First Grade!

 

Fact:  We live less than one mile from Luke's new elementary school.

Fact:  Luke's bus stop is the second to last one on the route, meaning that he will be riding the bus for a maximum of 3 minutes each morning on the way to school.

Fact:  I seriously tried to convince Mark that he should time his a.m. work commute so that he follows the bus out of our neighborhood.  This way, he could drive directly behind the bus and make sure that Luke arrives at school safely.  No, of course not every day.  THAT would be crazy.  "Just for the first week or, so, honey..."

Fact:  Mark rolled his eyes at me and adamantly refused to entertain the above idea.

Fact:  The beginning of the school year sometimes brings out a little bit of anxiety in control-seeking moms, who are otherwise absolutely, completely normal.

 

We've met the teacher.

We've toured the school.

We've checked off school supplies, purchased a new backpack, and packed lunch.

 

 

I've given him more hugs and kisses this week than usual.

I've held on a little bit tighter and snuggled him a little longer.

I've memorized that sweet, newly-lost-top-teeth grin, so that I can channel it when I miss him during the day.

 

 

  He woke up at 5:30 this morning.  "Mommy, I'm SO excited for first grade!".

He posed for obligatory "First Day of School" pictures, and we all waited at the bus stop (in front of our house) with him.

He seemed so big, and so little, all at once. 

  He jumped on the school bus, found a seat, and waved happily, faced pressed against the window.
 And in the blink of an eye,
He was gone.

 

 

 

He'll come home tired but happy, and maybe, if I'm lucky, he'll share a tiny tidbit about his day with me.  He's a boy, after all, and I won't falsely get my hopes up with a daydream of my son spilling endless, juicy details about his class or new friends.  I'll anxiously check his folder, await his teacher's weekly e-mail update and look forward to my chance to glean more information at the upcoming Parent Night in a couple of weeks.  I'll say a prayer of thanksgiving for a successful first day of First Grade, and we'll all sleep a little more soundly each night as the routine becomes increasingly comfortable and familiar.

We are so proud of you, dear first grade boy, and wish you a year of happiness and success at your new school!

Funland

The highlight of the afternoons during our week at Rehoboth Beach is our daily visit to Funland.  Funland truly is fun: filled with arcade games, rides, and entertainment for all.  Each year, I soak up the sight of my children on the kiddie rides and fear it will be the last summer that they ask to go on these darling attractions, but we lucked out and both L&L humored us yet again. 

Here's a look at Funland: 2014 Edition. 

 

The Fire Trucks:

(Mommy's favorite) 

  

They have been riding these since they were babies.

 

The Boats:

Almost too big to fit in one boat together.

 

The Fighter Planes:

Because nothing says "Sweet Southern Belle" like a machine gun in her hand.

 
The Vehicles:

We are calling this series, "The Many Faces of Leah"

 

 

 

With one photo of Luke thrown in for good measure!

The Carousel: 

Always a classic, never too old for this one!

  

The best part about rides at Funland is going on them together!  Leah's older cousins were very sweet to accompany her on many of the rides, and she loved all of the attention:

Alexis and Leah in the hot air balloons.

 

Maya rides the helicopters with her littlest cousin.

Leah and Addie on the swings.

 

The Big Kid Rides:

Luke returned to his all-time favorite ride, the bumper cars, and was thrilled to bonk into the other cars with Daddy as his goofy passenger.  Luke was even more delighted when midway through the week he discovered that he could drive the cars all by himself:

  

 

Meanwhile, Leah decided that the "FreeFall" ride was her new favorite, which surprised us, as it is not for the faint of stomach!

 

Luke rode on the Paratroopers several times with cousins this year, too:

We all had a ball playing SkeeBall and the kids won many stuffed animal prizes at the arcade games.  Luke was excited that he could use his $ from the Tooth Fairy (who apparently pays double for teeth lost on vacation!) to play additional games, and declared on the way home, "I now have over ONE HUNDRED stuffed animals".  Yikes.

 

Good-Bye, Funland!  See you next summer!

Rehoboth Beach Vacation

 We just wrapped up our annual Winterhoff Week at Rehoboth Beach, DE, and it was a great vacation, full of sun and sand, daily visits to Funland, treasure hunts for Beach Fairy prizes, cousin bonding and playtime, and lots of wonderful memories.  This was the first year in a decade that we haven't needed a crib at our beach house, which shows how the times are a changin'!   There were no longer any regular nappers either (although Leah did pass out one day from sheer exhaustion), no booster seats to haul or sippy cups to clean, and I can't believe I am finally writing this, but all of the kids were great sleepers this year (with no 4 a.m. party animals)!

We spent our mornings on the beach, and there was lots of playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean, and wipe-outs in the waves:

Our annual beach picture of the "triplets" (the 3 blonde cousins born within a year of each other)!

 

Love her tutu!

Surfing Man!

 We were able to capture beautiful, priceless moments like this one:

 

And then two seconds later, they were off!  We've learned to be quick with the cameras!

 

We gathered for Family Dinners and shared meals together:

There was also lots of photo-worthy cousin bonding.  Here's one of my favorites.  Gabe and Luke snuggled in together to watch a very cool Hot Wheels video, and cheered enthusiastically for the speedsters:

 

Not to be outdone by the boys, the girls bonded over Polly Pockets and even had a special pampering afternoon of hair dye and nail polish:

 

There seemed to be a lot of books this year, but maybe it's just easier to take a picture when everyone is sitting still/snuggling:

  

 

The littlest beachgoers were the one-year-old twins of Mark's cousin.  In a special family celebration, Poppy baptized little Charlotte and Everett one evening, and the children loved watching the baptism and playing with the twins:

 

We counted a grand total of 25 family members between the two beach houses this year, and took a picture at the baptism to send to Great Grammy, which features her grandchildren (who have been Rehoboth Beach goers since their childhoods) and great grandchildren:    

 One of the most anticipated beach traditions is Donut Day with Poppy, and the boys and girls each had two special morning outings with their grandfather.  They buy yummy treats and walk to the boardwalk, where they pose for pictures and jump off of the lifeguard stand. 

 

Leah's nickname is "Me, Too!" as she willingly tags along and enthusiastically volunteers for whatever the big kids are doing.  True to her nickname, she jumped off the top of the lifeguard stand right after she watched her big girl cousins do it, surprising her Poppy.  Luckily, she had a soft landing and loved it!

 I don't know how in the world Bean manages to find adorable coordinating shirts for the children each year to wear on Donut Days.  Here are our two very serious Batmen.  In the spirit of Donut Day equality, Luke is in charge of reminding Poppy that "the boys go FIRST next year!"  There, now it is in writing, too! 

Simultaneous Lifeguard Stand Jumps!

 

This is Leah on our last full day at the beach.  All that fun completely wore her out, and she plopped facedown in the sand for a rest:

 

Good things happen to those who nap, and our sweet girl had a special date on the boardwalk with Mommy and Daddy that evening after the other kids went to bed:

 

We bought a funnel cake to share, and our Peanut took one bite and declared, "I don't like it."  We told her that she could have an another treat instead, and then somehow she spontaneously changed her mind and devoured almost half of the giant concoction.  Afterwards, she declared, "I'm ready for my treat now!".   Nice try!

 

Luke had a momentous vacation as he came home with 2 less teeth.  Mommy packed his tooth pillow in anticipation of his wiggly front teeth falling out, and sure enough, midway through the week, Luke took a bite of an apple and one of his two top front teeth landed in his hand.  This left a very interesting single tooth dangling askew in the center of his mouth, which came out one day later.  This was a full circle moment, as this very tooth was knocked loose during our beach week last year, and has been hanging on for almost 14 months! 

 

I love this temporary toothless look! 

 

Here is a link to more of our pictures from Rehoboth:

 

 

 

Thank you, Bean and Poppy for another fantastic summer vacation together!