milestones

kindergarten!

Today was Owen's first day of Kindergarten at Zion Lutheran School. I still need to post about two vacations and the end of summer, but time marches on, seemingly uninterested in my inability to keep the blog up to date, so those will just be out of order.

Owen met his teacher Mrs. Messer when we visited the school last spring, and then we have run into her multiple times over the summer. She did a home visit last week. At first Owen was very shy, but he took her on a personal tour of the house and his toys, during which he opened up and showed her the sweet, talkative boy that he is. Since he was comfortable with his teacher and the classroom, there was no drama this morning, unless you count Mom's wet eyes. The school day started with a service in the chapel, after which each class was called to the front starting with pre-K and the kids met the teacher and walked out. Owen put on his shark backpack, gave us both a kiss and walked right up there to meet his new friends.

Owen had a great first day: he had a lot of fun, plus learned all of the logistics around pottys and lockers and lunch. He's looking forward to going back tomorrow.

We couldn't be prouder.

Some of Owen's thoughts on starting school:

Owen wasn't sad to leave pre-K, because he and his friend Oliver are going to be going to college together (so they can study to be airport ground crew).

Owen would prefer one school day to 100 days of weekend. Or even better one school day to 1,000,000 days of weekend. Mom and Dad agree.

Owen didn't understand why I wanted to take his picture on the first day of school since he's been going to "school" since he was 1.

party under the big top

After having so much fun at the circus in Vermont with Grandma Sally, Owen asked for a circus themed birthday. His original vision seemed daunting to pull off- he wanted to put on circus acts for his class mates- he and Laurel spent the next few weeks coming up with some circus acts. One involves him wearing a mesh box on his head. Another involves him balancing on his plastic giraffe. The last, named "old man beard walking" has him walking with a cane and him falling over.

Richard was confident that we would have a successful party, but to be sure, we hired an actual performer to keep the party moving- the Amazing Spaghetti, Dan Freed, a local magician and child entertainer. Owen invited his whole pre-k class, plus his usual playmates outside of school, and we had a great turnout.

The Amazing Spaghetti started with a magic show and included Owen in several of his tricks. Owen was a surprisingly willing participant- he made crayons disappear, made a coloring book fill with colors, and did some scarf tricks. The kids were a great audience and laughed the entire time. Then Dan pulled out a huge parachute, and we all played with it in the front yard. Dan moved on to balloon animals for all the kids, then drawings of Owen and Ben. He also kicked off the freestyle show- Owen and the rest of the kids performing for each other. Owen did all of his tricks, Laurel as well. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

We enjoyed clown cupcakes, present opening, and turns with the train set. The Muhly's and Delos-Reyes' stayed for dinner and for some sprinkler time and more kid shows.

Owen had a wonderful 5th birthday party- one I think we will all remember.

Many photos courtesy of Uncle Todd Muhly.

owen at 5

Growing like a weed, Owen just passed 4' and weighs 52 pounds. His hair grows fast too- a blond and curly mop that we tame with trimmers usually not as frequently as we should. Owen's strong enough to power his bike up the driveway, and cautious enough not to ride it into the street. His favorite things are his dad, his bubba and blankie, and his Playmobile toys. He loves being a big brother, but still learning all the implications- like sharing toys and attention. He continues to ask us questions rapid fire- eager to learn everything and will remember everything he's been told. He follows his dad's preference for non-fiction- typically books about planes or outer space and rockets- but will still crack up at a good Poppleton story. He loves flying and traveling, both for the journey as well as to see his grandparents. He and Laurel have become fast friends- we feel so lucky to have a cousin living so close. He's cautiously optimistic about starting Kindergarten in September. We know he will thrive!

the big five

Owen turned five on Tuesday. We had a really special day together, taking a day off of pre-K to have fun at home. Dad came at lunch and we opened his birthday gifts. He was thrilled with all the new loot and the day flew by playing with everything. The Muhly's joined us for the annual spaghetti and meatball birthday dinner followed by cupcakes that Owen had helped make. We are so proud of our bright and handsome 5 year old, and can't wait for the next exciting year.

dogs in vermont

Our second week on the east coast was spent in Vermont. Going north didn't mean an escape from the heat. It followed us there- but it was a good excuse for daily ice cream treats. We stayed with Grandma Sally, and there Ben met Amy the dog- his new best friend. The first weekend Maya dog (and her parents, Steve and Molly) were there too, so Ben was surrounded and in heaven. Owen made a discovery at Grandma's house: the treasures that await in the attic. Richard's mom has saved every toy that he and his 5 siblings ever played with. Before Owen had been plenty entertained by the Fisher-Price little people she had brought down for him. This year, those were passed down to Ben, and Owen focused on Steve's GI Joes. By the time we left, the entire front room was filled with GI Joe weaponry, housing, and vehicle of every type.

We made it to Vermont in time to share Thomas and Roger's birthdays with them. We spent it at Roger and Ivonne's with a picnic in the shade and a long swim in the pool, capping it with the annual donut cake. The next day was a repeat as the first, but this time we celebrated the birthday of the country instead of the twins. A group went to see fireworks that night- Owen tried but still doesn't like fireworks. He didn't mind the ice cream.

We spent a long afternoon at Thomas and Kathy's Farm/petting zoo. Ben tried to befriend the goats, while Kobe and Owen re-routed the creek. Those boys are either going to be great engineers or beavers. Owen and Kobe also were treated to Toy Story 3- I think the adults were more emotional about it then the kids but everyone loved it.

Aunt Nancy drove out to visit. We enjoyed mini-golf and some more ice cream with her, and when she left, Sally treated us all to Circus Smircus- a traveling New England circus, where all the performers are under the age 18. It was hot under a big top in the middle of a field, but both Owen and Ben were enthralled with the entire show. These were some amazingly talented kids and they put on a great show. It captured Owen's imagination such that he's still playing circus each day at home, and we about to host a circus themed 5th birthday party.

We had a lot of fun- overdosed on Steve's old toys, Kobe's new toys, ice cream, and doggy attention. The boys can't wait to head East again, and next time we will get to meet Steve and Molly's baby girl! We all enjoyed getting to spend 2 weeks together. Ben seemed to become a lot more vocal during the trip- now using 2 syllable words and a couple of rough sentences "it's a dog!" Owen was happy to get back to school to teach all his friends circus tricks.

ducks in virginia

We started our annual summer trip in Virginia for a week on the Rappahannock with my dad. Owen still loves flying and was an excellent traveler. Ben was not as amused by being stuck on a plane for 6 hours, but we all survived. Once the flight was over, Ben was in heaven. Grandpa's house has tons of birds flying by (ducks!!!), several neighborhood dogs coming over to play (dogs!!!) and Ben had a blast. Both boys enjoyed river bank beach time- watching the crabs (only Richard got pinched), splashing, looking for buried treasure. It was HOT and we visited the pool every day for a full family float, and Owen got to show off all his swimming skills. We went to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News and we all really enjoyed it- lots of excellent exhibits with the animals of Virginia, plus some animatronic dinos. Dad took us to a much smaller scale petting zoo down the road from his house which was equally entertaining for Ben- that boy is fearless- he wanted to pet the big ducks (emus) but I think they wanted to peck out his eyes. They also had goats- another word Ben knows- and another animal he now loves. Jackie and Kevin brought their baby Julia over for a visit- she was born while we were visiting last summer and it was wonderful to get to see her. Owen thinks that on his next visit he will want to go fast in Grandpa's boat, because he wants to see the house from the river. Something to look forward to!