It was Logan’s last piano class yesterday and we learned that the kids would have an informal recital at the end of the class.  Last week, Logan told us that he chose the piece to play.  This music was one of the shortest ones, so it did not really require too much practice, but Logan did spend a little time on it throughout the week.  When he and I arrived at the class, the teacher told the parents to come back at the last 15 minutes or we could stay.  Logan wanted me to hang out in the classroom, so I observed them for the first time.  The teacher reviewed the notes with the kids; some of them were very eager to answer the teacher’s questions, Logan answered a couple of times.  Then she had each kid rehearsed their piece or pieces.  Half of the classes played more than one piece.  Logan was goofing around in his seat, but did play attention when each kid started playing.  Finally when the other parents came in for the recital, the teacher asked who liked to start first, Logan volunteered.  He played his short piece without any issue and bowed at the end after the teacher suggested.  Shortly after Logan finished, Stuart and Connor arrived to the class as his soccer practice had just finished.  Even though he missed Logan’s portion, Connor sat with me to watch the rest of the recital.  Afterward, the kids could use the piano dollars they earned throughout the classes to trade for little toys, and they enjoyed a little snack before we went home.  Honestly Logan did a fine job picking up this new skill, but I don’t think he is passionate toward piano or learning to play music.  We will see if Logan wants to sign up classes again in the future.

    Connor had his first practice yesterday.  We all arrived at the a school field 15 minutes prior to practice time.  Connor was excited to get geared up.  We briefly got introduced with the teammates; it turned out that two of them are in Connor’s new class and one from his previous school.  Then the boys were off to practice.  For this first lesson, there was a visiting coach from Scotland and she seemed to be doing a serious job teaching the boys.  Yesterday was one of the hottest day; it was close to 100 degree while the kids ran around kicking the balls.  The parents and siblings were sitting in the shade to watch the practice.  Connor seemed to follow the instructions and did his best.  Then Logan and I were off to his piano class.  According to Stuart, they played a 4×4 a soccer game.  Connor was a bit too tentative, but overall did ok.  All the kids lasted the entire hour playing in the major heat.

    We were happy to have a couple of free days especially since it was hot out.  We hung out mostly indoor.  We started with Connor’s piano class early on Saturday, then we headed over to look for soccer gears for the boys.  It was crowded at the sport store; many families with kids were trying shoes on.  After a lot of efforts, we finally found the boys fitting shoes and shin guards.  The rest of the weekend we just hung out in the house to play games and go swimming in the afternoon.  Stuart taught them how to play Risk and we all played Monopoly too.  Logan is trying not to be a sore loser, but he was successful only sometimes.  Connor chose not to play Monopoly today; but he was happy to hang with us while we played.  Overall the boys had fun playing these big kids’ long drawn-out games.  Swimming was quite enjoyable in the heat too.  With just a little motivation of ice cream, Logan swam across the short side of the pool again and Connor was able to take two breaths while swimming to me.  The boys were goofy today; they laughed so hard trying to chase each other in water while holding on to us.  Connor was so excited that he kept swimming to Stuart to get away from Logan.  They both had their share of exercise this weekend.

    Today Connor was at school for 3 hours.  I dropped Connor off at the cafeteria after we saw Logan off to his class.  After signing in, the kids were led in single file by the three kindergarten teachers into classrooms.  Connor waved goodbye to me happily.  At pick up, I found Connor sitting down on the bench across from one of his friends.  They both looked tired, but Connor gave me a smile when he saw me.  We made our way out of the cafeteria and he waved bye to the teachers.  The teacher mom who I know told me quickly that Connor did great today and was always smiley.  We needed to stop by CDC to take care of a bill, so we followed the line of kids who were picked up and being taken to CDC.  Even though Connor has not yet started the extended care program there, he seems to know all the teachers.  He said hi and hugged them before we left.  He is looking forward to starting there next week.  As we walked home, Connor told me “It was a hard today today”.  He said he colored, traced, wrote out the alphabets and spelled his name.  They also did something with Pete the Cat and did some dancing too.  He told me how one boy was not behaving well and Connor added “He was Graystone BAD”.  Funny, he made up his own terms.  This evening, we returned to school to find out Connor’s class assignment for the year.  He will have a classroom starting tomorrow.

     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.