Zoo field trip with Noah

This year, I had not been able to chaperone for a single field trip for Noah's class.  To be fair, there was only two other ones, but I never had someone to watch Elliot.  So I volunteered for the final trip of the year, Zoo day, way in advance determined to find someone.  Luckily, my sister, Sam, has graduated from college and just finished a long-term subbing position so she was willing to watch E.  It was a very hot day.  My extra kid had a schedule conflict and was going to meet us at the zoo later in the morning.  I understood his mom would call me when she got there and we'd meet up.  Easy Schmeasy.  I only was in charge of Noah for awhile.  I then got an extra kid, since his chaperone's son was sick.  

I love volunteering at school.  It's really fun and hysterical watching the kids together.  They are just so funny.  It's also hard work and makes me really appreciate the teachers.  They work so hard.

This is Noah & Gavin on the bus to the zoo.  Riding the bus is such fun for them.

The group of kids we spent the day with, waiting on the Tram to take us to Africa
(Sam, Maddie, Delaney, Charlie, Oscar, George, Gavin & Noah)

These goofballs were putting on the most hilarious "show" for us on a stage

Waiting in line for the carousel

Oscar & Noah doing their best fish face

Fin & Noah on the bus ride home.
Finn was my "charge" that came late.  His mom ended up staying with us for the field trip & we had a great time.

 

Having a ball

On Sunday, Mandy and I took Noah and his friend to the Royals game.  Weather-wise, it was almost perfect, except for a few sprinkles here and there.  It went much better than last year, when I spent about a third of the game in the bathroom with him and his other friend.  

Noah is more interested in the eating than the game itself.  It held his attention a little longer this year, but not by much.  With all the vendors walking around offering cotton candy, lemonade, shaved ice, peanuts, etc, his head was pretty much on a swivel.  

We watched the game until the 5th inning, then went to the outfield to enjoy the kids' section.  He and Finn raced each other in the base run, rode the merry-go-round and played on the playground.  The wind was whipping so hard out there, it blew huge amounts of water out of the fountains and over the crowd and concessionaires.  Great fun, especially when you're not expecting it.

Eventually we made our way back to the seats for the final innings and then the boys got to run the real bases.  We were taken onto the field from the 3rd base side, walked around the outfield and then ran the bases.

We lost 13-5, so it's not quite your time, Royals. 

Eating a pretzel while enjoying the game.

You can see how well-attended the game was in later innings.

Running the bases

Waiting for dad and mom at home plate

Slugger snuck up behind us.  Both boys got to give him a high-five, but they were too quick for good pitures.

Another snack.  

Dodging the rain.

Popsicles in February

Lunch Date

A couple of weeks ago a friend in Noah's class had his mom come to eat lunch with him.  It never occurred to me that parents could do this.  I set up a date to come on a Tuesday so Elliot would be in school.  Noah forgot about it and I didn't remind him today.  I showed up to recess about 20 minutes before they go inside for lunch.  I watched him play for awhile before he saw me.  He got a huge grin on  his face and ran for me, excited to see why I was there and even more excited to see the Mr. Goodcents bag that contained our lunch.  It was a beautiful day in the low 70's, but very windy.  I loved watching him and his friends play, and then lining up to go to the cafeteria and eat with them.  90% of the time Noah's lunch contains peanut butter and since we didn't have any today, we sat at the peanut free table.  It was such a fun day!  I loved seeing Noah in the school setting getting along so nicely with his friends and playing.  Also watching him following all the rules and routines was hilarious to me.  The teacher blew the whistle and he jumped off that swing so fast and ran to get in line.  Cracked me up.  I think I need to buy a whistle.  Then they all lined up perfectly and before heading in to the cafeteria they said their prayer.  I loved being a part of it his day.  PreK is pretty fun stuff.

Noah and his good friend, Finn

Noah swinging

Lined up for lunch (John, Gavin, Benjamin, Noah, Finn, Oscar & George)

Benjamin & Noah

my lunch buddies

Beautiful "Sprinter" day at the park

"The Winter that isn't" continues. Or as one local meteorologist has termed it, "Sprinter". I love it! It was 65 degrees yesterday! As soon as Elliot's nap was over we headed straight for the park. We packed snacks, water and the boys' bikes. Once we got there we realized Elliot's bike had been broken. GASP! (more on that in a separate post coming up). Noah was able to ride his though and they both managed to entertain themselves and have a blast for 3 1/2 hours. Yes, I said 3 1/2 hours. Playing on the playground, running/rolling up and down hills, playing in the dirt piles on the baseball field below, riding bikes (Noah), playing with friends and making new friends. We stayed until it was dark out and everyone was getting hungry. I LOVE days like that. I will miss the freedom to just spend hours playing in the park with no worries about other responsibilities as the kids get older. I long for more of these long days at the park.

Snow Day

Today started out early.  Noah woke up at 5:30 for some reason.  His coughing fit woke his brother up, too.  They were already both dressed when the phone call came from school that it was going to be a snow day.  I was surprised as it wasn't much snow, but it was still coming down.  And we haven't had any real snow this year, except for a dusting.  The kids hit it early, while it was still dark.

Hot Chocolate already at 7am

Noah went for round 2 with Hudson, going back and forth from our house, to his. Shoveling our next door neighbor's drive (or parts of it).  Then he went with Hudson to Suicide Hill.  It was early.  I was still in my pajamas.  Apparently they were the only ones there and had a blast with the hill to themselves.  Once he came home to warm up, it was time to head to the YMCA for Elliot's first swim lesson.

Elliot did great.  He's the youngest in the class and jumped right in.  He has no fear or nerves whatsoever.  He's swimming short distances under water, but still not holding himself above the water yet.  I'm thinking we can get him swimming by this summer though.

With the early wake up call and all that outdoor play, I made the kids BOTH nap today.  Noah went down pretty easily when I told him we'd go sledding at Suicide Hill when he woke up.

I went up and opened up the shades and turned off the fan (white noise) to wake up the kids after 2 hours.  Noah got up pretty quick.  Elliot was another story.  Man, was he sleeping soundly.  And it took another 30 minutes to get him up.  Look how peaceful he was sleeping.  He still looks like my little baby when he sleeps.

Not only did we head to Suicide Hill, but we met Noah's friend and classmate, George (and his older brother and dad).  Noah and George mostly stuck together and were crazy daredevils.  We all started on the more gently sloped side.  Noah and George kept moving north to the steep side.  Before it was over they were planning routes to go over ridges and have "jumps".  Crazy kids.  Elliot and I sled together mostly at first, but finally Elliot got brave enough I got brave enough to let Elliot go down alone.  He just giggled.  He also wanted to go down with Noah and George a couple of times.

We ran into another classmate, Gavin, and his dad.  So much fun for the boys to get to play together in the snow.

Elliot ready for a wild run with the two daredevils.  Noah warned him on the last one "Elliot we are going to do a jump.  Are you sure you can handle that?"  Elliot said, "yes, Noah".  Well that jump was pretty scary.  It ended in a harmless crash, that scared little E, but he was ok. I thought it was so sweet of Noah to be concerned for Elliot and warn him.

Noah and George were preparing to do a final "jump" and I was set to video it, when they kept accidentally letting go of the sled and then sliding down on their butts halfway.  Noah somehow got both boots of his feet and was in the dirt and wet snow in his socks.  I declared it time to go.  We were there for well over an hour.  The kids were wet/dirty/worn out.

What a fun day.  We spent the rest of the day in the house hanging out.  I think we'll all sleep good tonight.

Just another January day in the park

We have not taken for granted one mild day this winter. Winter finally hit last night, but I can't complain. We made it a long time! This is Elliot with Nona Grace and one of her friends from school, Ski. Elliot missed the cutoff to start in Miss Diane's class this year by 20 days, so he's not in school with them, but they'll be in the same class and will all be in preschool together next year. It was fun to watch Elliot join right in with the girls running around and playing.

Park in January

It has been an incredibly mild and wonderful winter thus far. Today is supposed to be the last mild day in the 50's before it starts feeling more like January in Missouri. We have not taken any of the nice days for granted. Here is a sweet picture of Nona Grace and Elliot swinging together on the baby swing the other day at the park. Lately they have become such good buddies and play together so nicely. Elliot says "Nona Grace is my best friend" all the time and it's so sweet. They are going to have so much fun on the beach vacationing together over Spring Break. What a lucky couple of kids.

Back to school

We had a fun Christmas vacation.  But, by the time January 5th rolled around, we were ready to get back to school.  And by "we" I mean me.  Lots of family, lots of celebrating, lots of running around, and then lots of lazy days in pj's playing legos.  It was time to get back to routine.

A day with a high of 67 in January made for a great first day back to school.  I promised Noah we could play on the playground.  We stayed for about an hour after school let out.  He and his friends had a great time just playing in the dirt.

This is him with Madeline & Scarlett building something with dirt.

Colin & Delaney got in on the action, too.  They were so cute.  And filthy!

Men in the kitchen

Mandy was off getting a haircut, Noah was with a friend and it was just Elliot and me in the house.  I've been doing some experimenting with various recipes lately, so I decided to give another one a try.  I enjoy cooking, but I don't get the chance to do it often.  I figured Mandy would be home soon and she could give it a try.

With my little helper, we made Eggplant Tricolor - roasted eggplant with a topping of cherry tomatoes, capers and yellow bell pepper that had marinated in red wine vinegar and olive oil.  Topped with buffalo mozzarella crumbles.   I thought it tasted pretty good, but I didn't get any other takers.

Elliot was excited about it right up until the time I asked him if he wanted to try it.  "Nooooo, I don't like that."  He wanted Cheez-its instead.  He did tell me I was his favorite daddy, though, so I didn't go away empty.  I asked Noah, who had come home right before we finished, but his friend came over and they made their own creations - crackers with American cheese and peanut butter.  They both declined, saying they didn't like eggplant, because it tasted like eggs.  Mandy never got a chance to try it, as her appointment went waaay long, and we ended up taking cousin Charlie out for pizza later.  

We all had fun with our recipes though, and had some good male bonding in the kitchen.

It's pretty, at least. 

My little helper. He kept wanting to flip something with that spatula.

Peanut butter and cheese crackers...

After awhile, it was like an arms race to see who could make the biggest cracker sandwich.

Fun with friends

Something about the Fall makes spontaneous play dates even more fun.

Lunch Bunch

The place Noah and Elliot take Gymnastics classes started something new called "Lunch Bunch".  It is for ages 4+ and it's a three hour drop-off.  They have open playtime, eat lunch (that you send) and do a craft.  It's from 11-2 every Friday.  It's new and no one has taken them up on it yet.  So I got a couple of Noah's buddies a few weeks ago and signed them up.  They were the only three there and had the huge place to themselves.

When I picked them up, they were all sweaty and red-faced and came running up to me excitedly and asking if they could play hide and seek just one more time.  According to Brina, the activity director, they played for 45 minutes, ate lunch & did a craft for about 45 minutes, then played non-stop the rest of the time.  They had a blast!  We are already planning one for next month.

These three kids met when they were babies in the same playgroup through Brookside Mother's Association.  Once our second babies came along and a lot of the older kids started doing different preschool days our playgroup kind of gradually just quit.  Murray & Noah have stayed buddies since his mom and I have stayed good friends, and even though Sidney's mom and I have kept in touch and do the occasional mom's night out, Noah and Sidney didn't remember each other when PreK started this year.  Now they are all in the same class and friends again. It's so cute seeing them together and having memories of them running around as toddlers playing at the park.

Sidney & Noah back when they were little

Noah, Jack, Liam & Murray celebrating 2009 on New Year's when they were 2!