And I'm OK with that. After losing a week's worth of pictures, I was just glad Grandma was still in town & we didn't lose any "milestone" pictures. I recreated a week of photos for the book. Last year, when I started the 365 Self Portrait project on Flickr, I felt extreme pressure that the self-portraits HAD to be taken on a specific day. Very happy I didn't feel any stress when I realized my photos were gone.

2. That little black area in a scrapbook template is a clipping mask. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to crop my pictures to the same size as the template when all I had to do was click on the photo & the parts outside the template disappear.

3. I am doing a terrible job contemporaneously journaling. Maybe that will next year's goal. I'm doing what I can this year.

4. I am really happy I am doing this book. I may be the only family member who appreciates it, but it's fun to see the first three months in pictures laid out on pages.

This is my first digital scrapbook. I've done lots of photo books, but never a book with fancy papers & embellishments. I'm going to try to do some test runs of single pages at various printers before I publish the book. Let's hope I can keep up the momentum - maybe this book will be done before the end of 2010!

I'm so far behind on my scrapbooking that I think adding some digital pages along the way might be a good way to preserve the memories quickly. Within the week, I will finalize Ella's photo book from San Diego. It may not be as cute as the handmade one I did for her last year, but it will be done QUICKLY!