UK

For those of you Wildcats out there...Remember when

we lived here?

took class here?

and spent hours studying here?

It's really hard for me to believe (and accept!) but my baby brother moved into those dorms today. He'll be making the trek past the library to Memorial Hall on those cold, rainy, and VERY windy days. (Remember those, too?!) We wish him only the best!

We had a good bye dinner last night and the boys took one more pre-college picture with their Uncle Luke. And, we miss him already!

Caleb's 1st Day of School

Today was Caleb's first day of preschool 4s! We actually went to open house last week and dropped off his supplies, met Mrs. Scheer, and even ran into some of his friends from last year, and since then he has been counting down the days until today. He was all smiles this morning...

Finding his cubby (That's Mrs. Scheer!)

One more picture!

Caleb also handed me a "Mommy Bag" from Mrs. Scheer before I left. It had a sweet note (to thank parents for entrusting her with their children), tissues (to dry Mommy's tears), and Hershey kisses (in case we needed a kiss from our little one). Isn't that thoughtful?! We've been so blessed with Caleb's previous teachers and I have a feeling that Mrs. Sheer is going to be just as awesome!

After school Caleb was all smiles so we went to the park for a picnic. He told me all about his day and was really happy about it. The highlight of the day was getting to use the "big kids" playground that he's looked at the past two years!

A conversation after school...

Me: So, tell me about playing on the playground. Was it fun?

Caleb: Yes! But, Mrs. Scheer had to talk to me since I made a cake and put it in someone's hair.

Me: What do you mean?

Caleb: I made a cake with mulch and got it in someone's hair.

Me: What did Mrs. Scheer say?

Caleb: She said I had to say I'm sorry.

Me: Did you?

Caleb: Did I what?

Me: Did you say you were sorry?

Caleb: Yes. But she didn't say anything! She didn't say, "That's okay, Caleb." I just stood there but she didn't say that! 

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we headed to West Virginia to celebrate Creed's cousin Blair's wedding. While Luke stayed back with Grandmom and Grandpa, Caleb was super excited about attending his first wedding. He did great during the ceremony and only talked once to ask, "When do we get to eat cake?"

Caleb looking good outside the church.

Blair looked so beautiful and was so sweet to the kids. ALL they wanted to do was dance with her and she did for quite a while!

These two...Caleb and Ava danced for hours! At one point we even had to take off Caleb's shoes because his little feet were covered in blisters!

Ava also snuck in a dance with Uncle Creed.

(Funny story...I took Ava to the bathroom and a lady from the groom's family asked, "Is this your first wedding?" and Ava responded, "NO! This is Blair's first wedding." The lady just laughed and said, "And we're hoping it's her last too!")

Sparklers as the bride and groom headed out!

The family rented out a bed and breakfast for the bride's out of town family to stay at and it was really nice. The next morning we took Ava and Caleb on a short walk to see the Capitol. I also had to prove to Caleb that the dome was gold and it wasn't simply the sun shining on it as he had insisted the day before.

(See Ava and Caleb with their arms up in the air?)

We also had brunch that morning and were able to spend a little more time with everyone before heading back. It really was a beautiful wedding and a great weekend.

Luke Lately

Here are some of the recent phone pictures I've snapped of Luke lately.

Splish splashing in the tub

(Now that Caleb is "like a grown up" and takes showers, Luke has more room to play.)

While he ate his popcorn perfectly while we were at Target, he decided to empty the entire contents of his bag into his lap on the way home.

By far, the vast majority of the pictures I have of Luke show him snacking.

Kings Island '12

Last Thursday we made our 4th annual trip to Kings Island. We love, love going each year and continue to be amazed with Caleb's bravery. The weather was beautiful- low 90s with blue bird skies (I think I reapplied sun screen to the boys like 4 times!) and since we went during the week, it wasn't too crowded. Luke had so much fun on his first trip, actually enjoying it more than we expected. We ended up staying for 8 hours- a new record for us, but with two happy boys, we just couldn't leave! And Caleb is already asking if we can go back!

First stop: the bumper cars!

Caleb loved shooting ghosts with his "boo blaster!" We loved the indoor, air conditioned ride. :)

Luke's first carousel ride. I took him while Creed and Caleb rode the little roller coaster and had to drag Luke off of it while he screamed bloody murder. Yes, it looked like I was abducting him.

So, Creed took him on another ride. And he didn't cry at all at the end. Ha!

First sweet treat- lemon ice!

I still can't believe Caleb talked me into riding this. It went up and down WHILE it was spinning in circles.

After riding rides that morning, we took the train to the water park.

 I only had my camera out for like 30 minutes in the water park but we had so much fun. Caleb loved all of the slides, especially the ones where he got to ride on a tube. Luke LOVED sitting at the edge of the wave pool and cracked up laughing every single time a wave hit him. They both also had fun running around the spray areas and swimming around the pirate ship. I thought they'd tire of it quickly, but we had to talk Caleb into leaving after four hours there!

Lunch at the park.

We've learned to take our own drinks, fruit, and snacks (for Luke.) 

After the water park we spent a few more hours riding rides since there were no lines at all!

Another annual favorite- blueberry ice cream!

On the way out we stopped and let Luke watch the fountains. He was amazed.

My very, very favorite picture of the day...

If you went to Kings Island every year as a child like I did, then you remember "The Beastie." I remember when I rode it and thought it was so high. Now it's called "The Woodstock Express" and this is a picture of the souvenir picture we bought. Hilariously cute!

More Water Fun

Earlier this week we went swimming at the pool in Marshma & Papa's neighborhood. The boys had fun swimming and Caleb was so excited to show them how he swims without his floaties.

Papa & Caleb

Luke is content to sit and play on the steps most of the time.

Using the rail to do a "flip."

Caleb swimming to Papa

Luke took a turn swimming with Papa too.

Wednesday we met our friends, the Dursts and Lathams, at the Zoo so the kids could play in the splash park. This was Caleb and Luke's first trip there, as I haven't been brave enough. We got there a little before 10, and since there were not that many people there at that point, it worked out great. By the time it did become crowded, the kids were ready to see the animals. It was a fun and hot day!