Friday, September 18, 2009

PRESCHOOL















What a crazy week this has been! We started the week off on Monday going out on my dad's new sailboat. Then Hunter got to fish for the first time, which he thought was pretty cool but was not into touching the fish. Now Brayden was all over touching the fish and if given the opportunity would have squished the poor fish. Monday night I attended a meeting for Hunter's preschool to get the layout of the classroom and what would be expected of us parents on our volunteer days.

Tuesday was Hunter's first day of preschool and the parents got to go to the first day to help ease the kids into their routine. Hunter has 14 kids in his class and only 3 are girls. It was a lot of fun watching the kids play and get acquainted with their classroom, classmates and teacher. I am really excited for this year of preschool as I like the teacher and am looking forward to watching Hunter grow even more into who he is. His teacher encourages the kids to use their words and their manners, already after 2 days of school this week I've seen a huge improvement as Hunter was starting to make grunting noises like Brayden does. On our way to school after we dropped Brayden off at Merrilee's, Hunter asked me if I was scared. I told him "no" but asked if he was scared, he told me he wasn't. Then I asked him if he was nervous in his tummy about trying something new and he said "yes". I hadn't even thought about that because I was so excited for him, so we stopped and talked about how everyone gets nervous when they are trying something new. Once the day was over he told me he wasn't nervous anymore.

On Wednesday we got a call in the morning about going to my aunt Louise's house to help her straighten up because they are having to put their house on the market. They were having an open house this Friday and needed to get some stuff done.

Thursday morning I had some exhausted kids that I had to wake up to get ready for school. Hunter told me he was nervous again because I wasn't going to stay with him. I told him that he could show Brayden his classroom and that we would be back to pick him up shortly. Once he got into his class and the kids were sitting in circle time he jumped right on to his circle with his name and got himself situated. He told his teacher that he had a brother named Brayden and then we saw that he was comfortable so we left. Brayden and I went home to spend some time together and then later we went back to pick Hunter up. We sat in the school parking lot and watched Hunter playing on the swingset having tons of fun with all the kids. Then we went to meet the other moms and pick up Hunter. His teacher Kim told us that it was a really great day and that all the kids had a good time and everybody got along. The kids are given a choice of 5 different activities to choose from, manipulatives like legos and puzzles, creative art activities, blocks, dramatic play and sensory materials like water and sand and then they have to pick one to play in. It is a really great structure to see and I like that the kids have to make a decision as to where they want to play. Hunter told me that he played in the kitchen which is the dramatic play area and he had a lot of fun. He was really excited for their snack that day which was apples and string cheese, two of his favorite things. Then we went home and everyone took naps.

Today we went back to my aunt's house to do some pressure washing before the open house this afternoon. I was pretty wiped out by the time we got home. I was just thankful to see Sean who has been in Portland this week. Poor guy had to get up and be at work at 2 a.m. this morning because they had to close the road for some of his work, then on his way home this afternoon he got a call that he needs to be back in Portland tomorrow morning. I was not happy because I miss him but we will be at Kelbi's 5th birthday party tomorrow so he can come home and get some sleep. Then he has to go back on Monday :(

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Oregon Zoo


























We woke up Friday morning packed the car up and checked out of our hotel. We then drove the 7 miles or so to the Oregon Zoo. This was our last fun thing to experience on this trip to Portland before we headed home. It is a really cool zoo and I think that I need to take the kids back again in the future. They have successfully bred elephants which Hunter was so excited to see the baby elephant. The newest baby elephants 1st birthday had been the weekend before so our one goal was to get to the elephants before we left. Once we entered the zoo there was marine life which sucked my kids in completely and it was hard to get them to move on to anything else. Lotus was taking pictures of everything with her phone and then we ended up at the birds. We bought a cup of nectar and the lady gave me another cup so that we could share. Hunter wanted to at first but then he dropped his because he got scared when the birds got close. Lotus was in heaven feeding the birds and one was comfortable enough to hop onto her hand to get closer to the nectar. I was so thankful to get pictures of that! We watched the sea lions getting fed, the polar bear playing with his ball, the sea otters wrestling and last but not least we all got to see the baby elephant named "Sam". We had to go through the zoo store before we left so that Lotus could spend the rest of her birthday money on some souvenirs. Even though it was Friday afternoon the drive home wasn't so bad. We got home in time to have dinner, baths and for everyone to get in bed and get some much needed rest. This was definitely my highlight of the summer and something that I think I need to plan every summer.

Oaks Amusement Park












So I am a little behind on posting our Portland pics because I have really gotten busy with the boys and getting Hunter ready for preschool. Brayden has now learned how to open doors and each day finds something new to climb on. I recently as in last Thursday got a wild hair at about 5pm and moved the boys into a room together so that I could have a craft room to play in since I am feeling fall in the air. So back to our trip in Portland......

We went back to the hotel we were staying at to meet up with Sean and he told us that he had to go back to Washington for work. So we were going to go to the amusement park with him and then he would drive back to Washington while we stayed 1 more night in Portland without him. So we went to Oaks Amusement Park and the kids had a blast. It was along the river which helped with the heat that we were experiencing that day. This was Brayden's first time on any rides and Hunter loved going on the roller coaster with me. Sean and Lotus did all the bigger rides and we had a great time together as a family. Sean drove home when we were done and I went back to our room with the kids.