First Day of School 2014-15

So the first two pictures are not school pictures, but Finn is determined to keep me busy while his brothers are away.

O.k., this is what I was trying to do.

Breakfast before the first day of school!

Luke and Liam started FIRST grade today

Finn was not too excited about a picture with all four

Aiden started his final year of preschool

Ready for School

First grade and Preschool

Heading to the bus

Waiting with our friend, Savannah

There are just a few kids at the bus stop in our area and this is one of two bus stops!

Getting on the bus....


Today marks a big milestone for us in many ways.  Luke and Liam began first grade at the local public school this morning.  This means that for the first time they are going to school ALL day EVERYDAY!  That is going to take some time to get used to for me.  Last year, they went to kindergarten for three full days but I often saw them at lunch or recess when I picked up Aiden after a half day of preschool.  In addition, we still had a few days each week where we didn't attend school at all.  But, this year is much different.  Luke and Liam are riding the bus by themselves, eating lunch at school, and there is much less involvement from me than there has been in the past.  In a sense, it will be a whole new routine for us this year.  I am not exactly sure how it will all work out, but I know the boys are excited and I pray that they will grow and learn and enjoy this new phase in life.  Luke and Liam were most excited about riding the bus, finding their friends at lunch and recess, and having their own desk at school.

Our next big milestone was with Aiden.  For the first time in three years, Aiden went to school on his own.  He will attend two full days at the Montessori school where we have attended for the last four years.  We are very thankful that he will continue to have the same teacher, Ms. Kristi, whom he loves.  He will be able to do preschool work with his peers in the morning and kindergarten work in the afternoon.  This will all be a big challenge for Aiden, but it will provide something new and enable him to grow and learn as well.  He is most excited about eating lunch at school and playing more outside, of course!

The 2014-15 school year will be an exciting one for us!  Finn and I are adjusting to how quiet the house is when everyone is gone....

Old Wagon Pics and a semi Routine week

Sweet Finn posed for a few pictures in our neighbor's old refurbished wagon from her great grandfather.

Aiden and his good friend Carter in the wagon.  Carter is a month older than Aiden.  And, Carter's younger brother is one month younger than Finn.

Finn and his typical squinty nose smile

One of our neighbors spent the day with us last week while his parents were at work.  The boys made a water slide in the backyard while I was putting Finn to bed. 

Aiden was a trooper at the hospital getting his five stitches
  

I haven't picked up the camera since we returned from our vacation so not a lot of pictures to show for this week.  And I thought we really didn't have much to report until well, Sunday...  Unfortunately, Aiden made another trip to the urgent care at the local hospital after slipping on a slide at the pool.  It happened so quickly as we were enjoying a warmer than normal day in Minnesota and swimming at the pool.  He is fine, but had to have five stitches in his chin after he slipped on the steps going up the slide.  Poor guy.  The injury itself probably wasn't as traumatic as the memories of going to the same hospital after his injury last summer when he fell off a slide and broke his femur.  Think maybe we should stay away from slides with Aiden?

We had a pretty routine week trying to get back into a routine after two weeks of vacation.  The boys were excited to see their friends and neighbors so we had several playdates and enjoyed lots of time outside.  We have one final week before our routines will change completely as school begins!

The Beach 2014

Caitlin and Aiden at the beach for pictures

The next two pictures are a little out of order (they are from week #2), but anyway.  This is Grandpa and Finn in the sand.

Finn and Mimi at the beach

The boys were so excited about catching a puffer fish with cousin Jacob.

Liam and Luke spent A LOT of time in the ocean looking for crabs, shells, sand dollars, etc... Luke, again, has no fear and would wander out as deep as he possibly could before we reeled him back in.

Finn actually wasn't too fond of the sand, but he did make a few attempts at the beach.

Daddy rented a kayak that Aiden really enjoyed

I got to celebrate a birthday in Florida as well!!  This was taken on my birthday.

The beach was exhausting.  This was a common theme for Aiden.  Picture was taken at 6:00 pm!!

Ice cream!  Finn screamed as soon as we walked in the door and he saw what we were about to get!

Headed to the beach to catch something!

We swam with dolphins (well, kinda)

And sharks too

Liam and Aiden caught something here, not sure exactly what that is.

Super fun time with Ella

Finn was always on the move

More cake for Finn

All six of us 

Mommy and a tired Finn

After pictures, it took Liam less than five minutes to jump in the ocean with his clothes on

Jacob, Caitlin, Ella, Luke, Liam, Aiden, and Finn

John's family

The boys

Aiden was not a huge fan of the beach, but he endured and enjoyed building things in the sand and eating snacks at the beach

Snowcones

Catching frogs one evening

Roasting smores

Finn's first smore

The boys at the beach house

Hannah's family

Grandpa and the boys

Mimi and the boys

Finn at the amphitheater

Finn

Silly boys

Luke caught all kinds of crabs and things

Aiden and Finn with their new Seaside shirts

We have lived in Minnesota for 7 years in October and for the last five years, we have headed south for a vacation.  As much as cold weather doesn't really bother me, it does get old after awhile.  Having some heat and humidity is a welcome feeling when you have a cooler than average summer and a polar vortex winter.  Honestly, the heat was awesome!  The boys swam at the pool and the beach and didn't complain about being cold, we adjusted to running outside in the heat, and we had lots of popsicles and ice cream to cool down.

We spent two weeks in Florida at our favorite vacation spot again this year.  As I have mentioned before, this is the same place where I went on vacation as a child and introduced to John and now his family as well.  The area has grown leaps and bounds since I started going in the mid 80's, but it still has a lot of the same quaintness and feel to it.  We spent one week with John's parents and older sister and her family.  Having the cousins to play with on week #1 was like heaven for the boys.  They love Jacob, Caitlin, and Ella and honestly it is the highlight of their trip to have people to play with all week long.

Week #2 was spent with my parents and the boys each loved the extra attention as well as a bit of a slower week with a lot more rest involved for all of us.  Overall, the trip was amazing and continues to be my favorite two weeks of the entire year.  Each year we debate whether it will be feasible to do it again and I really do not take these trips for granted.  It takes a bit of work, planning, and a lot of time and resources to pull it off.  We are so thankful for the opportunity to spend yet another two weeks with family and have the chance to enjoy the beach and pool on a daily basis.

Luke and Liam achieved a milestone on this trip by getting to ride a bike back and forth to the beach, pool, and dinner each day rather than having John or I carry them in a Burley bike carrier.  This was a big deal since some of the riding is on the street and requires that they pay attention to cars, other bikes, people, traffic signs, etc...While they never rode their bikes alone, it was a challenge to keep up with them (especially Luke or Mr. Independent).  They loved being able to ride and did a great job with it.

Finn celebrated his first birthday two more times while at the beach, once with John's family and then again with my family.  He even got to dive into another cake and enjoyed his first smore.

I am posting just a few of the nearly 1,000 pictures we had from the two weeks!!  No, I didn't take that many pictures, but we had copies from our families as well so it amounted to a lot of great pictures.  Trust me, this is a very scaled down version of a wonderful two weeks!