We finally got rid of the old blinds in our bedroom and we now can sleep in without being woken up by the bright early sunlight.

    Connor was very excited to go to school today.  Logan did not show as much emotion, but he was the first one out the door.  Stuart had a teleconference, so he said goodbye to the boys, and we were off for our walk.  Connor’s first day was only one hour and he really did not need a backpack.  But he was happy to be well prepared with a new backpack for a new school.  Logan and Connor were chatting as they walked, so I could snap some pictures of them.  Later Connor had Logan asked him some math questions and he was happy to answer them.  When we arrived at school, we walked past the cafeteria and saw many kindergarteners getting ready for the orientation.  We then walked toward Logan’s line up area on the blacktop.  We saw a couple of his first grade classmates, so Logan talked with them while I said hi to the moms.  When the teacher came out to greet the kids, Logan took over the big bag of school supplies, and he followed the class into the classroom to start the day.  He waved us goodbye.  Logan is now a big boy; there was no more need for parents going into the classroom to get them settled in :+(

    Connor and I then returned to the cafeteria.  He saw several classmates he knows; one girl even gave him a big bear hug.  Later, Connor chose a seat between two of his friends.  I said bye to him and joined all the parents for the orientation in a separate room.  The kindergarteners were given a talk by the principle, then they were led to the playground to learn about the rules.  At the end of the orientation, we met up with the kids and we were done for the day.  Connor could not wait to tell me and later to daddy all the playground rules.  He was proud to tell us that he was “Graystone Great” today. 

     After a morning of shopping, Connor and I returned later to pick Logan up from school.  He told us that he had a good day.  I got a chance to say hello to the new teacher.  I think Logan and Connor will have a great year this year.

    The boys and I decided to watch a movie today.  The first showing of Minions was too early, so I was aiming for the second one which gave us plenty of relaxing time.  The boys played a game together while I worked on cleaning up my photo collection and the boys’ artwork.  It felt great to be caught up and cleaned up.  Then I had to rush to get the boys a light lunch and out the door in time for the showing.  But we arrived in good time; we settled down with a bowl of popcorn in front of us and ready for the movie.  We all enjoyed the Minions.  I heard the boys laugh especially Logan who cracked up aloud several times.  All three of us cuddled together to watch the movie which was awesome too.  We enjoyed the credit part of the showing as well.  When we were leaving our seats, I led by walking to the other side of the theater to wait for the boys and get out of the way.  It turned out that Connor was still glued to the screen.  It was cute that Logan called for Connor, then walked back and held his hand to walk him out.  What a sweet scene!  So all three of us walked out hand and hand feeling happy!

   The plan was to go swimming late in the afternoon.  Before Stuart was available to go with us, I taught the boys how to play Monopoly since Logan asked about it the other day.  I warned the boys that the game is for age 8 and up, but both were excited to play.  They got the hang of the game ok, and they were purchasing properties.  Connor was more stingy than Logan was.  We played the game possibly for 40 minutes, and Logan ended up going to jail 3 or 4 times.  He was very disappointed and Connor even sold the “Get out of jail” card to him for low cost to help him out.  When he was put in the jail the last time, I could not help but laugh, so Connor followed my lead.  Logan became quite sad and grumpy about it.  So we wrapped up the game as it was time to go to the swimming pool anyway.  Logan changed from “The game is fun” to “I don’t like Monopoly”.

    We went swimming as planned, but the water was quite cold.  We did not swim as long as we usually do.  After cleaning up and having dinner, we took a walk to school to check out Logan’s class assignment.  We found out his teacher and the class list.  He will only know a few classmates in this class, but one of his buddies will be there.  Once Logan found out that Jaime is in his class, he did not really ask or care about any other things about the new class.  We played in the playground for a little bit, then came home to get ready for the big day tomorrow.

      Can’t believe the summer break is over soon; the boys have two more days before school starts.  Unfortunately Stuart is unable to take time off to join us, so it is going to be mommy and the boys’ days.  We started today (Monday) by attending the Kindergarten playdate at the park right next to the school.  After we walked over to the park, Connor was a little shy initially, but quickly he and Logan just started playing on their own.  Some other boys joined them, and occasionally his ex classmate Amber looked for Connor to play too.  They had fun playing while I chatted with a teacher-mom for awhile.  Then it was time for a scavenger hunt.  The kids were given clues and were led to the school to go inside the office, then to the lunch area and finally the kindergarten playground.  They also met the principle and the three kindergarten teachers.  Afterward I was getting hungry, so I led the kids home to have lunch.

  I had given the boys choices and they both agreed on miniature golf in the afternoon.  So after some relaxing time at home, we were out again.  The boys played well, actually better than me at many holes.  They listened to advice and took their time before they hit.  They were even better and took less time than the four teenagers in front of us, so we ended up waiting longer and longer at each hole.  Afterward, I let them play some video games at the the arcade.  Finally it was time for Logan’s piano class, so we dropped him off, then Connor and I went for some grocery shopping before picking Logan back up.  Once again it was another day in the sun tiring us out; even Connor complained that his legs were tired.

     On Saturday, we were exhausted after being in the sun for a few hours at the park, but Connor was still energized and wanted to go swimming.  After he promised to give us a nap break, we fulfilled his request to go over to the pool.  Both kids did well swimming.  While I was playing with Connor, I noticed the tail end of what Logan was doing.  He swam the length of the short side of the pool all on his own.  He did not do free style, but was using his sort of breast stroke.  He was taking breaths as Stuart was on his side encouraging him to do this challenge.  I was so amazed that he did it and Logan was proud too.  Afterward, we continued to play in water until we got out when the “adult swim” was called.  Connor moved over to swim in the waddling pool while Logan had to stay out as he is now over 6 years old.  By then the rest of us had enough swimming anyway and were wrapping up to go home.

     I signed us up for the work picnic on Saturday.  I had a feeling that it might be a small turn out for this event but I figured we could always have fun on our own at the park.  When we arrived at the Oak Meadow park, the turnout was even smaller than I expected.  Fortunately we came prepared with our own park toys.  After we said hi to the organizer, Stuart took the boys out to play while I stayed behind to chat with a few people I knew.  When they started cooking, I went out to join the boys.  We played at playground for a bit, then Connor wanted to check out the train.  The line was long so I convinced him to do a round at the carrousel instead.  Then we returned to join Stuart and Logan at the potluck lunch.  After we ate, we went out to play soccer.  Both boys were interested.  Next I kept my promise to take Connor back to wait for the train ride.  Connor was very excited and did not mind the wait.  We enjoyed the ride, and Connor was my conductor telling me what was ahead during our journey.  After the train, we returned to join Stuart and Logan at the playground.  By then, it was time to go home, so we packed up and said bye to a couple of people before we took off.   We were exhausted from being out in the sun for hours.

 
     Sunday we hung out at the Merons.  As soon as we arrived, the adults gathered in the backyard to enjoy drinks and BBQ.  The kids decided to stay inside the house as it was hot in the sun.  They played video games and watched movies while they ate lunch.  They definitely had a good time.  We enjoyed several hours there and finally decided to wrap up as Connor wanted to go swimming again.  But as we drove home the boys fell asleep which ended up changing our plan.  We took a walk to play at the schoolyard instead.