The Report

I mentioned that my boys had their first day of school, but I didn't mention how it went. They both really like school and had a good experience. Ernie's highlights were that he has a boy that sits across from him who's name is Humberto, and you all should here him tell you his name. It's very comical. Humberto and all of the other kids around him find ernie rather humorous and laugh when ernie says funny things, but he can't figure out why they laugh that much because he doesn't find the things he says THAT funny. (I'm just thrilled he has become the class clown.......) His crisis came when there was a kid in his class, but he wasn't sure at first if it was a boy or girl because they have long hair. We're glad he was able to figure it out. It's a boy. And the final report on his friend stories is that there was a boy that sat next to him at lunch who apparently thinks that there are really vampires. Ernie said, "I just kept saying, uh, huh, and that's really cool, because I didn't want him to feel bad, but I don't think I'll sit by him at lunch anymore, because that's kind of, well, weird." (I'm glad he hasn't gotten into Twilight yet) He was also a little bummed that there was no homework until this week. Thank goodness that he has homework this week ;).
This was Caleb's report about school.
"Caleb, how was preschool, did you like it?"
Caleb; "Yep."
Me, "What did you do?"
Caleb, "Just played and stuff."
Me, "Did you make friends?"
Caleb, "Yep."
And that was about the jest of it. He was a little more cooperative when his father interrogated him. But that's our Caleb. Happy go lucky, life's wonderful all the time. He was a little frustrated when he got ready for school the next morning only to have me inform him that he only had school Tuesday and Thursday.

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

The first day of school. It's a big day in our house. New clothes that have been purchased (a lot of white polo shirts and khaki shorts this year) can finally have their tags taken off and be worn. The new back packs can finally be loaded with the school supplies that have been taunting my older son for a while now. Ernie has just been itching to have homework again. Caleb is just excited to "make friends, paint, and play".

The day finally arrived. Their favorite snacks and homemade cookies were packed in their lunch box. And they were both extremely energized about bringing their water bottles that had their name on them with sharpie (apparently that made them extremely special). And I was happy for them. Excited that they both can start this new venture. (And yes, that is Caleb's Indiana Jones shirt. Somehow the vehicle made it so. And while laying it out to wear the night before, he was humming the song while staring at his new shirt longingly.)






However, this day was the beginning of a new era of my life, a new phase, a whole different routine. Both my children are now in school; well, at least on Tuesday and Thursday morning from 8:30 to 12. So, I know it's not that big of a deal, a few hours a couple of times a weeek, but I was still a little overwhelmed by it. It has been a very long time since I have been home by myself. (And well frankly I was a little concerned, there is no Costco OR Target here, so how was going to spend my newly allotted time?) And then of course I got very nostalgic. I can not believe how time has flown by, and yes I did get a little teary eyed. I didn't bawl (I will save that for next year, when he starts kindergarten) but it was still a little sad. My fun, activity filled days with boys are gone until the summer, and now I have zero excuses for not cleaning my room, or having the ironing done.

It's a small world, and a big, big city

We had an AMAZING time in Disneyland!! The boys are the perfect age and could ride nearly everything, and saw EVERY show. We got quite the workout running anxiously throughout the two parks. This is not the best picture, thank you random man who doesn't know how to take a picture, but everyone needs a picture in front of the castle. (At least that is what my boys thought) Caleb insisted on wearing his 'Indiana Jones' hat (purchased at Gap, not truly authentic ;) at nearly every moment, which was actually kind of cute. And Ernie was constantly calculating how to best, and most frugally spend his Disneyland savings. (Caleb in contrast wanted to spend his money on everything he saw...but unfortunately he only had $26.)






Here are a few pictures of our favorite moments.







Ernie was chosen to be trained as a Jedi! Caleb didn't want to go up, but it was really fun to watch.






As many of you know, Caleb generally can be heard singing. After riding "It's a small world" he caught on to the tune rather quickly. So yes, we heard the song continually ALL day long. The next day however, the words became, "it's a big big city after all..." We got a few laughs out of that. And after seeing so many of their favorite characters, the boys decided that they really wanted to get autographs. So, we got quite a few pics with characters while we were there. (I will only post a few that caleb is in, he refused to take pictures with them! But he would get an autograph, he just thought posing for a picture was stupid) Oh, and don't worry, they wouldn't get any from any princesses or girls. That would have been "disgusting"!

BURIED TREASURE

We had an amazing vacation this last week. We spent 5 days at Disneyland, and took a day off in the middle for a little R&R. I decided to start with our day off from Disneyland, the day at the beach.
The boys loved the waves and would have stayed there ALL day!! I loved sitting there watching them. Big Ernie showed little Ernie how to 'body surf' and ernie had a ball. He just jumped in wave after wave. Caleb wasn't quite as aggressive, which is why I was able to get WAY more pictures of him! Here are a few of the many pics I took.



















We also had a ton of fun playing in the sand. They built an awesome sand castle (of which they were very proud!)


They dug in the sand all day long. Caleb would bury a few matchbox cars he had and then 'find' them again. Unfortunately, he eventually lost them for good, but he will make some other boy who's playing in the sand very happy.
They even let their dad bury them in the sand!! They thought it was hilarious, and it was the only treasure to make it back from the beach that day.

The attempted heroic rope swing

I promise I will get to Disneyland...... but while I remembered I wanted to post something funny about Caleb. A little while ago he was playing with his Indiana Jones rope (a rubber snake that doubles as a rope) and I came into the living room and he was throwing it aimlessly (it seemed) in the air. I asked what he was doing and he replied, "um, mom, I'm Indiana and I am trying to throw the rope over the fan so I can swing on it, but it won't reach. Will you please help me?" (With a very 'I can't believe you couldn't tell that I was attempting to swing' tone) As you can guess, I did not help in that venture and I requested that no swinging from the fan be attempted in the future.

Keeping his eyes peeled......he'll spot that castle yet

We are on our way to Disneyland. Caleb can hardly sit still because he's so excited. He just told us "dad, don't worry my eyes are peeled and when I see a castle, that is Disneyland." we're still an hour away so he will have to "keep his eyes peeled" for a while yet. Now let's all pray that he will be able to pass off a few intches so he can ride Indiana Jones! He has been humming the theme song the entire way in the car. We could also hear him humming it from his room long after he should have been asleep. We will have a very broken hearted boy if he can't ride, let us all pray........

Hangin with the Elliott's

I know this is a little out of order, but I am still working on getting some pictures that I need to post from the reunion.....so skipping ahead about a week.....
The day we got home from our Oregon road trip, my husbands family came to check out our new place! Angie, Ernie (yes, another one.....my little Ernie is the 4th, it can get a little confusing, just try to stick with me) Karli, Travis and his wife Amber, and my cutest new nephew ever Dillon all bunked up in our house. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and talking. The boys of course LOVED having them here as well and they even endured the heat!
We went and saw the bridge, and the boys were very tempted, but refrained from running through the fountains that are down there.

The next day we took them down to some other fountains and did let them run around- one of their favorite places to go and would stay there the entire day if we let them. (Karli did an awesome job getting pictures of everything... thanks)






We also got Amber and Karli to enjoy the lake as much as we do....even in the heat!



We went to Vegas and did some shopping and went to see the 'O' show (which was absolutely amazing). We had so much fun and are SOOOOO glad that you came to see us. It really meant a lot to us that you went to so much effort to visit. Having familiar people around made it seem more like home.
And just so you know, any of you great people reading this are welcome to come and visit us anytime. We are known to be quite the party animals! (Sometimes, when we have company, we even stay up until like 10 or 11 some nights! And I make a great cherry coke, at least my ma-in-law thinks so and she is defanitely an expert.)

Tilikum

 I am so grateful we were able to go on this trip with my family.  The boys had a wonderful time. We definitely missed Big E. 

Here are some pictures from the reunion and from the treck home, which was quite the treck :)