Henley's First Day of PreK-3

Today was Henley's turn to join her brothers at "Big Girl School"


 




Henley woke up in a good mood and was ready to start her day

 

She picked out her Butterfly lunch box and was anxious to get a preview of her lunch

They are so cute! I'm excited they are all at the school this year!

Following the pros

Getting a lift from Dad. I think this is when the nerves started

So excited to have Mrs. Louderback as our teacher

PINK PlayDough took the nerves away and made it easy for us to slip out tearfree (at least she was)

Owen & Brody...KINDERGARTEN!

It's time for KINDERGARTEN at the Rogers house!
 

 

Owen was very excited for Kindergarten. I'm not sure they knew exactly what it was, but Mom and Dad were excited, so Owen was too!

 

 

Brody woke up and had a HUGE bowl of Cheerios and was very happy.  He seemed ready and curious

Owen was first up. Todd and I walked him to his class, he found his backpack hook in the hallway. (This is new, they had clipboards last year and no backpacks). We had to hold him back to snap a picture.  He wanted to see his room!

This is Mrs. Goodwin.  She had to grab Owen because he was racing to his seat.  About half the class was already at their desks "working" and you could tell Owen was bothered and he felt "late".  He is my rule follower and didn't want to not be doing the correct thing.

Brody was next.  He found his hook immediately and got his lunch box out.  He was clutching it trying to take it into the classroom.  He was so focused (as this was last year's routine to take your lunch into the class bc PreK eats in their room) I had to physically stop him and make his little hands hang the lunch box on the hook with his backpack.

Here's Mrs. Clayton. Brody went into his room and just stood, frozen, staring at his friends sitting in their desks (also a new thing)...Mrs. Clayton swooped him up with a big welcome and he trotted off to his desk.
WOW! Kindergarten...I'm so proud of the sweet little boys I have been blessed with...We are going to have a great year!

Great Wolf Lodge 2013

This year our Great Wolf  Lodge annual trip was a little different...we usually go right when school gets out but this year we went right before school started, and another HUGE change...we let Henley come for the entire weekend!

She loved the kids area.  She thought is was great that she didn't have to wear a life jacket, she could do the slides by herself, and she was finally a BIG GIRL!

Her brothers would hang in the kiddie area a little (because Todd or I had to stick with Henley at all times), but they really wanted to go hit the bigger attractions this year.  They were good sports but you could tell they had graduated from this area.

This picture is worth a thousand words.  The boys number one favorite thing was the lazy river. They run through it instead of riding the tubes. BUT, Henley was a different story. Todd plopped her in my lap and pushed us through the river.  She did not like the waterfalls and all the water being dumped on us. One trip through the river and we quit torturing her.

This is much more her speed

The boys loved the wave pool too.  I was sitting back at the start of the pool with Henley and O&B just charged out...ALL the way...in the waves...water over their heads...needless to say they are WAY more brave this year which made Momma WAY more nervous.  They loved all the big slides. Both are about four inches shy of being tall enough to ride together or alone.  Under 48" must be accompanied by an adult. They are hoping for a HUGE growth spurt before next year.  It was hard making them take turns with Todd or me because one of us had to stay with little Miss, but they were good sports and didn't complain.

We tried out a new type of room too.  We usually do the room with an extra bedroom inside the normal hotel room, but there were none available.  The kids did not mind this cabin room!

Their cabin had a single bed (for Henley) on the right and bunk beds (owen chose the top) on the left with a tv for their viewing pleasure.

Guess who did not like the creatures? Hint...she's not in the pic

This was a great idea by Dad! It offered shade and a great meeting place and, of course, a great napping place!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wands and Magiquest are a must!
 

Swimming, arcade, and ICE CREAM!!! Great day!

There were coloring stations outside the resturants, so smart!
We had a great weekend and I'm so glad we decided to squeeze in one last trip before our summer comes to an end.  I love this tradition and I'm so glad Owen insisted (repeatedly) that we needed to go back! I can't wait to see what our next trip has in store for us!

Great Wolf from my Phone

This is another glimpse of Great Wolf Lodge...from my phone's point of view

We mad it! We like to go Saturday morning and stay till Monday. The place clears out Sunday afternoon.


First night after dinner and story time, heading to the arcade



My view....ahhhhhh....btw, that huge slide pictured is the boys absolute favorite!


Hot Mess joined me in the lounge area. Yes, her glasses are upside down. Yes, her flip flops are on the wrong feet. My will to put her shoes on the right feet is slipping. The only thing I can't handle is when the toe thing is in between the wrong toes!


Can you find Henley? She was very sleepy and didn't care for the comfy bed I made her. While pouting, she slid under the chair and put herself to sleep...fine by me!


Yes, I did move her once she was sound asleep


Henley's first bee sting (in fact, first for any of my children). She stepped on the bee and let out a screech I had never heard before, cried as I pulled out the stinger, and pulled herself together rather quickly. She only cried for a few minutes. This is one tough chick!


And she finally got brave enough to get close to a character


Mess...too much of everything, way over stimulated


Sweet Brody


My three little cubs


First attempt


Second attempt


Third attempt...I give up


Headed home...exhausted!