First Day of Kindergarten

On Monday August 20th, Kai's elementary school had an open house.  We left Finn with Megan, the boys' sitter, and headed on over.  We had several things to do that day--we needed to find Kai's classroom and meet his teacher, pay our fees, drop off school supplies, and get Kai's Z-pass to ride the bus.  (It's a new system this year that allows the district to charge for bus rides, and also track the kids as they get on and off the bus.  The buses also all have GPS trackers.  I think this could be a very good thing for some of us over-protective types!)  We managed to get it all done and that was it.  It was time to wait for the first day of school.

The Bear Creek Bear

School officially started on Tuesday August 21st.  However, the first two days the kindergartners are split in half, with half going one day and half the next.  All of the kids will go together for the first time on Thursday the 23rd.  Kai attended today (the 22nd) with 5 of his other classmates.  (His class only has 13 total kids!) Since he is in the afternoon class that doesn't start until 12:50, we took the morning to pick up Reid from work and eat brunch at IHOP.  Kai loves pancakes and really enjoyed his funny face.  Finn entertained us all by ordering a bowl of broccoli and pretty much eating the whole thing (while dancing in his high chair).

After IHOP we had an extra half-hour or so, so we headed over to the park near the school.  We called our friends that live across the street and they joined us playing.  Finally, it came time to say goodbye.  Finn, however, didn't want to leave the park, so my friend took him for me and then Kai and I headed over to the front of the school.  There we found Ms. Korte waiting outside for everyone.  Once all of the kids arrived, she lined them up and marched them into the building.

Kai also took his first school bus ride home today, which was quite exciting for him.  Finn and I arrived at the stop a bit early and anxiously waited for him. Kai ended up being the first off of the bus and came running right to us.  We were all excited to be together again.  From Kai's report, he had a great first day of kindergarten and is looking foward to going back tomorrow.

Without a nap Finn gets pretty tired

Catching a glimpse of the bus.  Kai's stop is only the 2nd one on the route.  He gets home quick!

The end of a good first day!

On the way home Kai asked to pick some flowers to make me a bouquet.  He also had drawn me a very special picture.  Unfortunately, his water bottle leaked in his backpack and caused the picture to tear.  So, he just drew me a new one instead.  I LOVE this kid and I'm so glad he had a good first day.  I hope it just keeps getting better!

My very special surprise from Kai at the end of his first day of school.

The Last Weekend of Summer

With Kai starting Kindergarten this year and the summer coming to an end, we tried our best to get in some last minute activities.  On Friday we made a spontaneous decision to go to the zoo right after lunch.  We had a good time with no real agenda except to have fun together.  I let the boys pick which animals we were going to see, so instead of following a normal pattern around the zoo, we skipped around picking and choosing.  We were excited to see the 3-day old baby gorilla, and we walked in right at the end of a bird show.  After nearly a dozen trips to this zoo, I had NO idea the birds were there!  So, that was neat.  It was a fun afternoon that we topped off with some yummy gelato (cantaloupe flavor!) before heading home.

The baby giraffe was released into the exhibit.  We had seen a couple of times before
but were excited to see him out with the others.  He's only a month old.

The baby gorilla.  Sorry for the blur, but there was a huge crowd, so I had to zoom a bit.
And then, of course, there's the glass between us and the gorillas.

No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on the train.

On Saturday we headed up to Denver after lunch to check out the children's museum.  The kids had a great time, although we did end up splitting up a bit.  There were several exhibits geared toward older age-ranges and so Reid and Kai tackled those together while Finn and I enjoyed the younger crowd.  It was also fun to see a nice park right next to the museum as well as a trolley ride.  We didn't get to ride it, but I'm sure we'll have to make time for that on a return trip.

Finn fell asleep right before we got to the museum.  He was "borrowing" Daddy's sunglasses.

Building a rocket with his dad at the rocket launch station

Finn liked watching these scarves fly up in the air.

Using real tools at the building station with dad.
This is where Finn and I took off.  Finn does not need any encouragement with a saw and hammer!

Finn loves to get behind a cash register no matter what store we are at.
So, instead of shopping in the grocery store he assigned himself the cashier position.
All of the girls were so excited that he ended up with quite a long line.

Crawling around

Trying to catch a bubble in the bubble room

Do you see the bubble Reid and Kai are standing in?

More fun with bubbles

Big bubbles!

The train room

The outdoor water exhibit

Kai got soaked!  Good thing I planned ahead and brought both boys a change of clothing.

We ended our visit in the under 4 year-old room.  Kai got to wear this really cute vest.

Going fishing

This only lasted a second.....

and then it was this!  :)

We topped off the night with a trip to The Old Spaghetti Factory.  Kai has now declared that it is his new favorite restaurant, and I can't blame him.  We were visited at our table by one of the best balloon men I have ever seen and the kids were quite entertained.  The food was good, too.  I'm glad that we discovered it and ventured into downtown Denver a bit more.  I still think we have some more exploring to do up there.

Waiting for a table

Kai requested a snake

Finn wanted a giraffe

It was a good and busy two days, and a great way to end the summer.

Brother Time

This is Finn's reaction to seeing Kai after church on  a Sunday that Finn had to stay home.

The boys were invited to a birthday party earlier this month and instead of goody-bags she
actually handed out presents to all of the kids.  Kai and Finn got painting projects and
we had a good afternoon doing them together.  This is a fantastically sturdy tractor.

Kai got a soccerball to paint.  He did a great job!

Something that you will find at our house at least twice a day

Ahhh.....Finn loves to tease Kai.  He will chase him around the house with anything he can find.
Some of these items have included:  knives, sticks, chip clips, and more.  I ordered this foam dagger
thinking that instead of continuing to bang my head against a wall while telling him to stop, maybe I
could redirect this into something good.  The picture showed two swords and two shields, but the set
only came with one of each.  So, naturally, Finn has claimed the sword and Kai the shield.  That reminds me,
I need to order another set!