Preschool!

Today I received the information about preschool for Dietrich.  I have been waiting and waiting and checking the mail because I am so ridiculously excited about preschool!  I didn't get to go to preschool because it wasn't readily available and also it was expensive.  And I love school!  I love the first day of school and I love getting new stuff for school and I just know I am going to love sending my little boy to school!

Next week we will get a postcard from his teacher and then I will learn who is first teacher is going to be!  The following week we get to go to his classroom and meet his teacher and see where he will be, and then the week after that he starts school!  We got our list of school supplies and I can't wait to go buy him glue-sticks, and dry-erase crayons, and a backpack that fits a 9x12 sheet of paper.  I called my mom this morning and told her about all the upcoming school stuff and how I want to cry because I am SO SO excited for him, he is going to love preschool!  And then I read this post about growing up/old and the start of school and then I started crying because oh-my-GOD he is STARTING PRESCHOOL.  

I've been a little worried about how he is perfectly potty trained but doesn't like to do any of it by himself.  I have to remind myself this is preschool, these teachers teach 3 year olds, they know that some of them still need help going to the bathroom.  This morning when he threw a fit and hit his friend because he wanted the toy I thought "he can't do that at preschool!" But he is three, and that is what three year olds tend to do, he won't be the first kid in a preschool class to throw a fit.  I don't have to tell the teacher that I am so excited for him but I've also never left him anywhere but with family, and oh my gosh how will I survive that?  That all of a sudden I'm afraid he will miss me and be upset and I just want him to be excited and have fun!  And now I'm not just crying because I'm so excited for him and all the fun he will have but because all of a sudden and without my realizing it this:

 Turned into this:

And he's going to preschool in just a few short weeks, leaving me for 3.5 hours two days a week and Lenorah and I will miss him during that short time and wonder what fun things he is doing without us.  Then he will come home and tell us about the things he made and the letters and numbers he is learning and he will make new friends!  (maybe I will make new friends too!) It will be wonderful and sad and exciting and anxiety inducing and we will all love it.  

Sullivan Lake 2013

 My posts lately have been nothing but us doing stuff.  We feel like this is the busiest summer we have ever had, and although we are having lots of fun we are T.I.R.E.D.

Last week I headed up to Ione on Tuesday to spend a few days at the lake before the bad weather rolled in. We all had fun playing in the water and playing with all the kids at the Larson camp.

 On Thursday Bryce joined us and we set up our own camp.  Just in time for the rain to start.  But raining weather makes for great throwing rocks weather.  We also took the kids on a drive and went on a tour of Boundary Dam.  A great way to spend a rainy day at the lake!

 I think this should be a greeting card that says "you're my best friend"

 A little boy in another camp had a balance bike like Dietrich's and he was so good!  He went really fast and picked up his feet.  Dietrich saw that and started doing it himself.  We are so excited to buy him a bicycle for his birthday next year, hopefully he will be riding a two wheeled bike soon!

 The sun came out for just a few hours Saturday afternoon and everybody hit the beach.  At least we got to spend a little time enjoying the sun and the lake.

 Seriously, I hope these girls love each other forever as much as they love each other now.  Lenorah goes insane whenever Emery shows up, and "Emmy" was the first name she ever said!

Now we are in a crazy couple of weeks where we will be finishing painting the house, getting ready for company, decorating 75 pair of flip flops and making a veil, as well as finding a dress, visiting with friends, and making a pink tie.  I think I can I think I can I think I can!!!

Seattle

We have gone on a road trip every other weekend since the middle of June...we are exhausted!  Also, Lenorah hates to ride in the car, have I mentioned that before?  We have decided to stop torturing her, no more trips longer than the hour and a half to Ione for a long time...

Last weekend we traveled to Seattle for tons of fun and a little relaxation.  Dietrich went over with Grammy on Tuesday and got to spend two days playing with his cousins Arielle and Nathan before we arrived on Thursday night.  Fortunately, he was thrilled to see us, which made me feel pretty happy :)  Our good friend Stacey won an amazing golf package, because she's one of those awesome people who wins things all the time.  And since she wasn't interested in golfing the three courses, she did one and let Bryce golf the other two with her husband Jeremy.  So on Friday morning Bryce headed out on the two hour drive from his sister's in Marysville to the golf course in Tacoma.  The kids and I met up with my Aunt who had my cousin's son Devin for the week, at a great beach in Edmonds.  The boys had a great time playing in the sand and throwing rocks into the sound.

 On Friday night Bryce drove home from the course in Tacoma and met us in Woodinville where we met up with friends, Brian, Reiko, Josh and Jill.  It was so great to see them, it had been over a year since we saw Brian and Reiko and 9 months for Josh and Jill.  We enjoyed a few drinks at the Red Hook brewery and it was so fun to catch up with everyone.

On Saturday morning Bryce dropped me off at the bus stop in Everett, the town next to Marysville, and I took the bus into downtown Seattle where I met up with Stacey for a girls day of shopping.  The goal was to find dresses for Paul and Kate's wedding in August and Mark and Bekah's wedding in September.  We had a great time and we found lots of fun clothes and good deals.  Although I did not find the dresses I was hoping to find, oh well.  We did happy hour at Ivar's on the pier and then caught the ferry over to her parents house.  I know I've been on the ferry from Seattle before but I think it was a foggy day, and on Saturday it was so perfect and beautiful, it is really amazing to see the whole city like that.  We spent the evening at Stacey's parent's house BBQing and relaxing on their deck.

Then on Sunday the guys headed out golfing again and we headed to the zoo!  The kids loved it and Lenorah especially loved the fish.  I think she could have watched them all day.  It really made me wish we had something like that on this side of the state.  It was especially awesome that Stacey's friend met up with us and she has a membership so was able to get us all into the zoo!

 This one is blurry but it cracked me up how Dietrich just went and pushed his way between these two young girls...

 There were two young tigers playing in here, they were so cute, jumping in the water and tackling each other.  But Lenorah was more interested in the man behind us.  She went over and stared at him.  He turned to his wife, "this little girl is staring at me, it's weird...I'm not your dad honey."  I looked up at him and he had a nice beard, so I told him, "but you have a beard, she's a beard girl."  I'm sure she was just trying to decide if she knew him!

 Lenorah powered through but she got pretty tired watching the seals.  And while taking this picture Dietrich walked out of the building with another group of people which induced a bit of a panic, fortunately he realized he was missing us and came right back, phew!

 After the ducks Lenorah was done, so we headed out of the zoo and she fell asleep on the way to the car.  We drove to Cle Elum where we had dinner and the guys met up with us.  Then we started the rest of our screaming trip home.  It was a fun packed, busy weekend!  We did so much in such a short time, and we did a WHOLE lot of traveling, nothing on the West side is close together and traffic is unbelievable which makes everything take longer.  It has taken me all week to get my house and brain back in order, but we are finally there.  Just in time for another busy weekend, but at least this time we will be staying home!  Next weekend though, off to camp!