First Day

Yesterday we spent Steven's last day of summer with Oliver & Rebecca at a splash pad that is near their home. All the kids had a blast! Then later we went back to Rebecca's house to officially celebrate Oliver's first birthday. It was fun to watch Oliver totally destroy his birthday cake and the boys had way too much fun playing with balloons. Afterwards we rented "Wreck it Ralph" and snuggled together on the couch. It was a perfect end to summer.

This morning,  Steven was up (on his own) at 6:30- me, I was up much earlier. School is going to kick my butt in gear- no more lazy, sleeping in until 7 for me. For breakfast, Steven requested cereal and donuts. Now that they only get cereal once a week it has become a much desired luxury :) 

After a father's blessing and getting everyone else ready it was time to walk to school but first--- photos! Mine are not nearly as cute as all the ones I'm seeing on Facebook- lighting is bad, not close up enough & no cute chalkboard with the grade he is in- but still they show off Steven's new favorite color & his attitude perfectly...

Today was less sunny than normal but a bit humid so we still got a bit sweaty on our 20 minute walk to school. When we got there Steven was grouchy with me and didn't want to take pictures in front of the school....so we didn't. Then he stood in his line looking nervous until he saw his best buddy, Colin. As soon as he saw Colin he was off having fun on the playground. But when the bell rang it was time for them to part ways and he seemed nervous again. 

Upon entering the classroom he had no qualms finding a seat and once in it he set to work coloring and again his nerves seemed to pass. So much so that he posed for this silly picture- such a Hatch! And so much so that when the teacher said it was time for parents to go, he told me to go so he could get to work.  

The walk home was rough--- for me & my emotionalness and for Ben & his emotionalness. It's a long walk for my lazy 3 year old apparently. I think the walk will be good to get both Ben & me more active.

Once home it was SO weird. Our house was so quiet- no brother to fight with or run around and giggle with. No need to constant entertain, Ben quite likes playing alone. Lucy even took a 2.5 hour morning nap as though to celebrate the quietness. And when she woke up she further celebrated by pigging out her first PB&J sandwich. This baby of mine refuses to eat baby food now and only wants to make a mess of the real stuff. So fun ;)

I wish I could say my day continued on smoothly but Ben did not wake up a happy camper from his nap. And unfortunately I couldn't try to get him to sleep some more because we had to pick up Steven from school. This time we drove and parked but it wasn't quite close enough for Ben. And he cried, not a whimper but more like a wail, the entire time we waited for Steven. And the entire time we walked back to the car. And the entire way home. So there was no fun greeting for Steven, no chance to check in with the teacher and I was completely ostracized by annoyed parents (who I couldn't blame in the least). Ok and for those few kind parents who tried to cheer  Ben up, they were only rewarded with louder wailing and they would quickly regret their attempts. So awful. And to top it off Steven refused to say bye to his teacher because the sun was making his hair hot....Parenthood is so fantastic.