Welcome Tea and The Night Before....

Today was the Welcome Tea for Kindergarten.

Nana brought Jack. Ken met us there.

Jack formally met Ms. Joo, had some nervous tears,

but quickly recovered.

Kindergarten starts tomorrow.

(wasn't he JUST starting pre-school??!)

Jack has been in bed for almost an hour. He's WIDE awake.

Maybe we are BOTH nervous?

We are starting our first year of an ALL DAY program...yikes!

But, I am more nervous on the "mom" side of things...

I know his teacher will love him.

I know he will make new friends.

I know he will continue to grow academically.

I know all these things, and yet, here I am...putting off going to bed.

Because I know that when I do, I will be WIDE awake, too.

Wish us a happy morning...and a fun day.

I will update...although after tomorrow, I doubt we will

have problems falling asleep.

No particular reason...

for this post. Just some cute pictures from a picnic...

Another Baby Meeting....

Well, not only do we work together, but we play together too! The Richman Babies went to the mall for lunch and playtime.

Here is the whole group....

and here is Molly with boyfriend, Salvatore.

Even she can't resist pinching those cheeks!

just a little tired....

our sleepy girl

awesome

(thanks, Nana for the shirt!)

more laughing...

Molly had fun playing with all her cousins in Ohio. Here, she is laughing with Brandon...

Just some highlights...

As our trip is coming to an end...here is a peek of our vacation (ok, it's actually kind of a long listof highlights)...more to come!

a trip to Uncle Joe's fire station...

a local kiddie park...

swimming...
swimming at night, in the freezing water....
feeding ducks...
running after the storm...

a children's museum...
watching cartoons (staying up late)...

family dinner at Benihana's...
a camel ride at the zoo...
seeing Wall*E (yes, again!)...

A LOT of riding in the car....sometimes sleeping...

sometimes awake...

eating ice cream...just looking cute (Molly did this the most!)...

from the mouth of babes...well, 5 year olds

Jack witnessed his first thunder and lightning storm here in Ohio. And was REALLY excited about it. We were sitting on the porch, watching and listening. He wanted to share this excitement with his cousin, also 5. He ran downstairs and tried to get Jordan to come outside to "listen to the thunder and lightning". Well, the problem is...Jordan has lived in Ohio his whole life..and this weather is very common for him...so, Jack couldn't get Jordan outside.
Instead, he came back out, very angry....

Jack: "Jordan called me a 'darnit'"

me: "a what?"

Jack: "a darnit"

(hmmmm....so, we called Jordan out to clarify)

me: "Jordan, did you call Jack a 'darnit'?"

Jordan: "NO! I only said...'I already know what thunder and lightning sounds like, darnit"

We laughed and laughed...and then Jack and I stayed outside to listen to the storm.

The Time Change Sucks...

Molly won't sleep...well, I take that back...she fell asleep twice tonight but woke up before I could even get upstairs to put her down. Once she's asleep, she does great.
Jack is all out of whack...he's been up till midnight, watching cartoons with Jordan. Granted, they are in bed, watching tv like college roomates. The plus is that they are sleeping "in".
On another note...Jack's giant bump is slowly getting smaller...but, now Molly has an eye infection and looks like she's been in a bar fight. We actually went to the urgent care today, got eye drops...hopefully, all will be healthy again.
I am sure we will get a grasp of the time change. I am sure it will happen...the day before we come home.

Oh-My-O...

We made it to Ohio this morning (Jack used to call it OhMyO)...we survived the red eye flight...both kids sleeping the whole time! Hooray! Had a few naps after the airport, and met up with the rest of the Coopers. Jack fell off some playground equipment and got his first souvenir from vacation...a giant bump on the back of his head (hitting the bar on the way down will do that!). Uncle Joe didn't seem concerned, so we iced it and he was good to go. Plus, rumor is, there are 2 repeats of WIPEOUT on tonight...that will cure anything!
I will try and post when I can...Otherwise, we will have more highlights when we come home!