Eli's FIRST First Day of School!

The youngest Bardwell had his first day of formalized education today!!  As I expected, Eli was pretty mellow about it.  I walked he and Micah to school; he seemed neither excited nor scared about the day.  Here's our big 3 year old in his first-ever 'first day of school' picture.

3 boys in 3 days:  Eli started school today; Kedron started on Tuesday, and Micah started yesterday.

Eli did NOT want his pic taken in front of the school (much to his scrapbooking mom's dismay), but he went right in, hung up his backpack, found his seat, and then wanted me to leave.  So I did!!

There were obviously very anxious parents there, dropping off their 3 year old babies for the first time; lingering by the door; finding a reason to go back inside; etc.  How did I handle it?  Let's see. . . at pick up time, one mom commented that she went home and cried for 45 minutes.  I, on the other hand, went home and jumped up and down for 45 minutes!!  After that, though. . . honestly. . . I realized that I was a little bit bored.  This will be an adjustment for everyone. . .

Micah's FIRST day of school: Then and Now

Here's Micah last year, as he started 4 year-old preschool:

And here he is today as he starts Pre-K!

Micah had a good day at school.  He got to be 'line leader' which he was very excited about.  He knows several of the kids in his class from last year, so that was nice too!  

Stay tuned:  someone else has his first day of preschool . . . tomorrow!!

Last Day of Summer

With Micah starting Pre-K tomorrow and Eli starting in the 3 year old room on Thursday, this is symbolically our last day of summer!  Ask me if I'm sad about that.  The answer is NO.   We decided to celebrate our last summer day with a trip to the zoo!  Here's Micah in front of our favorites:  Lucas and Sassy, the river otters.

Another zoo fave:  the train ride.  EVERY visit = a train ride.

This is the point in our day where Micah decided he'd stick out his tongue for every pic for the rest of the day.  Here I am with my two favorite blondes!!

Another Bardwell boy favorite - the "shake shake bridge". . . 

We had not been to the zoo since March, so the tunnel/window looky area in the big monkey cage was new to us.  We had done a LOT of walking by this point, and the boys were getting crabby, but this new addition perked them right up.

Can you see the monkey outside the window?

We also got to see the Sea Lion show for the first time.  It was good - would have been better if there had been some shade to stand in.

Afterwards, it was off to lunch at McDonalds with the playplace.  Notice Micah's tongue . . . again.  ..

What a nice final summer morning with my boys!!

Happy Birthday, Micah!!

Out with Thomas (his cake of choice for birthdays #3 and #4) and IN with a cool Hot Wheels cake!

Our camera was on a funny setting the entire party.  I didn't get a lot of good shots - here's our best family shot.  Why is Eli never looking at the camera??

Here's Micah and one of his beloved babysitters, Andrea.

ARrrgggghhh!  Now he can really pretend to be Captain Hook. . .

Friend Bryson trying out Screwball Scramble.

Micah and his very best gal pal, Vivi.  He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to "play fairy games with Vivi" during his party; but other than that, he had lots of fun.

Papa and Nana G with their eldest grandson.  Happy 5th Birthday, Micah!!

The Saga Continues. . .

I'm not sure anyone is actually reading this blog any more, but for those who are hanging in there, you will probably remember the saga of several kitchen items that were lost during our move to Yellow House.

Last night, I was craving very unhealthy Tempura, so we got out deep fryer out of the cupboard.  Imagine my surprise when I popped off the lid and found the Pampered Chef egg slicer, melon baller, and 2 meat thermometers that have been "missing" for almost two years, tucked away nicely inside our fryer!  I guess we should have fried food more often!!

So this leads me to believe that our missing plates and potato peeler are still somewhere in this house.  Anyone want to try to find them for me?

Rachel's Random Olympic Thoughts

1.  Bob Costas has not aged in like 30 years.
2.  Do we really need the shot put, the discus, AND the javelin?  If so, could we combine them into a "throwing things triathlon" and call it good?
3.  I am probably the only person who didn't know that "My Country 'Tis of Thee" is a rip off of England's national anthem.

4.  On behalf of women everywhere, THANK YOU to whomever decided that male swimmers can't wear the suits that cover their torso.  Thank you.
5.  Watching sprinters' faces in slow motion at the end of the race is really not attractive.
6.  I'm probably the first person to say this out loud, but I'm totally disinterested in Michael Phelps.

7.  If "being a bad loser" was an Olympic event, the gold medal would definitely go to the Russians.

8.  WHY is everything in diving so tiny?  Divers, if your butt crack is showing, it's time to go up a trunk size.  And can someone please give them a proper sized towel, rather than a wash cloth, when they exit the pool?

9.  If I could be guaranteed the body of an Olympic track athlete, I'd start running tomorrow.  Probably.
10.  Parents, here's a 2 word reminder of why it's so important to think through what you're naming your child, since their name could be repeated over and over at the Olympics some day:  Destinee Hooker.

11.  I can handle quite a bit of cheesy-ness in athletics (ice dancing, anyone?), but synchronized swimming is too much for even me.

12.  Sport I was most surprised to see at the Olympics:  Women's BMX biking.??.

13.  Olympics, I've really loved you these past 2 weeks, but my body is not equipped to stay up late every night.  I need to go to bed at a reasonable hour again.  Yes, I know I'm aging faster than Bob Costas, apparently. . .