Summer Camp

Parker's last day of speech class was last Tuesday and is officially on Summer vacation...only he doesn't get a "real" summer vacation b/c I'm back to working full time. So he is going to his pre-school full time (during the school year he only goes full time for 1 day and half day the rest of the week). They have a summer camp program, where it's a little more chill and relaxed and there will be lots of fun activities.

Avery started going to the same preschool yesterday. She's still too little to really understand, but I have been "prepping" her for the last month since we've decided to switch her from her home daycare. I've been telling her she's going to start going to a big kid school, she's going to Bubba's school, telling her her teacher's name, practicing her new teacher's name (Ms. Robinson is kinda hard and we've got Ms. Robins down...just gotta get that "son"), and I've been taking her on Monday's when I drop Parker's lunch box and nap bag off and on Wednesdays when Parker doesn't have speech class so that she can get used to the place. Last week she actually started to wonder around Parker's classroom. The great thing too is that we saw Ms. Robinson at my niece's bday party last weekend so Avery got to see and talk to her for a little bit and I reminded Avery who she was. I don't think she fully understood it b/c after our "prepping" sessions she'd start saying "Debbie" (her old nanny) and naming all of her friends from her daycare.

my sweet baby girl is growing up! Parker and I went to Target last week and we bought Avery her lunch box (I've been banned from ordering anything from PBK w/ specific instructions not to buy a lunch box...what's wrong with a $15 lunchbox?!?). Parker was so excited to give it to her and she was so happy to have her own lunch box finally!

Parker was very excited about Avery going to his pre-school and wanted to walk her to class so we dropped her off first. Ms. Robinson showed her her cubby and where to put her lunchbox and she wandered around while I talked to Ms. Robinson. I'm sure Ms. Robinson probably thought I was nuts, but I was really nervous about Avery's first day. This was a big change for her. She went from staying home full time to a home daycare with 4-5 other kids to now going to a pre-school with up to 10 kids. She's going to be napping in a cot with a bunch of kids around her...she has only ever slept in a crib or a pack & play. She only gets about 30 min to eat cher lunch and she eats slower than I do (unless she's starving then she stuffs the whole plate in her mouth). Plus there are 3 year olds in her class (young 3 - Parker was an old 3 and got moved to a different class) and I wondered if she'd get picked on.

this looks a bit like a line up pic the way she's holding that chalkboard. lol

Parker has been waiting for this day for 1 month. I told him that Avery will be a "big girl" soon and go to his preschool so at least 3x per week he'd ask me if Avery was a big girl yet.

Parker's class was still in the "purple door", which is the before care classroom, but Ms. Robinson had already picked her kids up so we dropped Avery off first so Parker could do his "big brother duty" and say "bye" to Ms. Robinson. He cried Thursday night when I told him that he was moving to a different classroom and Ms. Robinson was going to be Avery's teacher. I think he thought they would be in the same class and he whimpered "I just love Ms. Robinson so much!"

Avery leading the way...Ms. Robinson moved from the blue door to the yellow door this summer.

I talked to Ms. Robinson...voiced my concerns about napping. I was really mainly worried that we'd get kicked out after the first day if Avery cried like a maniac, refused to nap, and kept the other kids up. Avery did well until I left to drop Parker off in the orange door. I saw that little chin quiver and I dashed off before it became a full out screaming kinda cry. While helping Parker get settled, I asked one of the aides if she knew where Parker's nap blanket and burpy (plain ol' white burp cloth that we used as a burp cloth when he was a baby and he new uses as a "lovey") was b/c it wasn't sent home last Friday. She looked for it and came back 20 seconds later and told me to hang around in Parker's classroom for a bit b/c Avery was crying and they didn't want her to see me walk by.

Less than 1 min later I was given the ok to leave and I peeked in the yellow door and saw this...and no crying was heard!  

bummed that this is the only pic I took of Parker in his classroom b/c I was pre-occupied with Avery crying, not letting her see me, and finding Parker's blanket and burpy, which we found in the purple classroom and I accidentally changed the setting w/o knowing it. Parker was fine and did well in Ms. Powers' classroom. His friends, Catherine and Jason, from the blue door got moved up with him and his friend, Luke, from speech class was also in his class.

I called to see how Avery was doing, but got the school's voicemail. But Kevin said according to Ms. Brown (the after care teacher), Avery had a pretty good day without a lot of crying, she played, and napped. They also said that Avery saw Parker walking down the hallway with his class and she flew out of her classroom to give him a hug and say hi. I'm sure she was relieved to see him! When I got home, I saw a note that Ms. Robinson wrote (bless her sweet heart, she probably knew I was going nuts at work): "Avery had a wonderful day! A little crying at first, but then played well with the other children." I'm relieved! I hope Avery has a smooth transition into "summer camp" and Parker does well in his new classroom! 

Today, Parker went with me to drop Avery off. She already knew what was going to happen b/c she was practically attached to my leg. She just had a quivering chin and wasn't crying until I bent over to say a quick goodbye and give her a kiss and handed her over to Ms. Robinson. I stayed in Parker's classroom for about 5 min and could hear Avery crying a little bit next door. By the time I walked out she was only letting out a little cry and she was being held by Ms. Robinson's aide and facing away the door. I tiptoed away...and left a little broken piece of my heart behind. I hate how she's crying, but I know she'll be fine soon and will love it at the preschool!

Hotel & Downtown Disney fun

Ok so I'm a slacker...I admit it. Do you remember when we went to Sea World...almost a month ago??? I posted about it here and here. Well we spent the night at a hotel that was like a block away. It was the first time the kids were staying in a hotel...and I admit, I was a bit scared. My kids have their own rooms and they can be a bit of a light sleeper so I was worried about them sleeping when there are other people in the room (I know first world problems!). My mom snores (loudly), Kevin sometimes snores, snorts, and when he moves in the bed, the whole entire thing shakes and he pulls all the blankets with him so there's a bit of a tug of war as I try to wrestle back some of the blankets (he will deny all of this!), plus Parker wakes up at least once a night to pee and my mom will also occasionally get up. You might realize I did not mention myself in any of this...I do not snore and I rarely have to pee in the middle of the night, the only noise I make is when I have tug back some of the blanket.

rolling around on the yucky hotel carpet. It was a nice hotel, but still. I tried to get over it and just sanitized their hands after.

So anyway, we get back to the hotel and the kids are so excited to be there that it took them a while to calm down. They were running around, squealing (sorry neighbors, we tried to keep them quiet), and rolling around the floor and on the beds. I should have thought about the hotel thing a lot more thoroughly, but it was a last minute decision. We should have gotten a suite where there is a separate bedroom so that the kids can have a quiet and dark room to fall asleep while the adults can stay up a little bit. The kids couldn't settle down with the lights and TV on so the adults went to bed too. Avery slept in the pack & play we brought. Kevin and I shared a bed and Parker and my mom slept in the other bed. Normally, we just cuddle Avery for a minute then put her down in her crib and she rarely fusses after that. That night she cried. I held her for 5-10 minutes, singing and softly talking to her (telling her it was night night time and she was sleeping in her special bed). I tried to put her down a few times, but she would grab my neck tighter, her legs would squeeze my waist, and she'd whimper. Finally, I just decided to put her in the pack & play and let her cry it out - sometimes I do this and she usually quiets down within 1-2 minutes. That night she cried (nothing crazy loud) for about 30 seconds and promptly fell asleep. Parker tossed around for a little bit, but stayed in bed and eventually fell asleep. It was way too early for me...I couldn't fall asleep. At 11 pm, I heard the fireworks go off at Sea World.

don't you just love babies toddlers in footsie pj's?!? 

Parker woke up in the middle of the night to pee and I helped him navigate the unfamiliar room/bathroom. I tucked him back in bed and then as I was climbing back in bed I thought about how cold it was in the room so I tiptoed to the thermostat to turn the AC up a little bit. Then I made the biggest mistake...I went to check on Avery (she only had on a thin footsie pj and the rest of us had thick down comforters). The second that my fingertips grazed her cheek to feel if she was cold, her head popped up and she wanted me to hold her. I held her for a few minutes and would not let me put her down. I tried the cry it out method and would have let her cry it out for a while, but we were in a hotel and didn't think our neighbors would appreciate hearing a crying toddler at 3 am. I decided to see if she'd fall asleep between Kevin and me - no go, she alternated b/w laying down and getting up. She thought it was play time. I was deliriously tired so I got up, cuddled her for a few minutes and softly told her she had to go back night night, put her back in her pack and play - she cried for a little over a minute then fell back asleep. 

Avery loves playing with Parker's iTouch!

A few hours later, I hear the toilet flush, then the shower...my mom was awake. My head popped up and I checked on the kids...conked out. Then I hear the blow dryer...hmm?!? Kids still asleep - good. Then I hear plastic being opened and see my mom over by the coffee pot trying to open the coffee...and both my kids popped up in bed. I understand the need for coffee...I do, believe me, I do. But, Mom, did you really need that coffee right then and there?!? lol We were going to go down to breakfast where she could have unlimited coffee. Sigh! I guess we will get up...I feel like I didn't get any sleep. We all got ready and went downstairs to eat...Parker loved the waffle maker and was excited to make his waffle. Avery ate mostly fruit and a little bit of cereal.

Even as a baby, Parker loved anything with buttons...still does. The alarm clock occupied him for a bit while we finished packing up.

After we checked out, we headed to Downtown Disney to walk around and have some lunch. We parked near the Lego store and Parker wanted to go in. He remembers it from when we went last summer and Lola bought him a Lego train set...I think he was trying to score more toys! Parker kept running from toy to toy...he couldn't decide where to go first. He found a huge train set for older kids and really wanted it...it was over $150 and he does not need a new train set and one that expensive. We talked him down to a small Lego set and Avery got her first set of Duplos. Then Parker wanted to go to the Disney store. He found a Mickey Mouse train set and threw a fit. He tried to carry the huge box to the register - a few customers saw him, laughed, and commented that it was cute. I probably would have said the same thing...if it wasn't my child doing it. I tried to calmly tell him that he needed to be a good boy and listen and we would write a letter to Santa asking for a train set. He was having none of it! He wanted this train set and he wanted it now. I dragged him out kicking and screaming.

Parker was starting an obsession with Toy Story and was especially excited to see a Woody and a Buzz Lego statue!

trying to carry the huge train box...

He finally calmed down and we had lunch at T-Rex. We got seated fairly quickly even though it was crowded. The kids loved all the dinosaurs. Parker was well behaved during lunch so Avery figured it was her turn to act up. She didn't like her chicken nuggets and just wanted to walk around. Kevin and I took turns walking around with her. She was especially entranced by the fish tank.  

we are ready for some lunch!!!

it was a yummy lunch!

Kevin took Parker around during the "storm" that happens every 15 min or so. Parker was fine and wasn't scared of the dinosaurs...until they came to the big T-Rex. Parker was just looking up at it when Kevin came up to him and scared him. After that Parker thought the dinosaurs were after him. 

Avery and I looked at the fish for quite a while...it was pretty mesmerizing. I've always wanted a saltwater tank, but I don't want the time and money associated with it. lol

we sat near this baby Triceratops...

After lunch, we walked around some more and then left...or tried to. Kevin couldn't remember where we parked. I was telling him we parked in this one lot and he insisted we parked in the other lot. We walked around for about 10 min...yep 10 min...trying to find his truck. It's not easy to miss...it's a big white truck, but you can't find it when you're looking in the wrong lot! We finally found his truck when we looked in the lot I told him we were parked at. His sense of direction is generally A LOT better than mine, but not that day! 

we look washed out b/c I forgot to fix the setting on my camera...again!

my lovies

Lola and her "handsome" and "princess"

such a happy girl (except when she's not)...take note of her arms and look below...

they run the same goofy way. lol