Last Days of School (Catching Up June 2011)

Luke enjoyed each and every minute of school this year. He was lucky enough to have 2 wonderful teachers who loved him, and the feeling was definitely mutual.

It's hard to believe how much Luke has learned and grown since September. He's almost a full brick taller than the "Fall" picture! He adores school and can't wait to go back.

Jackson had a great year in 3rd grade. He learned cursive, participated in the Science Fair, and got commended scores on his first TAKS tests. He is ready for 4th grade, but he's also really enjoying his summer off. :)

The biggest transformation this year was Cody. He started Kindergarten still clutching on to Bear-Bear, cried in the mornings (and evenings) for the first few weeks (months) of school, and knew most but not all the letters of the alphabet. 

By June, he'd gotten comfortable with being away from me during the long days at school, was reading above grade level, and had fallen a little in love with his teacher. :)

I can't say enough about Mrs. J. She took such good care of Cody. She gave him love and understanding but also set high goals for him and believed that he could reach them. He has grown so much more confident and comfortable in his own skin over the last year, and so much of that is thanks to her. And he knows it. 

Here's Cody with his Mrs. J.

And here's the card he made to give her on the last day of school. The cover says, "did you know I love you?"

Inside, it says, "dear Mrs. J, i have loved being in your clas tise (this) yere (year). I will mis you so much." And the little sad person underneath is saying, "im criing (crying)."

And he decorated the back, too.

We weren't sure if there would be long-term academic repercussions to the brain tumor he had at age 2. He started the year with a broken arm. Motor skills have always been an issue. So you can see why we might have been nervous for him back in August. But Cody totally rocked Kindergarten, and he amazes us every day.

We're so proud of all three of our boys! They had a great year and have earned a vacation. :)

Crazy Hair Day (Catching Up 5/19/11)

On Crazy Hair Day at Jackson's and Cody's school, they can dye their hair wild colors and craft spiky do's with gel. Jacks was very excited to color his hair green, though with as dark as his hair is, it didn't show up too well in the pictures. We also sprayed some glitter on there, too, so he sparkled. He was thrilled.

Cody, on the other hand....was not. As you can see above. He said he wanted red and he wanted spikes, but right after we finished styling it, he asked if we could take it out. Unfortunately, we didn't have time before school started. I think he was worried he'd be the only one with wild hair, but I visited later in the day and his teacher had pencils sticking out all over and many of the girls had bright pink streaks. So he fit right in.

Luke was very jealous that we didn't make his hair crazy before his school day, but it wasn't Crazy Hair Day at his school and I didn't think his teachers would appreciate him showing up with a mohawk. But AFTER school....we went to town.

He loved his "fire hair."

Boston Trip (Catching Up 5/16/11)

In May, Jackson and I took a trip up to Boston to visit Kate-Kate. Jackson was so excited, not least because he got to skip 2 days of school to do it. He couldn't wait to explore a new city and visit his favorite aunt.

On our first afternoon, we went bowling....but not the ten-pin kind that we're used to. This was candlepin bowling. The balls were smaller with no holes for your fingers, and the pins were straight up-and-down and skinny. It was a lot harder than it looked! But we drowned the sorrows of our bowling disgrace in yummy banana bread, so the evening ended well. :)

The next morning, bright and early, we headed out to the U.S.S. Constitution. It's the oldest ship still in the water, and they take it out a few times a year. It was amazing. Despite its age, everything is polished to a shine, and we were in awe of everything: the ropes, the cannons, the flags, and especially the snazzy pants the tour guides were wearing ("traditional" costumes to look like actual Constitution sailors).

Note old and new side-by-side here...a modern crane parked right next to "Old Ironsides."

Clearly, Jackson and Kate-Kate are equally good at following directions!

Jacks was interested in the tour for awhile, but he enjoyed just wandering around exploring on our own more. During one of the guide's more long-winded speeches, Jackson took the opportunity for a little catnap.

If he'd been a sailor on the ship 200 years ago, he could have gotten more comfortable in one of the hammocks hung belowdecks...but they only have them now in the Constitution museum (where Jacks did try them out). Actually, he doesn't look that comfortable in the hammock.

Outside the Constitution, there were these enormous anchors. I liked the juxtaposition of this anchor with Jacks and the ship, but he clearly wasn't as thrilled.

But I like this one because it looks like he's holding up the anchor himself. Put your back into it, Jacks!

On our way out, we found another cool anchor, and you can see the Constitution one more time there in the background. 

Then we headed over to the WWII battleship right next door, the USS Cassin Young. 

We saw lots of really big guns and even a few bombs. Cool!

Our next destination, after a quick lunch: the New England Aquarium! We'd already had quite a busy day so far and been on our feet a lot, but Jackson was still raring to go, and I was pretty impressed with his stamina. See, still looks happy, right?

The aquarium was really cool! We saw some penguins, a big sea turtle, all different kinds of fish, sharks, frogs, starfish and stingrays.

Our favorite part was the jelly fish. I had no idea there were so many different ones, ranging from barely the size of the tip of your finger to bigger ones the size of melons. We spent a lot of time watching them and (trying) to take pictures of them.

The starfish were pretty neat, too. Jackson even got to touch one. 

Speaking of touching sea creatures...here's Jackson "petting" a stingray and a shark! We had touched stingrays several times before, but this was the first time with a shark. We were a little apprehensive at first, but eventually we worked up the nerve and it was a lot of fun! (And Jackson's souvenir of choice from the aquarium was a shark-tooth necklace...haha)

After a long, full day with lots of walking around, our feet were tired!! When we got back to Kate-Kate's place, she helped Jacks soak his feet in a little pedi-bath. He LOVED it, and it really rejuvenated his piggies for the next day. :)

On Saturday morning, we saw the movie, 'Thor.' Afterwards, we walked through Boston Common and took a ride on the swan boats made famous in one of our favorite children's books, "Make Way for Ducklings." 

We also visited the little ducklings themselves...well, the statues in their honor anyway.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Big Apple Circus! We saw jugglers, acrobats, clowns, and animals. We ate cotton candy while we gaped at the lady swinging from a big rope high above us...withOUT a net!! It was so much fun.

Finally, on Sunday morning before we flew home, Kate-Kate took us to the Science Museum. The first thing Jackson spotted was a Naboo Starfighter from Star Wars, and he just had to have his picture taken with it.

We went into a special butterfly habitat where Jackson's red shirt garnered him lots of attention!

We saw a really cool lightning show with giant Tesla coils which was very exciting since we had just watched "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" the night before (in the movie, one of the characters uses Tesla coils to set lightning to music).

And before we left, we tried on a new look....

We had such a fantastic time, seeing Kate-Kate and learning our way around her city. Jackson was so disappointed when it was time to leave and has been asking since when we can go back....which is always the sign of a good trip, right? When you're sad it's over and aren't ready to go home?

Thanks for introducing us to Boston, Kate-Kate! We can't wait to visit you again next year. :)