Third day of blogging. Third day of blogging mostly about Lily. Guess this is just her week.
How could I possibly post any backlog blogs when my little girl started Kindergarten today? It almost feels cliche to say since people have been posting on FaceBook for a month about their little ones starting school and where did the summer go and can you believe I have a third grader, etc, etc. But today, it wasn't cliche because it was my baby. My first one. She started real school. The school she'll go to for the next 6 years. When she is finished here she will be 12 years old. TWELVE. Yeah, so I'm sentimental and I'm getting a little ahead of myself. But. Still.
Before we left the house she came to me, hugged me tight around the waist, put her chin on my belly button and looked up at me. I looked into her deep brown eyes, and I could remember those same eyes looking at me as a baby, as a toddler, as barely a little girl. Her face has changed through the years, but her eyes, they are exactly the same. I said, "Lily, how did we get here? I can't believe you are in Kindergarten. When you were a baby, I couldn't imagine this day would ever come!" She just smiled hard at me with her squinty smile eyes and her happy dimple. 
To compare how she looked last year on her first day of school, you can see that post
here
We walked in together, even though she desperately wanted me to let her ride the bus today. I couldn't do it. I needed to see her get there. Be with her a few more minutes. "They don't let Kinders ride the bus to school on the first day." I lied. :)
She signed her name when she got there.
She hung up her back pack on her hook. She put on her name tag and she went off to play. She is the only Lily in the class, but there are two Emma's, two Claire's, and two Emily's. Wow. Not that I ever had any class/camp/etc. without more than a few Jenny's growing up, but 3x2 seems like a lot. The teacher has 24 students to keep track of.
The day was great. She liked "Criss Cross Applesauce, put your hands in the chocolate sauce" at circle time. She had a lot of fun, she made a great friend.
Over a year and a half ago I did an Interview with Lily. You can see the answers to that
here. My friend Jenn told me about her mom interviewing her on the cassette recorder before her first day of Kindergarten. I thought, wouldn't that be a cute little first day of school tradition, for all the kids? Each year, see how their answers change. I re-read her first one. I was impressed by the difference in her as I read it. And the same-ness. Even before getting this years answers. I remember
that her and it is amazing how different she is now. AND Wow did she love Addie. :) Now they fight a little more like sisters than what I'd like! :(
Sitting down before we started she said, "But I'm still in my jammies, is it just talking? Did you take those pictures of me tis morning? Mama? And you already got them on the computer? (meaning the pictures above)
So I was a little disappointed at how UNinteresting this year's interview was, but I'm still going to post it for record keeping sake. Stop reading now if you aren't a grandma! :) I'll try to write the dialect like she says things and also put my commentary in (parenthesis).
What's your name? Lily
How old are you? Five. N. A half.
What was special about today? having my first day of school
How did you get there? Mommy drove me
How did you get home? The school bus
What was the school bus like? It was very big, there were only six kids on it and it was so big. I sat next to my friend. I don't know her name. Tomorrow I'll come back and tell you that answer okay Mommy, it was either Emma or Emily. I'm pretty sure it was Emma.
What is your teachers name? huh. I don't know. I don't remember. Mrs O. That's it (we are going to call her Mrs. O for privacy sake this year.
What's your favorite color? Pink
What's your favorite book? B.O.B. books
What's your favorite song? All of them. Oh, "You got a friend in me" You know that song, mama? I like that one.
What's your favorite movie? Dora saves the snow princess
Television Show? Mickey Mouse
Who's your best friend? Rachel
Favorite Smell? Mandel bread smell
What's your favorite kind of candy? chocolate
Favorite Sound? I don't know. Is there any sound you can think of that you really like to hear? No. You just like things to be silent? Yeah silence (ha, yeah RIGHT kid!) Music, Talking, Laughing,?? Your sleep music? Yes! Sleep music! Mommy singing? YES!! Mommy singing. I like when mommy sings at bed time to me. (Ahh the power of suggestion)
What's your favorite instrument? Piano
Favorite thing to do at school? Everything.
What do you hope to learn this year at school? How to read. Anything else? No.
Don't you know how to read already? No (okay then-moving on)
What's your favorite game? Anywhere. What? The question was what game do you like? Like any game. Uno and Memory.
Favorite Food? Pancakes
Favorite thing to drink? Milk
What's your favorite animal? MonkeyWhat's your favorite thing to do? Scrapbook with Mommy (TRUE)
Outside? Play on the swing set
Front Yard? Chalk (what? even Addie piped up, 'what about widing bike Lilay?' I mean she does like chalk but not in the front yard)
Where's your favorite place to go? Safari Sams (honestly haven't been there in a year, too bad, you know since it's her favorite and all)
What's your favorite Toy? PenguinWhat's your favorite thing about Addie? Nothing, I can't think of anything. (What a CHANGE from last year's answer!
Okay, What color are her eyes? BlueAnything else about Addie that you want to share? nothing about thatWhat is your favorite thing about Bryson? For him to be my brother and for Addie to be your sister, (are you even listening to me, kid?)
Anything else about Bryson that you want to share? no. why did you say this will be pretty boring to daddy. (haha, oh you heard that?)
How old is Daddy? 37 (correct)How old is Mommy? I don't know. Guess. 3298 What makes you happy? Did you write 3298 for real. No. No I don't want you to write 3298. What did you write? What makes you happy? When Uncle Matt comes to my house.
Favorite Thing About Addie? She's my sister
What do you want to be when you grow up? An ackerbat in Cirque du Soliel
What is your favorite word that Addie says: Whateva
What is your favorite word that Bryson says: Whateva, mama, he said whateva for the first time today today
What is your favorite word?I love you
What is your favorite time of day? Waking up and going to school
What is your favorite way to have your hair? my bangs grew out in a french braid
What is your favorite Holiday? 4th of July
Why? We get all the candy. No Halloween. Why? We get the candy. And it's out Birthday months
What other holiday do you like? I don't have another holiday
What happens in June? Flowers
Whose your favorite character? June (should have seen that coming!)
What is your favorite day of the week? Friday. No Friday, Saturday, Sunday
What's your favorite room in the house? The playroom
Do you want to be done? Is there anything more that I could do?
What's your favorite thing about daddy? (Addie - I yuv him) Lily - Cirque du Soliel.
(Addie - 'mommy - I want you to write me. Not Lily. Me!'; Me - I just did Addie.; Addie -'You Ony wote one sing, I want you to white five sings')
What's your favorite thing about mommy? When you get to play with me.
What do you do with your kisses when someone kisses you?I wipe them off and they go in my head to give to other people and they make more kisses.
Do you crack your knuckles? Yes. Why? I"m trying not to but I can't help it. (Grrr)
What was your favorite trip last year? Going to North Carolina. Going to Sunriver.
What do you like about Uncle Matt? He's my uncle and I really really love him and he is so fun.
What about Grandma Lanie? She's my grandma and I love going to her house and I love spending time with her.
What about Grandma Carol and Grandpa Steve? I like to spend to time. And I love all of the wonderful things they give us.
Who do you sleep with? Addie
Anyone else - like your "guys"? Penguin, Bear bear, I have to sleep with Addie's bear bear. the bean beans bunny. Did you write the bean bean bunny?
What's the capital of Oregon? Um I know it. It's where Washington. Is that right? No. Salem
What's Oregon State animal? (We stopped here, she doesn't know these anymore and Addie was getting IRATE that it wasn't her turn to do the interview. Lily wasn't really paying attention and then Addie locked us all in their room. Luckily I had the computer and Skyped Julia to let us out. The girls thought this was one of the funniest things that had ever happened. Bedtime for bonzo. Bryson has a bit of a fever so bedtime for me too. Praying it won't be a long not for him. G'night. Only day 2 of school tomorrow. And 2 more orientations for Addie's preschool. Oh dear, going back to school is not made for the workin' mama. Lucky for me I've got a super AuPair and a very nice boss! :)
Unasked:
What States do you know?
What is the capital of New Jersey?
What is the NJ state flower?
What is the OR state flower?
Just when you think you can't get the perfect picture, you get the perfect picture. Three Generations worth. Incredible.
We walked in together, even though she desperately wanted me to let her ride the bus today. I couldn't do it. I needed to see her get there. Be with her a few more minutes. "They don't let Kinders ride the bus to school on the first day." I lied. :)
She signed her name when she got there.
She hung up her back pack on her hook. She put on her name tag and she went off to play. She is the only Lily in the class, but there are two Emma's, two Claire's, and two Emily's. Wow. Not that I ever had any class/camp/etc. without more than a few Jenny's growing up, but 3x2 seems like a lot. The teacher has 24 students to keep track of.
full of stuff, a quick trip to VooDoo Donuts, and packing up coolers of food, we were off. When we were pulling out of our driveway, Addie said, "Okay, evwebody, weddy to wok and wool". Very funny, little girl, who desperately needed a nap yet only slept for 30 minutes of the 4 hour drive.
The kids got on the bikes straight away, 
and we all unloaded and claimed bedrooms. The house had 5 master bedrooms and we figured out sleeping arrangements that worked for everyone. Bryson was happy in the closet of our master, 
and the girls were thrilled to sleep in the kids bunk room with their cousins.
We tried to push Addie through her nap without luck, she fell asleep in the stroller for a few minutes only to wake up a screaming monster version of her self. Good thing we were on our way out of the museum as it was. She screamed the rest of the way back to the house, (about 20 minutes) and when we got there, I took advantage of her overtiredness to give us both a much needed nap, cuddling together. I guess Lawrence, Julia, and the in-laws had the rest of the kids, but I was so busy snoring and drooling in Addie's hair that I couldn't say for sure. 
At around 5:30 pm I knew I needed to wake her or she'd never go to bed that night. So I took the opportunity to take some sleeping photos of her. Lawrence came in to wake us both and found me awake, standing on the bed snapping photos. :)
Lawrence and I managed to have a lot of fun together on this trip. We got along awesome and were both in a very good frame of mind with a relaxed attitude. See what taking away work does for the soul?!
Uncle Mark making yummy breakfast sausage for everyone while I fumbled with my coffee, and dripped vanilla creamer all over the floor due to a mutilated lid. :) Then we bathed the children, who managed to get dirtier and dirtier earlier and earlier as the week went on. A surefire sign that fun is being had. 
It was COLD in the mornings, as low as 29 degrees one night, so the coffee and fireplace in the morning was great. Lawrence even went for a run and then jumped in the hot tub after that day. Something I planning to do each night but was collapsing with exhaustion after kids were in bed, so didn't. Exhaustion and dry skin! I was, we all were, very under packed in the lotion requirement department. High dessert. Cold and dry. A few times I spilled water on the kitchen floor and Lawrence was able to just mop it up with his dry feet. His joke, not mine. Anyway, that day, we also went to the park, sans our two little napping guys who stayed with Julia, and had sports fun with Lily.
Jayme and I beat Lawrence and his dad in a soccer scrimmage (and that is REALLY sad considering I was wearing flip flops)! We played track ball, did the parachute, and once the little guys were awake, Julia call and we all packed up and went to the North Pool in the afternoon, 
Came home, had dinner and then did S'Mores that night.
Bryson reading books with Grandpa before bed
Since we didn't want to see the screaming monster inside our 25 pound blondie, we let her and I stayed home with her (can you say quiet house!) then she and I met the rest of the fam at the pool (we discovered the much better and WARMER South pool this time) after a solid two hours of sleep. 
Bryson again LOVED the pool, when I arrived he was just falling asleep and took a nap, wet, in his bathing suit, wrapped in towels in the stroller. 
Man, he was cute. When we got back to the house, we all got showered and ready for family pictures. Devin Miller arrived a few minutes early and we had 2 hours of photos taken. They were good, especially considering we had 6 kids and 7 adults, and it was hot and kids were tired and hungry. 
She had her work cut out for her, and everyone was rewarded for sort of smiling pretty with more S'Mores that night back home. 
Uncle Mark also found an old style popcorn popper with a big pot/crank and made some home made popcorn. It was yummy and we all agreed popcorn just tastes better when it's made that way!
It was fun to have some kidless time with them, and to be able to sit and talk uninterrupted. It's been 2 years since we had that with Lawrence's brother and his wife. Way too long. I think Day 5, Wednesday was my favorite day of the whole vacation. No plans, beautiful weather, good family, I thoroughly enjoyed it. We aren't at a stage of life where vacation is relaxing. 
It's fun, but it is not restful. This would be the day that was the most restful day if there was one.
all morning with cousins. Addie and Tyler still have a really cute special bond and they can't get enough of each other. I found them playing school and reading books together in the loft, just the two of them. After naps, McMenimans's Francis School for happy hour in Bend. I might have given Bryson his first tater tot, and he might have really liked it. 
Before bed Addie asked me how many more nights left, I said, 2 counting tonight. She said, "But I tot we have a whole week". The boys smoked cigars after bed time and tried to soak it off in the hot tub.
Happy 10th Birthday Jayme!! In the morning, she went with her dad on a horse back ride, and our nephew gave everyone a scare with what ended in an urgent care trip for what turned out to be an asthma attack caused by partially by altitude sickness. Otherwise, the day was awesome. We played games, rode bikes, pulled the wagon
, played ping pong (Lawrence REALLY enjoyed playing with his mom),
foosball, and finally ate birthday cake and MORE S'MORES!! Before bed, I told Addie it was the last night, and she said, "But I still have one more pull up left". Ha! That was her Advent Calendar of the 7 nights of vacation. But she didn't bargain for us bringing an extra.
On the last day, we packed up - headed to Sunriver Lodge to take some pictures and then hit the road for the 4 hr drive home. 
We had one more dinner with Lawrence's family before they got on the red eye back to NJ.
All of us!
Jayme, Cassidy, Lily, Addie, Tyler
Lily & Bryson with cousin Jayme
The Herman Family
Of course we had to get some of matching girl cousins too! 
Fishy Face