Getting a bath

The Bee, that is ... 

That's "Mimi's Bee," his second string bee, keeping him company.

Breakfast picnic in bed and Play date

This morning we woke Tony up with a "breakfast in bed picnic," combining three of my favorite things!

Around 9, we had our friends Finn and Emmeline over this morning. Finn is exactly John's age, and we have known him since Episcopal Day School. Finn and John have never been in a class together (probably good for the teachers that way!), but they were in the same group at camp, I think for a week this summer...
Emmeline and Christopher go to the same school, she is a year behind him, although I think she might catch him in kindergarten. He will be one of the really old kids and she will be one of the really young ones, because of their birthdays.

Anyway, we opened up the garage, asked Finn to bring his bike and helmet, and then Tony and I puttered while they played. Tony was mostly devoted to Emmeline. He definitely has a soft spot for little girls. I got several mini-tasks completed. It was nice. I couldn't get a big block of uninterrupted time, but it was great do five-minute tasks!

This car belongs to our friends, Henry, June, and Jojo, they lent it to us while they are having their year in DC.

Here's a good session with bubbles and chalk.

After a little Geo-trax, it devolved into jumping on the bed... probably not the best parenting choice for an 18-month old with a cast on her arm... I promise that they took turns with the big boys. It worked out well.

First day of school!

Today was the first day of 1st grade for John and the first day in a new room for Christopher.

I didn't get any pictures of Christopher, but the transition went well. He now has a cubby outside his room. We went there, and put away his diapers. Looked at his picture, put the pillowcase on his nap mat, and talked about how everyone else's Bee was there waiting for nap time. He put his Bee there on his own!
We went into the room, and all the kids were playing in different toy and coloring stations. He went to the train table, and I sat at the coloring table. He wandered here and there, he asked for his Bee once, but I told him it was out by his face (his picture) and he moved on. I finally asked him if he was ready for me to leave after about 15 minutes. Of course, he said no. A couple minutes later, I said "Two minutes and then you can blow me out the door." Then I said "One minute" and we went over to the train table which is near the door. Then I said "Are you going to blow me out the door" and he did and I got out of there fast. I never look back, so even if he cried after that, he's fine by now!

Tony took John to school around 7:30. Pretty early, but there's always competition for parking the first week. John was excited. Yesterday he and his friend James and I went to the school to drop off paperwork (we missed the Meet-the-Teacher and registration night last week). We got to go back to his room, and his teacher Ms. Jensen was there. She is young and pretty and very nice. He got to see his cubby. He liked having his own desk. There are a couple of kids from kindergarten and Episcopal Day school in his class, but none of his close buds. He and James are in the same hall, though, so we will carpool and they can walk in together.

Later...
John got off the bus still happy. He says he likes writing and he's going to like first grade.

Miss Charity reported to Tony that Christopher had a good day too. She said he had a small breakdown after I left and wanted his Bee. Once they started snack, he put it back in his cubby so it wouldn't get dirty.

Great day!

Our week at the beach

We just spent a week in Hilton Head, one of our favorite family vacations. Tony had a show, and I decided to take the boys and go with him. The show was pretty low key, so Tony got to spend some time with us for a change!

Each day we would be greeted with Christopher telling us that "it [his clock] turned green!" Which meant it was 6:45am. We have a toddler clock that signals when he is allowed to call for us.

We would park them for an hour or so in front of netflix with cheerios and grapes. Then we'd get dressed and head to the beach!

We stayed at our favorite resort, Hilton Head Resort (catchy name, I know). It has four buildings of condo units, is pretty well maintained, affordable, with two outdoor pools, an indoor pool, and tennis courts. It also has a 1/4 mile boardwalk to the beach, which means we don't have to cross any roads to get there. During the summer, they have a shuttle that runs every couple hours back and forth.

Around 10, we'd head back to the condo for legos, ninja training, more TV, and an early lunch. Christopher would then take a nap. After his nap, we'd go to the indoor pool.

Early dinner, and then to the outdoor pool or back to the beach. Then bath and bed! Lots of fun!

We get a lot of mileage out of Halloween costumes