Week of Firsts

This morning was Erin's very first day of preschool, at the same preschool her big brother attended.  As it turns out, she has the same teachers he had, as well.  She at first said she didn't want to go to school this morning.  But then she remembered her backpack.  And then she was totally fine.  She wore her backpack to the bus stop with Dexter.  She played trains with her backpack on, before heading to school.  She wanted to wear it in the car and was disappointed to learn she could not.

She was NOT happy to have Mama take pictures of her before school.  She pretty much runs and hides every time I pull out my camera.  But I sang a silly song to her, and she ended up finding a smile.

As I was walking down the sidewalk to pick her up I saw her cute little face looking out the open window.  And I heard her cute little voice say "There's my Mom!  Giggle, giggle, giggle."  And that just made my heart smile.  And Dexter will say, Mama, hearts can't smile.  They don't have a mouth.  Ah, just wait, enormously large child.  One day I hope something makes you happy enough to make your heart smile.  Then you will understand that your Mama is NOT crazy.  At least not all the time.

The report from school was that she had a fantastic day.  Ms. Natalie said she's never seen a class bond so quickly, and make friends so quickly.  Erin said her favorite part of school was listening to music.  But she didn't dance.  Ms. Natalie said she didn't dance because another friend wasn't dancing, and that made Erin sad.  Oh, I almost cried right then and there.  Because that's my job as a mom.  My job is to raise kind and compassionate kids.  And I might have failed with the big kid.  Maybe.  There might still be hope for him.  But I think the little one is well on her way to being the kind and compassionate kid I hope for.  Til she beats on her brother.  And then I have my doubts about her, too.

Dexter had a first last night - his first swim team practice.  He is on the Mini swim team, and they practice three times a week for an hour.  It's a lot of swimming.  But his coach is awesome, and a friend of mine.  She's great with the kids.  Dexter had a wonderful time, and was very excited about "Goofy Laps" when they got to jump off the starting block and swim however they wanted to down to the other end.  Watching him dive off the starting block was... painful.  His poor poor belly.  But I was really impressed that he DID IT - it's higher than the diving board at the lake.  So he was very brave.  His friend Hannah, who he has known since he was 18 months old, is also on swim team.  She's a good friend for him.  Bossy.  Tells him what to do.  We're happy to have Hannah on swim team with Dex.

Aunt Christy came to visit for the weekend, and took her first trip to Dutch Wonderland with John and the kids.  Everyone had a wonderful time, and Christy said she can't wait to go back.  Erin rode the roller coaster and the kite flight for the very first time.  And Dexter very well might have ridden some things for the LAST time.  He is getting toooooooo tall.

I've had some firsts this week, too.  First three hours all to myself with both kids at school.  First time I swam laps in the pool since, oh, middle school.  I swam last week during Erin's lesson, and swam last night during swim team practice.  So I swam for an hour.  Which - owwww.  I also rode "my" bike (it's really Dexter's bike, but it's too big for him still) on Sunday and today for about half an hour each time.  Which - owwwwwwwwww.  Jeanne says my butt will break in eventually.  I am not sure I believe her, because right now it is simply broken.  I had my knee injected a few weeks ago, and my goal for right now is to work the crap out of it, so when the injection wears off I'll have either totally killed it, or made it better.  I'm working hard at PT, biking, and swimming.  And stretching.  Lots and lots of stretching.  We'll see what happens.  Hopefully something good.

Must go do something productive with the remainder of nap time before Dexter gets home.  First Grade seems to be going ok.  Maybe not so well when Dexter's lovely teacher tells him what to do, or how to write a letter.  But if everyone leaves him alone, school is great.

Swimming and Sunflowers

I must say, it's really really nice to be able to stay out all morning, and not have to rush home to get Dexter off the bus at 11:30.  It allows Erin and I to have all kinds of good fun in the mornings.

Yesterday morning Erin started swim lessons.  Guess who is her teacher?  Ms. Dana!  I was so delighted to see her.  I told Erin "This is who taught Dexter how to swim."  She's so kind, and so awesome.  And Erin only has two kids in her class.  It's gonna be a good swim lesson session.  Erin had a great time, and we got to play in the pool lots before and after her lesson.

After lessons Erin visited Child Watch for a little while so I could exercise.  And then, because we didn't have to be home any particular time, we went up to Kennett Square to find a field of sunflowers I had seen on FaceBook.  Totally worth the trip - the field was stunning, and Erin suffered through some photos, with the promise that if she smiled and looked cute, we could get to Beans and Rice that much faster to eat lunch.

Good morning.  Swimming.  Gym.  Sunflowers.  Beans and Rice.  Nap.  Awesome.

Beach Bums

So we're at the beach right now.  Well, technically, I suppose right now I am sitting on the couch in our beach house while Erin takes a nap.  Which was minorly disrupted by her tent falling off the bed.  While she was sleeping in it.  So, yeah.  That was entertaining.  But it fell off the bed at the beach house.  And everything is cool at the beach house.  So we tossed it back up on the bed, turned it a little bit, and she's off finishing up her nap.

The boys are really, truly at the beach right now.  At the ocean.  Dex called me to tell me the whole beach was flooded and the waves were huge.  So let's hope the boys come home alive.

This morning, as well as yesterday afternoon when we got here, we walked a block to the beach at the bay.  We're in Lewes. DE, on the Delaware Bay.  So our neighborhood beach is on the bay, with little waves, and little crowds, and it's pretty much perfect.  Dex wanted to see what the waves looked like at the ocean today (hint - HUGE), so the boys drove two miles down the road to Cape Henlopen State Park.  There is zero need for Erin to go there, as she won't even put a toe in the water here at the bay.  No way she's going anywhere close to the water at the ocean.

Here's way too many pictures of our two hours at the bay this morning.

It's super windy here today, and all the kite boards were totally taking advantage of the weather.  The bay was filled with them, along with a sail board or two (those things are so old school these days...).  It was really pretty cool to watch.

We're minutes away from the ferry that takes cars from Lewes to Cape May, NJ.  So once an hour or so we get to watch the ferry come in to dock, or leave.  I find it entertaining.  The kids are mostly over it, after seeing the boat yesterday.  It's old news.

Yesterday afternoon the water was warm warm warm, and the waves were pretty much nil.  Today it is windy windy windy, the water is chillier (but still WAY warmer than the lake!) and there's almost some waves.  John said the waves at the ocean were epic.  Too big to jump over, even.  But he said the price to park was well worth the jumpy flappy shriek-y joy that came from Dexter when he stood at the edge of the ocean.  That kid, man.  When he's excited he's not afraid to let you know.

Would not matter if there were big waves or little waves.  Princess here is NOT going in.  No way, no how.  She does, however, enjoy playing in the huge sand box.  And very much likes it when people build sand castles that she can trample.

Fortunately she did not see this amazing sand castle just down the beach from us.  Or it surely would have been a goner.

She did wake up from nap time (no more falling out of bed) telling me that her name was no longer Erin.  Her name was Godzilla Princess.  We thought that was pretty appropriate and have been calling her that for the rest of the afternoon.  Godzilla Princess, please come here and hold my hand.  Godzilla Princess, would you like some ice cream?

Dexter was in heaven.  And let's be serious.  This beach trip is really not for Erin.  I didn't think she'd like the beach very much.  This trip is for Dexter.  He looooves the beach.

I got him started jumping waves.  Sometimes on his own.  Sometimes with a little help from Daddy.

Meanwhile, back on the beach...  Erin practices her gymnastics.  And, what??  Is that a toe almost in the water over there?

That's 60 pounds of giggly wiggly kid John is lifting up.  He's going to be sore tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back at the beach...  Godzilla Princess found a throne to sit in.  Which was going swimmingly til she folded one up on her finger.  And then Godzilla Princess roared and cried and whined.

As a final bit of fun, John ran back to the house to grab a boogie board for Dexter to use.  He was highly entertained.  As a bonus, we discovered that boogie boards behave almost exactly like kites on windy days like today.

Thanks for the giggles today, Lewes Beach.  Looking forward to more tomorrow!