The last few days, Logan started using the phrase “When I grow up”.  One night when we were reading, Logan pointed to one of the characters in the book and said “Mommy, I want to be him when I grow up”.  This morning he looked at a couple of paintings in the spare bathroom, and he asked where the paintings were and how do we get there.  After I answered the questions, Logan said “Let’s go there when I grow up”.  While we saw a fireman in the cartoon, Logan said “I want to be a fireman when I grow up”.

   Logan also now likes role playing.  He loves Ninjago and knows the ninjas’ names.  He will call himself as one of them, and will name all of us as their other ninjas.  We will then start our mission going around the house to fight the bad guys.

     Logan now seems to scare more easily from reading books too.  Stuart has come out with a book or two from Logan’s room at the end of reading time.  Basically, Logan was interested in reading those books, but afterward, he will tell daddy that they are too scary and ask him to take them out of his room.

     Our passes to Happy Hollow will be expiring at the end of the month, so we paid our last visit there today.  Logan’s favorite areas are the puppet castle and the huge climbing structure, but today Logan suggested to see the animals first.  They both were curious to see the animals, but not enough to want to touch them.  After the zoo, we picked up lunch and headed over to watch the puppet show while we ate.  The kids enjoyed watching “Three Little Pigs” especially since they were familiar with the story.  After the show, we moved on to the big structure per Logan’s request.  By then, I told Logan that Rohan was coming to join us; Logan was quite excited, he called out to daddy to share the news.  The two big boys immediately ran off together toward the big structure while Connor stayed with me and asked for snack again.  We attempted to convince all the boys to try some amusement park rides, but they were not interested.  We finally were able to encourage them trying a type of manual peddling carts.  Both Logan and Rohan were not coordinated with their legs well enough to peddle very well, so Nanda and I ended up doing a lot of coaching to get them through the circle track.  When we finished, we realized that Connor was on the only toddler cart (with Stuarts assistance) which used his arms to move.  He seemed to have gotten the hang of it and he looked so proud as we all cheered him on to the finish line. 

     Afterward, the boys suggested riding Danny the Dragon ride when we walked by it.  We had not ridden this ride for a long time as the ride was a bit slow, but we fulfilled the kids’ request and got in line.  We ended up waiting a long time before our turn, and on top of that, there was a boy possibly 5 or 6 year old, trying to board the ride without any parents.  It took awhile before the operator found another employee to take the boy away before we could take off.  By then, poor Connor was getting tired and kept rubbing his eyes.  So after the ride, we said our goodbyes to Rohan and his daddy before we went home for a nap. 

      It was nice that Rohan and Logan could see each other again, since the preschool change and we were told that Rohan doesn’t seem to be enjoying school as much since Logan is no longer there.

     We went to the Santa Clara summer picnic today; this was the first year that we were invited to this work party.  It was being held at a country club in Boulder Creek, and it took a very long and windy road to get there.  Fortunately the kids were sleeping and Stuart drove slowly, so we arrived at the party right at the start without any motion sickness.  Robyn and family were there just before us.  We were able to check out the facility and all it had to offer; this was a nice secluded place in the woods.  We played with foosball and ping pong for a bit, and we had the chance to get first dip on the barbeque food.  The kids were not too into eating as they wanted to go around to play.  Shortly after, we migrated to the nice pool area to enjoy the beautiful weather.  The water however was quite cold, so we did not push the kids to go into the pool with Stuart.  Later when Michelle and family arrived, we all just hung out together.  The boys and I enjoyed sitting around the pool side and playing with some pool toys while watching Brandon, Peyton, Mckayla and later Marcus in the water.  Later on Logan taught Connor how to play with the round floaties which Logan called them “donuts”, and the two of them walked around with one “donut” each for awhile.  Stuart, along with Ted and Dave, played with basketball for awhile, and then moved on to tennis afterward.  But they actually were teaching Brandon and Logan how to play instead.  This was the first time Logan ever tried tennis, and Stuart said Logan was a bit frustrated not able to hit the ball.  Connor liked walking around the facility, and we just stopped to talk with other people at times.  Connor occasionally asked to “eat”, but unfortunately, there were not much Connor was interested to eat there, so he ended up having some portions of fruits a few times.  After hanging out for several hours, Logan suggested going home, but he changed his mind and wanted to dip our feet in the pool for a bit longer.  We then packed up, said our goodbyes, and made the windy drive home without any problems either.

     Since Logan started new school this week, we noticed some attitude changes. His artwork from school have been nicer, but even the drawings at home improved too.  He seems to be motivated to stay within the lines and has longer concentration.  He is more eager to do activities too.  One day after school when Stuart suggested riding bikes, Logan actually said “Yay!” which is unheard of for biking.  Today, after school, Logan asked to play soccer on the lawn; he was kicking more forcefully, more willing to guard the goal, and he giggled a lot during plays.  It is definitely nice to see Logan being more engaged in activities.  On the other hand, he also seems more needy this week; he becomes more attached to me too, wanting me to drop him off and to read him at night.  And he is more whiny when he does not get what he wants.  I guess these changes are how Logan is coping with the transition. 

     We think Logan really likes his new school.  When he asks in the morning “is today a school day?”, in the past, he would say “oh” for ‘yes’ (on weekdays) and say “Yay” for ‘no’ (on weekends).  Two mornings ago he asked the same question, and he actually said “Yay” when I answered yes to school day.  I totally thought that he had heard me wrong and repeated my answer.  Then I asked if he likes new school, he said “Yes”. 

   We are learning a new routine this week.  With the schools being close to home now, Stuart also has to get ready in the morning as he is taking one of the kids to school.  He wants to leave earlier every morning so that he can return home in reasonable time especially when he has an morning teleconference.  I also have to get going as soon as possible as I have lost my little carpool buddies and the commute to work is longer especially when I go to Santa Clara.  It took me 45 minutes to get there on Wednesday; fortunately it only took 30 minutes today.  After work on Wednesday, I totally forgot about the long morning commute, and had committed myself to picking Connor up.  With some delay at work, I did not get on the road until 5:25pm.  I knew I would not make it to the school on time with the heavy traffic.  After a few missed calls, I was finally able to get a hold of Stuart who ended up picking up both Logan and Connor.  With that lesson learned, we had decided that Stuart will be picking up the boys on Wednesdays and Fridays when I am in the further work place. 

   Picking up both boys is actually sort of fun.  Nice to see what Logan is doing in school, and afterward, Logan enjoys going with us to pick up Connor too.  Lately, both of them have been attached to a couple small stuffed animals each.  Logan likes to carry his from the car to go to Connor’s school as he knows that Connor has one with him and doesn’t want to be left out.

    Last night at bath, Stuart remembered to tell me that Logan woke up with a bad dream the night before.  Logan chimed in to provide more details.  He said “both mommy’s and daddy’s hair came off”.  That got to be scary!