Thursday was Carson’s first day of school and Riley’s first day of school at her a.m. Kindergarten. Another first day meant I got to buy her another first day of school dress.
She picked this flower for her teacher.
Carson ready to go. Note the cooly slung backpack.
Helping his sister find the way.
I think this may be the cutest back to school picture ever.
Monday: Riley’s 1st day of kindergarten. I am now the parent of two school aged children. No more babies, no more toddlers, no more pre-schoolers. It’s bittersweet, but I am so proud of my big girl. She has been waiting for this all summer and was thrilled to get back to her Montessori school where she will be attending in the afternoons. Public school, all day for Carson and mornings for her, starts on Thursday.
Ready for her big day.
Superstar
Yesterday, I started my new job in the Elementary School library. So far, I love it. I’m just getting to meet the staff and teachers. There are so many names to remember, but I’m sure I’ll get them all eventually. You know, with the limited amount of brain cells that my children have left me with.
Carson, who has always been more of a fringe sports fan, has been very into the Olympics this year. He gets so excited cheering for the U.S. Team and especially cheering for Michael Phelps. After Phelps’ swim tonight I was screaming “How did he do that? How did he do that?” Carson looks at me and says “Mom, he swam faster.” Well, why didn’t I think of that?
While in Cleveland I made it a priority to visit with some friends old and new. On Thursday, Carson, Riley and I went to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to meet up with an online friend of mine and her two boys. We had such a great day, hanging out, chatting, being exposed to copious amounts of monkey genitalia. You know, zoo stuff. The kids all got along great and had a wonderful time exploring and learning about the animals together.
Carson’s favorite part was the Animal care center where they have glass windows and he was able to watch a veterinarian and his staff preform some basic procedures on a small animal. He was fascinated and still is talking about how cool that it was to watch the doctor work.
Lounging Leopard
Lunchtime for Tortoise
Inside the butterfly garden.
I almost walked right into the branch that this guy was sitting on.
Anyone know what these are? They were hanging from a tree and I thought they were so cool.
Riley the roo
After the zoo I dropped the kids off with my mom for dinner at Red Robin and I headed off to Mayfield to see Lisa, Corey and Lisa’s mom. While at their house I got to play Guns & Roses Pinball, a Japanese Speed Racer slot machine and Rock Band for Wii. It was a blast, I did suck ass at the drumming portion of Rock Band but had fun none the less.
Lisa and I then headed off to get pedicures at a nail place near her home. We both chose the same color nail polish which when applied was much brighter than anticipated. I ended up with Smurf Toes. That’s okay because the pedicure itself was relaxing and it was wonderful to be able to sit and talk to Lisa and not have to worry about anything else while getting pampered.
No trip to Mayfield would be complete with a trip to Pizzazz Pizza and getting a salad and a chicken and vegetable calzone. We met back with Corey and had a fantastic dinner. I have been ordering the same thing at Pizzazz for almost 20 years and it is just as fantastic as ever. Their calzone crust is like nothing I’ve been able to find or replicate myself. It is garlicky and wonderful. The only thing that has changed is that they no longer have bleu cheese crumbles available for the salad. In addition to great food, we had fun laughing, talking and catching up.
That day Lisa and Corey just found out that they are going to be having a baby boy and it was wonderful to get to share in a bit of their excitement. They are so cute, so loving and so excited. I couldn’t be more happy for them.
Well after our hike and castle exploration was rained out we decided to do a little shopping . We hit a bike store where I promptly fell in love with this. And no, it didn’t cost THAT much at the store. I stopped dreaming about a blue and brown bike and we he headed for lunch.
After lunch the skies had cleared up considerably and we decided to visit the Arboretum. In all of the years that I lived in the Cleveland area I never once visited the Arboretum there. It turns out it that is a very nice place with many hiking trails lots of activities and areas to explore. We hiked for a little more than 2 miles and took a tour in an electric tram car. With so much to see there we were only able to see a fraction of what the facility has to offer.
Waterfall in the Butterfly Garden @ Holden Arboretum
Pine Reflections
The Butterfly Garden was in full bloom.
More flowers
Carson hiking map and walking stick in hand
A large part of my day was spent trying to get a decent bee picture.
Trying...
and trying once again.
We finally capped the day with an 8.2 mile bike along the Maple Highlands trail starting in Chardon, OH. It was fun, I thought I would die around the 3 mile mark but I pushed through and actually enjoyed the last half of the ride.
Last Tuesday, the kids and I kissed Matt good-bye, packed up the car, and headed for Ohio. We got into my parent’s house at 8:30 and we were all exhausted. Believe me when I tell you the backseat of a VW Jetta does not have nearly enough space for two siblings who like to bicker on a 7 hour drive. I really should install some sort of shield between the two of them.
After a good night’s rest we planned a day of fun and exploring with my mom. In the morning we headed off to Squire’s Castle, which is a cool old building that was originally meant to be the gatehouse of a large estate that was never built. The castle is now a part of the Cleveland Metroparks and visitors are free to wander about the rooms while the park is open. In high school, I went to Squire’s Castle many times to take pictures for photography class and now I was back almost 20 years later taking more pictures as I rediscover my photography hobby.
We planned on visiting the castle and then taking a long hike around the grounds but the weather had other plans. As soon as we got there it started pouring. We hung out in the castle for a while and waited out the rain. Once it seemed to clear up a bit we heading off on one of the paths. Five minutes into the hike and halfway up a large hill the skies opened up once again and we got drenched as we tried to make our way back as quickly as possible to the castle and cover. I did manage to take some pictures between the raindrops. Next time I’m in Cleveland I want to get back to Squire’s Castle under much better conditions.
Carson
Riley
Side view of Squire's Castle
Squire's Castle
This wasn't intentional, but I like the effect.
The rest of the stories and pictures are still to come.
We were gone most of last week in Cleveland. I had a great time but now I’m back and attempting to get the kids ready to start school in 2 weeks. Summer has gone by so quickly. I can’t believe it is almost over.
I need to get back into blogging. I have so much to write about I’m sure that I will end up forgetting most of it. I also have many pictures left to post from the past few weeks.
Today I need to focus on getting caught up on laundry and cleaning the house. I injured my hand again last night and I’m fairly certain it may be broken AGAIN. It’s swollen and it hurts like hell, I’m going to give it a few days to see if starts to feel better or worse. I really need to be more careful when I’m letting Reese out and make sure there are no bunnies in the yard before opening the door. I’m tired of getting my hand slammed into the track of the sliding glass door.
This is my favorite picture from the past week.
Carson & Riley at the Japanese Garden
A few pictures from yesterday. Most of these were taken at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva, IL.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Remember when you thought dandelions were beautiful flowers and not weeds?
Fabyan Windmill
The windmill dates back to the 1850's and has been fully restored.
The hills are alive with the sound of windmills.
I took a lot of fricking windmill pictures.
36. I can’t pretend anymore, I’m getting old.
We had a fun day. Matt, the kids and I drove up to Geneva, did some shopping, strolled around an art fair and hung out for a while at the Fabyan Forest Preserve. We hit Moe’s Mexican Grill on the way home and I plan to take the rest of the night easy, maybe watch a movie.
I took a lot of pictures today but am too tired to worry about going through them all right now. I’ll hopefully get some posted tomorrow.
The kids and I are heading out to Cleveland this week to spend some time at my parent’s house. I have some fun things planned and I’m looking forward to the trip.
Carson, the toothless
Carson’s two front teeth have been loose for a while, but I didn’t think they would fall out for a few more weeks. Last night we were over my neighbor’s house and the kids were jumping on the trampoline. All of a sudden Riley starts yelling that Carson’s mouth is bleeding and Carson comes over to me and hands me his two front teeth, his two front teeth, his two front teeth. Are you singing along yet?
From what I gathered from him he was jumping and was near the netting that surrounds the trampoline and when he came down his teeth got caught on the net itself and the teeth popped out. He said it didn’t hurt a bit. He fell asleep last night and forgot to put the teeth under his pillow so he’ll do that tonight. I wonder what the Tooth Fairy gives for a two-fer of toothers. We’ll have to see….
