They Survived Their First Day

The kids made it through their first day of school. Once Ryan got to his classroom, things were much better for him. Both kids like their teachers so I'd say it was a successful day. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to enjoy my free time and not spend it worrying about how Ryan is handling school.

Empty Nest

Today was the first day of school for the kids. Ashley is in 5th grade now and Ryan is starting kindergarten. It went pretty well until the bus arrived. Ryan started getting teary eyed, which lead to my own undoing. I held it back until he was on the bus and driving away and then the waterworks started. My only saving grace was that Ashley was with him on the bus to comfort him. Where did the last 6 years go? Is it really possible for time to fly so quickly? At least I had an extra year with him since we held him back a year. But, oh my gosh - my baby!!! I just have to tell myself that it was just as hard when Ashley went to school and we all got through it. I'm just not as ready as I thought I was for them to grow up so fast.

Waiting for the bus.

On the bus - leaving me!!!

On their way.

Grand Bear Vacation Highlights

A few highlights from our vacation, courtesy of Grant and Jo's camera:

Ashley and Brooke with Grant & Jo Saturday afternoon.

Ryan, Brooke and Mitchell in the tub Saturday night.

Mitchell and Ashley eating breakfast Sunday morning.

Bret, Ashley, Ryan and I at the Enchanted Forest Amusement Park.

Brooke, Grant, Ashley & Bret on one of the rides that takes you up high and then sets you on a free fall.

"Yee Haw!!!" on the kiddie ride that bounces you up and down.

More pictures will be uploaded to Flickr later today.

Grand Bear Lodge - Day Three

Well, we are all back home safe and sound today. We had so much fun and everyone got along great (even us adults...LOL). Last night after dinner we went back to the water park and swam some more. After spending probably too much time in the wave pool, we were all still swaying when we went to bed last night. This morning after we checked out of our villa, we took the kids into the arcade to play some games, stopped at McDonald's for lunch and headed home. We would all love to do this again next year and highly recomend the resort to others. It was very kid friendly and so much fun!

The front of the bear at the entrance to the resort from Saturday's post, in case anyone was wondering.

Ashley and little Mitchell man.

Ryan and Ashley in the villa living room.

Ryan and Brooke in the resort lobby.

Ryan and his winnings in the arcade.

Bret and the kids in the resort lobby after checking out.

Check out Flickr for more pictures.

Grand Bear Lodge - Day Two

Lots more fun was had last night and again today. We played a round of mini golf last night and then came back to the villa and threw the kids into the jacuzzi tub together. This morning we hit the water park and after lunch we went to the amusement park. Do we really have to leave tomorrow?

Our villa.

Bret, Grant and Ashley playing mini golf.

A tub full of tired and dirty kids.

Ashley coming down the water slide.

Ryan on the biggest inflatable water slide ever.

Ashely, Ryan and Brooke on the train that runs through the resort.

Bret, Ashley, Ryan and Brooke in front of the big scary monster at the amusement park.

Ashley and Brooke on one of the rides.

Be sure to check out the rest of the pictures at Flickr.

Grand Bear Lodge - Day One

Grand Bear Lodge has been a lot of fun so far. We checked in today at 11am and got right into our villa (which is gorgeous by the way). Bret, Grant and our kids are taking a quick swim in the water park while the little ones sleep. Keep checking back for updates here and on Flickr.

Not too bad of a car ride.

This is what greeted us from the front entrance. (The rear of the bear.)

Brooke and I.


Bret and Ashley.

Ryan and Brooke.


Our great villa!

Happy Birthday Ryan

A little musical video slide slide show to show just how fast 6 years can fly by. Here's to the greatest 6 years! Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Create your own video for free at http://www.onetruemedia.com/create?&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=embed

Party Family Style

Last night was Ryan's family birthday party. He was so excited when he started opening gifts and found that he had gotten a whole new set of legos.

Ryan blows out the candles on his cake.

More lego figures!!!

He and Mitchell check them out.

Grandpa says no lego building for him tonight!

Looks like Ryan changed his mind.

Me and my favorite niece.

Baby flying through the air!

Grandma Sally and Grandma Jerry

Mitchell and Jo - he prefers not to have his feet on the ground, I'm thinking.

Brooke, our grand slam baseball hitter. I just couldn't seem to strike her out!

For more pictures, head on over to Flickr.

Vacation Curse Update

Well, Ashley woke up with a 103 fever this morning, but Ryan seems to be better. The jury is still out on me, but if history repeats itself, I'll have a full blown case of it by tonight. Guess I have a whole slew of things to cancel today. Not to mention Ryan's family birthday dinner tomorrow night. :-( Am NOT canceling this vacation, so everyone can just hurry up and get better!

Oh Dear!

Now Ashley has a headache and fever. Is there some kind of curse out there that I don't know about that hits you when you have a vacation planned in 4 DAYS?!?!? At least Ryan's feeling better now. Maybe tonight he'll sleep through the night. (Because I'm lacking in the sleep department.) Now that I think about it, my head hurts, too. Maybe I should go take my temperature . . .

. . . oh, crap. 100.4. Do. not. have. time. for. this. right. now.

Together Again

Ryan was excited to find out that his friend, Anuroop, whom he has gone to preschool with for the past 2 years will be in his extended day kindergarten class this school year. I was a little worried when I saw the class list last week and found that he wouldn't know any of the other kids in his class. All of the other kids that live in our neighborhood that are going into kindergarten this year are all in the 1/2 day class. So this news totally made my day and eased any nerves that I had about Ryan going to school all day this year.

Bad Luck?

Should we start placing bets on whether we arrive to our destination on Saturday in one piece or not? First, Ryan wakes up sick this morning. (He was feeling better tonight, so lets hope his fever isn't back by morning.) It's really cute how sad he's been, missing his buddy next door today. And now Ashley landed on her tail bone while playing outside with her friends tonight. She was worried when she went to bed tonight that we would have to cancel our vacation because her butt was broken...LOL. I know, I shouldn't laugh, but (no pun intended...lol) you have to admit it's pretty funny. I'm sure she'll wake up and feel fine in the morning. My fingers are crossed that nothing else comes up by Saturday.

Chopped Off

We finally got around to getting Ashley's hair cut tonight and Shawn did an awesome job. Why do we always wait so long to get it done? It looked like there was about 5 or 6 inches on the ground when she was done. She looks like she's about 14 now. What happened to my 10 year old? (Sniff)

This Is Not Happening!!!

Your kids are NOT allowed to get sick the week before you leave for vacation!!! But of course, Ryan woke up this morning with a fever and is now taking a nap after asking to go to bed. (Because that just never happens.) A desperate call for help has been put into the doctor.

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Meanwhile, Ashley and I have been reassembling all of Ryan's legos before his family birthday party on Thursday night. (Can you guess what he's getting?) We all know how insane I am about being organized and I just CANNOT have any pieces on his existing lego sets missing! Don't you dare laugh at me - it'll make things easier on Thursday night when we have more to assemble. Maybe I should rearrange all of my kitchen cabinets today while I'm in organizational mode. That would just make my husband crazy, but I tell him I do these things to keep his mind sharp. Ha!!!

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Update: My little Hugh Heffner wannabe (note the robe) is awake and cranky. I got him into the doctor this afternoon (which meant waking him up - fun) and he says it's just a virus. This virus better be gone by Saturday when we leave for vacation!!!

Little Helper

Ryan decided that it was time for him to step in and help with this deck building business.

Got to have knee pads just like dad's.

"Yep, the knee pads work. Now, what can I build?"