First Day of School

My first born is growing up so fast!  Tamlin went to Kindergarten today :-(
Yes, I'm ok...Sad, proud, hopeful, sad, but ok.
Here's a throw-back of Brian and me from Kindergarten:


(Bottom Left for Brian)



Tamlin was so excited for today.  He picked out the Hawaiian shirt to wear (his favorite) and let me spike his Mohawk.  His bookbag is full with his lunch box, spare clothes for the locker, towel for nap, and extra shirt for painting.

Liam from across the street is in second grade this year and will ride the same bus as Tam.  Both boys were super excited by this!  (Note the cool Mohawks both boys are sporting).  Liam started school yesterday, but Kindergarten starts a day late.   The boys had fun watching out for the bus(s) and guessing which one would be there bus.  Jude is looking sad because he so wants to ride the bus with Tamlin, his favorite big brother.  

 And they are off!  The grade school in town is only K through 3rd grade, so only the littles will be on this bus.  The middle school and high school start earlier in the day.  The bus driver is a very nice lady that has been doing this route for years.

The teachers and principal heartily invited all the parents to come on in to the school to give final hugs and take last minute photos.  Brian, Jude, and I hopped on into the car and followed the bus to the school.  The kindergartners get off the bus first and are led by an older student to their wing of the school (5 kindergarten classes!)

Tam's room is at the end of the hall...he immediately found his locker with his name on it.  There are 21 kids in his class and his teacher was the one that evaluated him last week.  The classroom is cheery-looking... very similar to his pre-k rooms.  Jude was excited that there is a train table in his room, and then he was devastated when he couldn't stay and play.

I was so very proud of Tam that he was so ready to go and learn.  However, my heart was aching a bit inside that he is growing up and doesn't need me so much.  He got on and off that bus all by himself!  It did make my sad heart sing when he reached for my hand when walking down the hall in the school.  Aww...my little man :-)  Brian said that he was holding up pretty well...but tears were in his eyes too as we hugged Tamlin goodbye and left the classroom.

In a few hours I'll get to hear all about his first day!

We took Jude to school and took his picture too.  Jude was very, very sad that he isn't going to the big kids' school with Tamlin AND he doesn't get to ride the bus AND he doesn't get to play with train table AND we can't find monster.  Poor little man...I'll make sure he gets some ice cream tonight.

 

County Fair

 County Fair Time!


There were animals to see, smell, pet, cheer on, and laugh at...

 We checked out big pieces of farm machinery and climbed all over big tractor wheels...

We played some skeeball...

We ate greasy food and then went on rides ...

Jude even rode the big ferris wheel with me!

 

It was a good fair day...
We left with goodie bags and yardsticks...
and a tractor ride back to our car :-)

Drum Corp International Show

 We went to a nearby town to see a drum corp show.  I was super excited to hear a marching band performing on the field again...and I thought the kiddos might like it too.    

I didn't tell Tamlin where we were going but I gave him hints: 

1. we are going somewhere to see something

2.  there will be music and it will be loud

3.  it is something you have not seen

4.  we will eat popcorn

Tamlin thought we were going to see cars or to the movies or to see the car movie

I let the kiddos bring their leappads for entertainment while we waited for the show to begin.  Tamlin used the camera on his to take photos of the opener band during their warm ups.

I had fun telling both boys that this was something that momma and daddy used to do.  I got to point out the big bass drums and tell them that it was MY instrument for many years :-)

Jude thought it was loud...but he was humming along to the music, usually in the same key.

The bands were great and the showmanship was awesome to watch.  There was quite a bit of dancing on the field (more so than I remember being common back in the day).

 Tamlin liked the band that performed magic tricks on the field, such as making the flagline disappear and the drum major pulling a rabbit from his hat.

It was a fantastic night, even if little Jude was tired by the fifth band.  Next year, I'm dragging some of my ol' band geek friends along :-)

Rolling the dice

We had old friends over for a visit and a bit of Dungeuns and Dragons playing.  Brian and the guys played.  Scott's wife Jennifer and I chatted...and their boys and our boys played all over the house and yard.  We all had a good time :-)



I snapped this shot after everyone had left...


Tamlin was rolling our big 20-sided die and yelling to the monsters "I hit you for 10...I hit for you 12...oh...I hit you for 20!"

Jude was cheering him on by playing with the monsters.. "Roar!"

Oh, yeah... We are raising them right.

Our boys are in the newspapers :-)

 My boys are so gosh darn cute...

 And we go places...usually to cheap / free events... but like adventures...

And this month... We were in not one, but two local newspapers!

This is in the Vermilion Photo Journal, from the June Fish Festival.  We had entered, and won, the preschool division of the sand castle contest with our dragon attacking the castle.

 

This is from the Blues Festival in Huron on July 5th.  The boys were enjoying the live concert and dancing around.   So cute... and yes, Tamlin is sporting a striped shirt and plaid pants and fedora.  He is such a slave to fashion :-)