so, i have been neglecting the blogginess over here...i don't really have an excuse other than it's summertime, and i'm a slacker. this last month has been exciting:
* the end of swimming lessons. the boys had a great time this summer and really learned some swimming skills. neither one can go in the water completely alone yet, but i think with a few more lessons over the winter, by next summer nicholas may be ready to go out on his own. it would be nice to have one independent swimmer--i can't really take them my myself to the pool until i have at least one boy who can survive without my help!
* our 10 year wedding anniversary. it's hard to believe it's been so long! we celebrated with dinner and a movie...and big plans for maybe a weekend away sometime this fall. we've had a good run of it together....
* our first family camping trip with just ourselves. this was super fun--we took the boys up to brainard lake, about an hour up in the mountains from here. it was very beautiful, and we all had a lot of fun. that is, until it rained buckets for over an hour and all our tents and sleeping bags and chairs and warm clothes got soaking wet. fortunately, this happened in the middle of the afternoon, so we had time to evaluate and make a plan. we decided to go home early, and to try to procure more waterproof supplies before the next trip. (we realized after we got home that the tent we borrowed specifically said water *resistant*--not water*proof*, like you'd hope. apparently, this is a tent that one would use only when one doesn't really need a tent.) but, we will definitely go back. i would also have had pictures for you, except our camera broke the week before, and all i could do is take pictures on the camera phone, which i don't have a cord for. so, we'll see if we get that figured out.
* the washing machine broke. (what is it with appliances this week?) if you have seen my
previous laundry post, you know that this is no small situation. the guy comes tuesday--wish us luck.
*nicholas had orientation for kindergarten, which starts monday. more on that later.
whew! so, there you have it.
so, nicholas had his first day of kindergarten yesterday. surprisingly enough, i did not do much bawling, probably because i had gotten it all out of my system the week before when i took him in for his orientation. it helps to get the separation anxiety out of the way early (for mama, that is.) personally, i'm fairly certain that he is the smartest and most well behaved boy in his whole class. probably the cutest, too. :)
we had a good morning, even though the early rising will take us a little getting used to. school starts at 8am, and we pick him back up at 10:55. i made him special "first day of school muffins" (check one for martha), which he had to eat in the car because we were running late (check one for procrastination.) we parked the car about 6 blocks away and walked in, since it was a beautiful sunny morning. such a big boy, carrying his backpack, with new shoes that he tied all by himself (a new skill learned the last week or two.) here's a shot of him walking along--notice the cellphone? (just a foretaste of his teenaged years, perhaps.) grandmom called along the way to say happy first day of school.
and so, we begin a new era with nicholas....hard to believe that he is the very same little boy who taught us how to be a mama and a daddy almost 5 years ago. good job, buddy, we are so proud of the way you are growing up.
