We had a wonderful week. It was chaotic and busy and parts of it gave me a taste of what I feel is to come as SSA move from preschool into the big world of elementary school. I’m not ready at all but, day by day, I can tell that they’re getting ready for the transition.

After work shenanigans… Sammy was trying to save me from the clutches of Steven and Amaya.

Working with Steven on the Lego set Sammy brought him from Disneyland. It was 6+ and I’d say he did 85% of it by himself. He really loves lego sets. (As does Amaya. She didn’t have one of her own so Sammy let her build one of his that he hadn’t gotten to yet.)

The kids are scootering around the house all the time. In fact, they’re getting dressed in the morning faster to have time to ride around before school. They’re getting good at it, too!

It’s been a cold, wet spring here in MI. Booooooo. We’ve been trying to take advantage of any nice day we get.

Me: Amaya, tell me about people you love.

Amaya: I love Ms. Bri and Captain Marvel.

Me: Anyone else?

Amaya: Wellllllllll, not that I can think of.

Totally teaches me not to go fishing lol.

On Tuesday night, Sammy came down for a minute after bedtime and found Sally curled up with me. She sat very patiently and let him pet her. It’s hard to believe this is the same cat who’d bolt at the sight of the kids. Just like with Amaya and Sally, I was so proud of them both.

On Wednesday afternoon, Madison’s mom graciously came over and hemmed the boys’ dance pants. It was so nice of her! Steven, Sammy and Amaya are always happy to see Michelle.

A little more time outside. I remember when they wouldn’t go past the first level of this climber. Then again, they’re 5 now. 🙂

Love these pics of this giggly boy.

Thursday was a big day for the Clines. (Huge, gigantic, massive almost as big as the universe.) After a long time of dreaming on my part, and a shorter amount of time actually doing, we had our play set installed! I stopped home at lunch to see how the work was progressing and to provide some input on the final positioning. Yay!!

It’s done! The kids couldn’t wait to play. But first, dance class.

Amaya and Sammy were the only two at tap class this week! They even had a substitute teacher – Ms. Christina’s sister.

I think Sammy really enjoys tap. Amaya seems to enjoy dance in general but Sammy seems to have a specific affinity for tap class. (I think Steven just goes with the flow in jazz.)

PLAY TIME!! What’s amazing is that, one month ago, none of the kids would go down the bumpy slide at Sara’s house. They’re totally over that hurdle now. Steven even climbs up the rock wall. Between the play set and their bikes & scooters, I feel like the Cline kids are reaching a meaningful inflection point with their gross motor skills. Now we just need the boys to learn to pump their legs on the swing.

The other BIG event on Thursday was kindergarten orientation for the parents of incoming students. Like I said, the kids are ready. I am not. It’s just so hard to believe that we’re making this transition in a few short months. It’s the end of a very specific era of parenting and my emotions are somewhat similar to when I went back to work after maternity leave.

I did get a minute with the principal to be sure he had our message about keeping SSA together for kindergarten. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s time to separate them by 1st grade but they want to be together next year and I agree it makes sense to let them continue in the same class like they have been as they transition into a new school.

Of course we got homework to do with about 14 hrs to finish. Best I could do for Sammy and Amaya’s photos were a year old but they’ll do.

On Friday, Jason took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to Kindergarten Round Up! Wow. They’d heard about it from other friends at school which provided comfort and it also seems to help that they’ve been playing at the school playground. Jason reported that Amaya was a little nervous at first but acclimated pretty quickly. They were all excited at the promise of popsicles afterward.

On Friday, Sammy’s Disney pillow arrived. Now SSA all have photo pillows as reminders of our CA adventures.

A weekend visit from Nana! Yay! SSA love their Shabbat routine with Nana.

Friday night was Steven’s turn to pet Sally. 🙂 I love it.

This week the kids received another STEM kit from Grandma Sunshine. It was a geode set and, early Saturday, we set out to break the geodes in half only to quickly realize we needed a little more muscle.

Enter Daddy!

Late morning, I headed off to Motor City Comic Con to see Doug Jones (Saru) and Ethan Peck (Spock) from Star Trek Discovery. So much fun! Doug Jones can seemingly talk to anyone and has quite the resume. Ethan Peck was a little rougher with the small talk but you’d never know that from his panel.

While I was at the Con, Nana took SSA to Starbucks. <3

It was a packed afternoon. Back yard time.

Scooter races.

Word games with Nana.

Bike and scooter rides. They’re doing so well.

My girl.

Today was the day for all of the Clines to hit Motor City Comic Con. Jonathan Frakes was appearing and with a limited autograph schedule so we arrived early to be sure we wouldn’t miss out.

Since I knew we’d have almost an hour to wait, I brought the kids’ tablets to help them pass the time while we waited “in line” in a ball room until the doors opened.

Devices, devices, devices lol.

Captain America and Captain Marvel – ready to meet Commander Riker!

Funny story – I have a framed, autographed photo with Frakes in our house so the kids talked about how they were going to see “my friend”. As they were talking about it, I think Steven must have finally picked up on what I was saying and he asked, “Does he know he’s your friend”? lol For the record, I never said we were friends. SSA just reasonably assumed we are if there is a framed photo of us in the house.

I can not say enough about how generous Frakes was with his time with us. He was completely engaged with the kids – talking to them, teasing them. It was incredible. He got Steven to spell his name, teased him about having a drivers license, joked with Amaya and even got Sammy to come out of his shell. The kids were enamored and rightfully so. He was a total class act.

That’s right. Go Boldly, kids.

You can’t quite tell from their faces but everyone really loved looking at costumes. We didn’t have a lot of time with them before Nana came to pick them up but hopefully next year they’ll get a bit more wandering around & sight seeing time.

Front row at Frakes’ panel! He officially starts work on Star Trek: Picard on Tuesday!

Finally, I wrapped up my con weekend with a photo op. For this one picture, I spent hours walking around with the framed photo from our last photo op. The photo was taken in Chicago – maybe 11 years ago. And then he signed it for me in Calgary.

What a fantastic day.

With invaluable help from Nana, we wrapped up the day at the kids’ dance studio for photo day. Here’s a sneak peak of Amaya and Sammy in their tap costumes and Steven in his jazz costume. He was playing tic-tac-toe with Nana while we waited for Sammy and Amaya to finish up.

That’s a wrap! Live long and prosper, everyone.