Oh, boy. Monday was a big day that I experienced in personal dramatic fashion as Steven, Sammy and Amaya jumped on a big yellow bus to go to camp. There I was sitting in an Olive Garden parking lot waiting to put my five year olds on this bus and wave goodbye. Off they went, happy and comfortable as could be and there I was, freaked out and sad. Also proud, given how comfortable & adaptable they were with the change.
Bye kids!
This is probably good training for me for Kindergarten. Letting them out of my reach bit by bit by bit.
They all did well and had a great day though we had to assuage some fears Steven had after he was told the “door” on the roof was in case the bus tips over. Reasonable fear when you hear something like that!
Monday night was Sammy’s turn to sleep at Grandma Sunshine’s house and we took the opportunity to have dinner outside. It was such a nice night.
Watching airplanes.
Late night snack at Grandma’s.
Tuesday! Amaya is loving her pool bows and so am I.
I sent this picture to Nana and, again, she reminded us that Steven wasn’t wearing his glasses. Ooops! We need to build some habit strength here.
Better!
Lunch and DESSERT with Grandma. These 1:1 summer sleepovers are so special.
I left for another work trip on Tuesday and was happy to get these pictures of smiling kids, playing after camp. It’s been an adjustment to be out of the house from before 8am until 4pm every day so it’s nice that they do have some downtime at home in the afternoons.
Thursday bus drop off! The bus is scheduled to come between 7:53 and 8:03 am though it seems to be coming a little later than that. Like the other cars, we hang out and wait together until the bus arrives.
After work on Friday I joined the kids outside for dinner and we examined a dead bee that we found on the deck. The night before we’d watched some videos about bees and it was cool to tie it back to an actual bee right there in front of us. It’s currently in a mason jar in our fridge.
The kids were trying to keep Gabby from leaving so I told them I was going to have to let her out through the garage. Steven yelled, “Sammy! Quick! Block the garage!”
Friday night I treated the kids to a bedtime, barefoot walk around the neighborhood. It’s really nice that they’re at an age where it’s even easier to be spontaneous and flexible.
Checking out a teeny tiny dead baby bird on our walkway. I can’t imagine what happened to it.
Saturday was a JCC Pool day at Amaya’s request. It was the perfect day for it. We spent about 3 hours there and even I got in for a bit, including 4 jumps off the diving board in full performance mode for SSA.
There was an incredible year over year difference in the kids. Last year I could barely get Steven off the steps. This year, with his puddle jumper he was all in. Same for Sammy. What really amazed me is that Amaya is truly learning to swim! She’s can swim pretty well on her back, has no fear of being under water/holding her breath and is making a lot of progress on her front. I had no idea she was actually doing this well! I’m committed to keeping her in the pool through the winter so she doesn’t lose these skills, and to help bolster the boys.
Amaya’s camp swim instructor was on duty on Saturday.
Cold treats on a hot day.
This morning the kids rode bikes and scootered at their “new” school and we hit up Applebee’s for lunch. They’re currently outside playing with their water guns making it “shower” down on each other under the deck.
Steven still likes his trike best.
Lounging Mama. Photo credit: Sammy
Steven would tell Amaya what to find in the picture and Amaya would cirlce it when she found the object/person.
Sammy and I played a game where he cracked himself up by cheating. Cheater cheater chicken eater!
One last thing – Amaya had the idea to bring home the paper her hot dog was wrapped in at the pool so she could make art. This is what she created. I love that she saw that tissue paper and thought “art”.
Have a great week!