Meet & Greet Your Kindergarten Teacher Day

I decided that this little gem of a conversation from "Meet & Greet Your Kindergarten Teacher" day was worth reporting.

Connor to his new teacher: Hi. I'm Connor. (said so quietly that you basically had to read lips).
Teacher: Oh, great. I am so happy to meet you and have you in class, Connor! Now, are you Connor C. or Connor M.?
Connor (using his best disgruntled/confused face): No I am not those. I am just Connor Ray. 
Teacher looks at me confused, because she is sure that she does not have a Connor Ray on her roster.
Me: That is his middle name. 
Teacher puts her hand to her heart & her arm around Connor because she thinks this is just the cutest thing.

Later I had to explain that sometimes people use initials instead of their actual whole long name. Connor has NEVER heard of this before now, he tells me.  He is a tiny bit disgruntled at me for a short moment, because I have clearly not prepared him well for "Meet & Greet Your Kindergarten Teacher" day.

Kindergarten!!

Although there were a few nerves on the days leading up to Connor's first day of Kindergarten (for him and his parents both), Connor was all smiles the morning of. In fact, it was hard to keep this child still enough for a picture with all the excited dancing going on.

 Connor was SUPER excited to ride the bus. Unfortunately the bus skipped our stop on the first day. However, everything else basically fell into place. 

Backpacks. Check. 

Old Friends. Check. 

Finding the Kindergarten room. Check.

 

Finding his seat. Check.

Coloring. Check. 

Paying attention to the teacher...Umm still working on that one. 

Connor was coloring so intently he didn't hear his name being called for role call. After waiting for the teacher to call his name 3x, I finally had to say "Yes, Connor C. is here!" for him. The entire room full of parents laughed.

 Now there were more than a few minor issues with the bus on the first day including them having Connor written down to get off at the wrong address, no bus pick up, etc. So, we decided that the bus driver would need a little supervision. Connor's Dad met the bus at school after the day was over & followed it to our house. It was over 30 minutes late (mainly because they couldn't figure out Connor C.'s correct address despite numerous calls from his mom in the previous days trying to fix the problem). Here's what we did while we were waiting for Connor:

 Made silly faces, played "stroller peek-a-boo" searched for pine cones, met a new neighbor who also has identical twin girls (age 45), wondered WHAT could be taking them so long, messaged/called the "bus escort" a few times, etc.

 Finally he arrived & we were so happy to have him back!

Daily Report from Connor: "We sat down, got up. Lined up. Walked around. Went to the bathroom. Sat back down. Lined up again. Walked somewhere. Came back. Then lined up and went home." "Oh, we played outside, and had a snack- Angry Bird Crackers!" "Some kids forgot to listen to the teacher a few times. I only forgot to listen one time." 

And, that pretty much sums up a day in the life of our new Kindergartner!

Cereal & God: The necessities of Life

Tonight during the bedtime routine Connor's Dad says: "Connor, I have a surprise for you. Count to 100 & I'll have it ready."
Connor: "Oh! Is it one hundred dollars?"
C's Dad: "No." (laughing).
Connor's Mom: "Connor, what would you buy with 100 dollars?"
Connor: "Cereal."

Tonight it was looking a little like rain as we were heading out for a jog & I said: "I hope it doesn't rain on us."
Kaia & Ashlyn looking concerned started saying, "No rain." and "I like rain not." and "Mama, don't make it rain." etc.
Me: "I can't make it rain or stop it from raining. Only God can."
Kaia: "Oooohhhh, only God. I need a God."

Watch Out Corvallis....

...here comes TROUBLE.

OOOOOOO  SSSSSSSS UUUUUUU!!!!!

 Trouble first arrived at American Dream Pizza...in fine form!*

 Then those little rascals headed to the Benny Beaver Kids Zone...for some bounce house action. This was definitely more their style.

Ready to cheer on our favorite team. Although it was a hot one, there were still some smiles (mostly for the pom-poms rather than for the football, though).

 We only made it barely into the second quarter with the gang in tow, but it was still exciting to be back on campus sporting our Orange for the first 2013 Beaver Game Day!

*Clearly, we don't take the little rascals out to eat very often. For obvious reasons.

Camping Trip

After many days of prepping, packing, and general chaos we were ready for our big camping trip...

 

Fortunately we had the foresight to buy & bring a camping chair for each member of the family. Complete with cup holders.These were essential in keeping the children mostly contained some of the time.

 

 What camping trip would be complete without a glow in the dark puzzle for our puzzler? GREAT gift Aunt Erica! Although we do puzzles over here many times a week, there is something special about doing one in the great outdoors.

 Lots of play time for our little monkeys...

And a trip to the lake nearby!

 

 After a busy day, we had two sleepers in their bike trailer, still in wet sandy swimsuits, hooded towels and all. Truth be told, I envied them. I could have used a nap myself (and a ride home from the lake)! These two have a good thing going...Ahhh now that's the life!

Summer Vacation

This summer marked our very first family vacation as a family of five. We wisely choose to go to a local resort only a few hours away (plane rides for parents of 2-year old twins are overrated, I have heard). In addition, we made sure to invite enough family members that the adult to child ratio was in our favor (except that "Uncle" Scottie, was in a questionable category...more on that later).

Here's the smaller members of our gang!

I think Scottie, had more fun than the children did at times...

We swam, we ate ice cream, we played at the playground, we rode bikes, we even enjoyed some adults only late night hot tubing! My favorite quote of the trip came from cousin Lauren, "Who's great idea was it for all of us to live together in this house?!!" Yes, it was a great idea indeed:)