To Grande Prairie ... Friday morning we left for G.P. Our kids are such great travellers, we made a few pit stops and had a pretty uneventful drive north! We had a great time in Grande Prairie, visiting Cal's Mom, sister Carmen and brother in-law Darren, the Hrdlicka's (met the newest addition - Carson!) and the Bezan/Ross family! So great to see everyone :)
Last week, we also had a great afternoon with Lesley, Colby and Jenna :) A lunch/park/Twisted Yogurt date!! Lots of fun and so great to see 3/4 of the Stony Plain Cameron's! Blake and Colby are like two peas in a pod when we get together, off having fun and doing their own thing! Hard to believe both boys will be going to Kindergarten next week ... ?!
Which brings us to this week - our last week of care-free, do what we want, get dressed when we want, stay in our jammies all day if we want, summer 'vacation' ... preschool, kindergarten, dance and swimming lessons ALL start next week! Which will quickly be followed by hockey in a few weeks! We have had a FANTASTIC July and August and have thoroughly enjoyed our break! On one hand, I'm not ready for it to be over but on the other hand there is part of me that is craving the routine and predictability of the fall and winter months!! I enjoy looking at our family calendar and seeing everything pencilled in for the remainder of the year, all laid out before my eyes ;)
So, yes ... Blake starts kindergarten on Tuesday!! Tuesday marks his staggered entry day, when I will go with him for an hour and fifteen minutes. Wednesday, it is business as usual - class from 8:20 to 11:22 a.m. I am excited for Blake and I think the transition will be pretty smooth, being that he goes to school 4 mornings a week and I will have him home every afternoon and all day Thursday :) I love this schedule!! We got his bus route info last week and due to an early pick up time and riding the bus with all the elementary students in the a.m. we have opted to drive him in the morning. Most afternoons he will take the bus home, as it is strictly a K bus and he is dropped off at our door! Tomorrow we are attending 'First Riders' which is an info session on riding the big yellow bus!! Blake hasn't said too much about attending K. When asked he says he is excited and that is about it! He knows what recess is and knows that he will get to enjoy a snack and some play time at recess and that once he's in grade 1 he will have 2 recesses and a lunch break! That seems to be what he is concentrating on at the moment ;) Can't wait to hear all about his first day and of course I will be blogging about it :)
Emerson's new preschool does a staggered entry as well and her first day is also Tuesday! She will attend a full morning class on Tuesday and then start again the following Tuesday, beginning the Tuesday/Thursday morning schedule. We have a parent meeting tomorrow night. Em is excited for preschool and likes to tell everyone that she is going to 'Lago Lindo preschool'!! I am also excited for her and hope that she has a great year :) Emerson's 1st dance class is next Wednesday, which is very, very exciting for her!! She practices her moves everyday and asks when her class is starting numerous times a day! I registered her last week and have to still pick up her 'supplies'! They are very specific - a red, long-sleeved Mondor bodysuit, white Mondor tights, a specific pair of ballet shoes and a specific pair of tap shoes. I am a bit scared to see what the cost of all of this will be :s There is also a specific costume that we will have to buy, which will be worn for the pictures and for the one recital they put on! Can't wait for that :) The class is a combination ballet/jazz/tap class.
And Miss Reese is looking forward to a few hours of Mom's sole attention every Tuesday morning!! Funny, I thought with Blake in K and Em in preschool 2 mornings a week I'd have so much more time to myself/with just one child but it hasn't turned out that way ;) Which is more then okay! Reese and I will likely attend Come Play with Me at the YMCA every Tuesday morning and enjoy ourselves :) The girls and I will probably go to Come Play With Me on Monday's, as well! Reese is very excited to start swimming lessons next Friday! Just ask her, she'll tell you! She looooves swimming!! I can not believe the changes in Reese, over the past few months. Her vocabulary is absolutely astounding!!! She speaks in full sentences and surprises us every day! Today she asked me, "Mom? What are you doing?" I was so surprised, I said, "Pardon me?" to which she replied, "What are you doing, Mom?" Later in the day she was on the top bunk in Blake and Em's room (she is a MONKEY! Seriously, climbs everything and anything and is also a daredevil. Climbs up to the highest slide at the park and scoots down - over and over and over again!!), I went to get her off and she was standing up, jumping up and down, saying, "Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!" What a turkey!!!! She is fiercely independent, insisting on putting her own clothes on (and she often gets it right!), her own shoes on, brushing her own hair, feeding herself (still very messy at times) and even sitting on the potty!! She has yet to 'go' in the potty but has spend a lot of time just hanging out, which is fine by me! We're not pushing the training, just letting her sit on the throne whenever she requests it ;) Oh and Reese can count to 13. Really, I was totally surprised by this. She started counting and I would repeat the number back to her and she would continue all the way to 13!! She gets mixed up at 3 and 4 but other then that, counts away! Last night when my parents were over for dinner, she was show casing her counting skills, yelling at the top of her lungs, "ONE ... TWO ... " We were all laughing and she would pause and laugh with us! She's so darn cute ;)
Since his half marathon, Cal's been keeping up with his running! In my opinion, he's lost quite a bit of weight but every time I ask him if he's weighed himself he says he hasn't. Damn him anyways and men in general ... always seems like they loose weight so easily!! And speaking of which, I am really excited to start Kettlebells again next week. I've missed it immensely and can't wait to get back into it! We also have a family membership at the YMCA now and I plan to try out Zumba! I've wanted to try Zumba for over a year now and now I can!
Have a great week everyone, I will be thinking of all my fellow Mom's who have kids starting kindergarten next week :)
xo
Tracy
