1st (4th) Day of School

Anna started preschool this month.  The picture below is from her second week...we don't have one from her first day because she was not in a photo-friendly mood.  Just imagine her with the exact opposite demeanor than this picture and you'll know what she looked like on the first day.

Anyone who talked to Anna before school started would have heard one of these lines:

"School is bad."

"My teachers are bad."

"School is not fun."

"School.  Bad.  Bad.  Bad."

I blame us because we probably built it up so much we made her nervous.  She's always had separation anxiety and I do believe she was genuinely concerned that we would leave her there forever.

However, once she realized she was not being abandoned and she would in fact return home (after her whopping three hours away!), she opened up to the fun of school.  Now she eagerly regales me with tales from her school day, proudly shows off her art (what am I supposed to do with all of it?!?), sings new songs she's learned, and talks about her new friends.  And, she speaks of her teachers with excitement - no longer referring to them as "bad".

Her favorite activity so far is show-n-tell.  She thinks hard about what she wants to take and what she will tell the class about each item.  So far her choices have been her beloved bear Oatmeal (she told the class she uses him as a pillow) and a picture of Tope (according to Anna she said, "Tope is my cat and she talks to me.").  She already has her item for the next opportunity lined up - a shell she got from Papa Odie.

I'm so happy to see her blossoming and adapting to school.  It's a little early to say but I think she's going to enjoy begin a student as she gets older.  Case in point, the other day she came home and sighed, dropped her bag on the floor, and said, "I don't even have homework tonight!  Ugh."  It was one of those moments I wish I had on tape so that I could replay it for her when she gets older and is complaining about her homework.  (For the record, she does not have homework in preschool.  She's watched her friend Hayla complete 1st & 2nd grade homework the last two years and I think she expected to do the same thing.)

Racing Kai

We had the pleasure of seeing our good friends Kelii and Kerry and their son Kai during our trip to Wellfleet. Their visit was MUCH TOO brief, but we had a good time catching up nonetheless. Anna and Kai became fast friends and spent a good part of the morning racing up and down the beach. Kai was hilarious – he loves the movie Cars and car racing in general. You can’t hear it in the video, but each time we said, “On your mark, get set…”, he would be making “vrooming” car noises. Then when we said, “Go!”, he would screech off like a race car. Of course Anna quickly adopted these sounds and the two of them were a sight to watch/listen to.

Beach Bums...Again

We just returned from our annual trip to Wellfleet, Mass., and I can't believe another year has come and gone.  You can relive our 2008 and 2009 adventures...We had beautiful weather all week with the exception of a very weak visit from Hurricane Earl at the start of the trip.  By some stroke of fate our travel plans were timed perfectly and we arrived with no delays the day before Earl struck. 

The thing I love most about our trips to Wellfleet is how little things change there.  The cottage, beach and town seem to be frozen in time and I find it reassuring and refreshing to have that type of constant touchpoint to counteract the quick, quick, quick nature of our everyday lives.  As always, we were "unplugged" from TV for the week, (although I do very much love the invention of the DVR particularly for this week each year...).  Unfortunately our computers and cell phones all work perfectly while we are there.  But, I tried to stay off of both and just relax.

This year we took Anna to the Wellfleet Drive In where much to her pleasure they were showing Toy Story 3.  I hadn't been to a drive in in ages and it was fun pulling in, grabbing some snacks (while trying to not make too big a mess in Fa Fa's truck...we saved the real damage for Grammy's car later in the trip), and sitting back to watch the movie.  We were going to try for the double header, Despicable Me was showing after Toy Story, but we—Jason & I—just couldn't make it through.  It was hard for us to stay up past 9 p.m. all week.  Being outside all day really does take it out of you.

Anna striking a pose - she loved this rock and practiced her jumping skills nonstop during the trip (much to my heart's discontent!).

Popsicles & movies with friends - does it get any better??

Posing with mommy and daddy during morning walks.

And to end, a comparison from last year - my how the little girl has grown (especially the hair!).  Gone are the chubby ankles and wrists and the cheeks are thinner, too.  Why do they grow up??

Oh, and if you are wondering what I meant by us saving the real mess for Grammy's car...Anna, Beverly and I went to Provincetown one morning and enjoyed a nice few hours looking in shops, eating lunch and just taking in the sights and culture of the town.  Our adventure apparently tuckered Anna out and, well, she had an accident while napping in her car seat.  So, Grammy's backseat will never be the same but through the wonder of baking soda and vacuums, we think we got it pretty much back to normal.

I can't wait for next year!

The Sunshine State - Gorgeous!

Anna and I headed down to the Florida for a week with Gramma Turner, Papa Odie and Aunt Maddie.  While we were there, Anna went to camp/school at my parent's church while I worked from their house. Anna was a little unsure about school at first but by the end of the week she got a great report from her teacher.

Anna logged a good amount of time in the pool with Papa Odie and swam her heart out.  She also reveled in Aunt Maddie's movie collection, watching Toy Story, Shrek, and Monsters, Inc.  One thing we learned about Anna on this trip is her extreme dislike of clowns.  She was going through some bins of Maddie's old stuffed animals when she literally shireked and threw a big Bozo the Clown doll at me.  She begged me to, "hide the scary, bad clown", and asked repeatedly during the rest of the week if the bad clown was coming back.  On a later trip to the Bergstrom's, she encountered three old Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and had the same reaction.  Must be the red hair.  Guess we won't be making any excursions to Barnum & Bailey's Circus soon.

Anna loves her Aunt Maddie - they logged some time watching silly videos on Maddie's computer.

...and eating at McDonald's after camp.  Note the groovy tie dye T-shirts. 
Maddie and Anna made them for "tacky Tuesday" at camp.

Working with Gramma

The biggest hit of the trip - the swimming pool, "right in the yard!  We don't have to drive!", as Anna says.

She got very brave throughout the week and would swim the length of the pool (with her life vest).  She was eager to try without her vest and quickly realized it was the key to her success.

Looking at herons and scanning for gators with Papa Odie.

A little unsure about going to camp...

Racing through the house on the crazy horse with slinky dog on her heels.

Happy 70th Grammy!

We made the trek up to Truro, Mass., to celebrate Grammy's 70th birthday.  While she knew all of the family was coming up for the big event, Beverly didn't realize a larger affair had been planned with friends and neighbors.  The weekend was very fun, albeit too fast, but it was good to spend time with the family, something we don't get to do enough since we don't live in the same place.  Happy 70th!

The guest of honor

Picking veggie's in FaFa's garden

Swimming at the beach - the water was so clear!

Playing with Ty and Lars at Moby Dick's restaurant -
can you tell these curly-headed blondies are related??

Olivia was hostess with the mostess, serving drinks and food,
and even making the bacon-wrapped scallops!

One guest knew her way to the kids hearts - she came bearing munchkins!

Grammy's girls

Grammy and her "baby"

Red, White & Blue & Snacks, too!

We celebrated the 4th of July at an Atlanta Braves game.  It was Anna's first real baseball experience (however, according to Jason she's not truly indoctrinated because she has not been to Fenway yet). 

We pumped Anna up for the game by listing all of the activities that would happen at the game including singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, watching the baseball players, seeing silly mascots, and because it was the 4th, fireworks!  Oh, and we also hinted at the fun, junky food she would get to eat.  My perspective on going to games or other sporting events is to go crazy with the food - go big or go home.  So to that end, (dietitian/nutrition-focused friends please avert your eyes from the following), Anna happily enjoyed: Dippin Dots (x2), a hot dog, french fries, cotton candy, and a Sprite.

Needless to say between the snacks and entertainment we all had a great time.  Anna loved the game and eagerly asked several times when she could go out on the field to play.  After the game we were treated to a mini-concert by a 70s cover band while we waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks spectacular.  The concert was a hit and Anna and I danced to the cheesy tunes.

But finally it was time for the fireworks.  The last time Anna was around fireworks she was not a fan and would scream/cry after each boom.  So I was a little unsure of how she would react this time.  I'm happy to report she was enthralled by the fireworks and still talks about them today.

All in all, we had a great 4th (even if our tummies were a little sore the next day...)!

Let's Go to the Movies!

Anyone who knows me, knows going to the movies is one of my favorite things to do. I love everything about it – the big screen, the previews, popcorn, spending 2+ hours wrapped in a imaginary world. I just love it. The "Let's go to the movies" song from Annie always plays in my head each time I'm heading to see a show...

I've been very excited – and hesitant – about taking Anna to the movies. I wanted to make sure she was able to sit through a movie because nothing would make me more frustrated to have to leave in the middle of a movie.

So, back in January When I heard that Toy Story 3 was coming out in May, I started prepping for that to be Anna's first movie theater experience. It perfect for me because the Toy Story series holds a special place in my heart. I remember seeing the first two movies in the theater with my family and watching them countless times at home with my brother and sister. Also, I am still convinced that toys have a life of their own when we're not looking so I've always been fascinated by the concept the movie.

To get her ready for the movie, I slowly started introducing the Toy Story characters and the first movie. Well, my little dear didn't need a slow introduct – she latched on immediately and fell in love with Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang (especially Slinky Dog and Alien). Unfortunately this did mean that Jason and I have been subjected to more viewings of Toy Story than we care to count.

By the time May rolled around, Anna was psyched up and I was confident she could make it through the movie. She did not disappoint. With Alien in tow, she happily scarfed down lots of popcorn and tuned into the adventures of the movie.

She made it through almost the whole movie. With about 15 minutes left she decided she jumped off Jason's lap and announced, "I'm ready to go back to my house now." We were able to convince her to sit for the remainder of the movie and when it ended she had changed her mind and didn't want to go home yet...fickle two-year-olds. After getting her out of the theater, she got an extra bonus – "meeting" the Alvin & the Chipmunks. I guess the theater hadn't gotten rid of those props yet.

The upside to my "operation Toy Story endeavor is I believe she is going to be a girl after my own heart because she constantly asks when she can back to the "movie e-a-ter".

The downside? Now she is OBSESSED with all things Toy Story and as you can imagine, the Disney marketing team left no stone unturned. Just yesterday we were at the post office and there were posters and life-size cut outs of the characters. I don't quite get the connection, but Anna is now a fan of the post office...so I guess the marketing fairies know what they are doing...