Back on Track

One of Brennan's favorite toys at Tyler's age was the wooden train tracks.  We have had the tracks tucked away for a while now, just coming out here and there to make an appearance.  But, I started thinking that Tyler might enjoy playing with the full set.  So, I put it together and I was right!  He's been having a ball playing with the trains.

He even gave me a nice pose for a picture.  After a couple of days of watching him pretty much destroy the raised track and me having to rebuild it every ten minutes, I ordered clips to secure the raised tracks to one another.  They are working great and he's not getting frustrated by having to play so carefully (this was actually not an issue with Brennan, but Tyler is used to the tracks at school that are glued down!)

While Tyler has been working on the railroad, Brennan continues to be busy with his Legos.  He built this tree house in one LONG sitting.  He was very excited to show off for the camera!

Kindergarten Field Day

It was kindergarten field day on Wednesday.  A friend of mine with a 2 year old daughter has a son in PM kindergarten, so we did a babysitting swap so we could volunteer at the event.  Here are some highlights of the day.  In the picture below, the kids had to move a hula hoop down the line without letting go of each other's hands.

They had to race in pairs against another team with a ball between their backs.

There was a beanbag toss where they attempted to land a bag on a alligator float.

One favorite of the day was the water relay.  The first kid in line would get water out of a big pail with a frisbee.  They then had to pass the water down the line, frisbee to frisbee and the last child poured whatever was left into a bucket.  Surprisingly, some water was making it into the bucket, but not much!

It was a fun time and I'm glad I got to go.  After the games, the kids enjoyed ice pops and Brennan was happy to leave school 20 minutes early with me!

Preschool Commencement Ceremonies

Although Tyler was just finishing up his first year at Kids Under Construction Preschool, every class gets to participate in the end of year commencement ceremony. As he walked in, he saw me there with my camera and was waving, pointing and saying, "Mom, I see you!" It was very cute.

Before the graduates came out on stage, the 2 and 3 year old classes sang a few songs for us.  Here they were singing about moving up.

Once the graduates entered, there was more singing before the younger kids were asked to sit down to let the graduates have their time to shine.  It was fun to see Tyler up there singing along!  It's hard to believe his school year is over, but it was a great experience and we look forward to more memories at KUC next year!

Dinosaur Park

On Monday as Brennan's swim lesson was wrapping up, I got great news from the pool deck supervisor - Brennan was ready to be promoted to the Seal level!  He had been working at Angelfish for about 8 months, so I was very happy with this news!  In the Seal level, he will learn to do the freestyle stroke with breathing

We normally go grocery shopping right after swim lessons, but with the news of his promotion, he asked if we could go to a playground instead.  In light of this achievement, I felt like it was worth agreeing to his request and we headed over to Dinosaur (Ashburn) Park.  I had never been to this park before and I couldn't believe how nice it was.

 The boys had a lot of fun playing in the different play areas.  The equipment was split between three sections, in a beautifully wooded lot.

Brennan liked the rock wall a lot.

I ended up chatting with another mom who told me that there was a stream if I headed just a short distance down one of the trails.  The boys seemed excited to see water and very willingly left the playground equipment to check it out.  They collected rocks along the way.

Sure enough, there was a stream, with a little bridge passing over it and the boys were enthralled.  Brennan realized pretty quickly that if he tossed something in on one side of the bridge, he could watch it pass through the other side as the current took it.  (It was like 6 inches deep... nothing dangerous!)

We took a bit of a nature walk along the path, but the favorite part was to stop by the water's edge and throw in rocks!  It was such a nice park trip, we will definitely have to go here again!

Fun at Home

Tyler has taken an interest in cooking.  We had so many extra bananas a couple of weeks ago that were getting to the over-ripe stage, so we made banana bread.  Tyler helped mash bananas, put the ingredients into the mixing bowl and he was surprisingly good at cracking eggs (Brian apparently taught him how when making waffles!)  He followed instructions about what speed to set the stand mixer on.  The process was a lot of fun, but he had no interest in eating the bread after it was done.

We've had quite a few caterpillar sightings.  Brennan was thrilled to pick up this little friend and even kissed it. 

Tyler didn't like how the caterpillar felt in his hand and after dropping it, he decided to pick it up with a leaf.  The leaf was Brennan's idea.  I think he thought he might get to see the caterpillar put the "Hungry Caterpillar" story into action and chomp through the leaf, but of course it doesn't work that way!

We've had a couple of hot summer-like days and used the little pool to cool off.  We tried coaxing Zelda in, but she wasn't too thrilled.

Debby and Joe were in town over Mother's Day weekend and brought their dog, Andie, with them.  I didn't get a good shot of the two dogs together, but it's funny seeing them together now.  They look about the same size, but Andie is such a playful puppy and Zelda is a couch potato.  The two had fun playing together though and Zelda was particularly intrigued by some of Andie's toys.  Zelda snatched the peanut butter filled Kong pacifier from Andie and wouldn't let go of the thing!  Thankfully, Andie was a good sport about sharing :)  I just thought it looked so funny to see Zelda nursing a binky!

Mother's Day

On the Friday before Mother's Day, I headed into Tyler's school for the Mother's Day Tea. Since Brennan gets out of school at 10:50, he got to come with me. It was a lovely time.

My girlfriend, Sandra, also has a daughter in Tyler's class. She and I met two years ago, when Brennan and her older daughter started preschool together.

We all had an assigned place at the table with a gift that the children had made and a questionnaire that had been asked of each child. Tyler's really cracked me up. I can't believe "beer and wine" came out of his mouth as his response to what Mommy loves to drink. For the record, he has answered, "iced tea," every time I've asked him that question since!

 

Here are the crafts that Brennan and Tyler made me for Mother's Day.  Tyler's is the hand-print on a tile, Brennan made the other two at school.  He also made a beaded bracelet for me at the craft table.  I thought that was very sweet because instead of choosing the Lego center for his free center day, which he usually does, he chose the craft table so he could make it for me.

Brian really impressed me this year. He got the kids organized to make a hand-print canvas frame for me. Brian and the boys made me feel very special.  Thank you guys!  I love you!

Brennan's First T-Ball Game

Monday night was Brennan's first t-ball game. Unfortunately, it was drizzling, but the fields were open and the coaches decided to play. I think it was a good decision. Brennan was very excited about his first game and didn't even complain about having to tuck his shirt in - something he usually doesn't like doing.

Before the game started, Coach Mike did a little warm up with the kids.  Brennan is number 9 and has a red glove.

The kids were assigned random positions that changed each inning.  Brennan started as third baseman.  All the kids and nearly just as many dads were on the field, directing the kids what to do.

In this league, for t-ball, every player gets a turn at bat in every inning.  They get to run 1 base per hit.  The last at-bat gets to run all the bases and brings everyone home.  That means there really is no score and no winner or loser.  It is just fun.  Both of Brennan's hits were very good - low and right down the line past the short stop.

Here is he is running to first.

Tyler and I came prepared for the rain - seats, umbrellas, raincoats, gloves and a blanket.  At this point, the rain had started coming down a little harder and Tyler was getting cold.  However, overall, Tyler was a great companion and was willing to remain seated as long as I kept giving him lollipops!

The game only lasted two innings before the rain really got out of hand and the coaches called it.  It really was fun to watch and to see Brennan so excited.  The season runs until June 14 and I think it's going to be a fun one!