School has begun...

First off, sorry for the lack of updates. You can tell I'm busy at work when I go a while without doing an update.

So, school started for Aspen on August 14th... sort of. Day one consisted of 30 minutes in the classroom picking up supplies and seeing some of her classmates. Fortunately for Aspen, some of her best friends are in her class. Sean and Ryan Leonard are both there, and Aspen is thrilled about it.

The next day at school, Thursday, consisted of 30 minutes of testing. When asked to count to 25, Aspen told us that she had gone to 200 at which point they stopped her. I guess she did ok.

This Monday, the 21st, included 30 minutes more testing. Very exciting, this kindergarten, isn't it? OK, Wednesday sort of felt like the real thing. Aspen went for half a day, including lunch. As many of you know, we feed the kids pretty healthy food. Chips would be an uncommon selection. So, when given the chance to pick her own lunch, Aspen went for it... Cheetos and all. Jenn indicated that when she got home, the Cheetos were quite apparent... on her hands, on her pants, in her hair. Clearly, Aspen is not an experienced eater of the Cheetos. But, aside from choosing a lunch that will likely lead to having to take her lunch soon, Aspen did great. She managed to come home with a green light (indicating good behavior) and a penny (indicating she did something particularly good).

Today, however, is the real deal. All day at school. I'm excited to hear how it goes. The last hurdle, to be overcome on Monday, is the fact that the whole class will finally be together.

Our only complaint thus far is the bus. According the county, our only option is to get on a bus at a stop fully one mile from our driveway. And then ride a full hour each way. Are you kidding me?

Beautiful Lindy

 

Bonfante Addition

I didn't have this picture until just now. But it's worth adding. This is a water slide an Bonfante. Oakley tricked out and actually had to crawl to get off the slide. Not I, my friends. I shot out like a rocket. Fortunately, they had a bit of padding covering the concrete. 

Dancing shoes

This time we're talking about some dancing. The reason for the visit to California was the ceremony celebrating Aunt Jenni's family. The ceremony included Jenni, her partner Ange, and Kiana. Congratulations to them! There was a ceremony, and of course, some dancing. 

Shew's

One of the big highlights of the week was a visit from Susie and Kathy Shew. The Shew's are friends of the Martin's that go back years. I have memories of going to the beach with the Shew's from when I was like 7 or something. Kathy and Susie are enjoying a pretend meal of playdough with the girls at the museum here. 

CDM

Another cool part of the trip was a visit to Jenni's museum. We hung out there with cousins and a bunch of other folks as well. Here you can see the blur of Aspen running in front of Kiana and Jocelyn sitting to the side. You can tell it's Aspen by the pink Keen's. 

Roller Coaster

Check out Jocelyn and Aspen on the, oh, some roller coaster. This is one of Aspen's first experiences on such a thing, and she loved it. 

Youngsters

Some of the rides at Bonfante are for the shorter kids. Here you can see Kiana, Oakley, and Felicia cruising on "the fishies". 

In the strawberry

Another favorite part of our visit to California was a trip to Bonfante Gardens. It is an awesome theme park targetted totally at families with young kids. Seriously, if you're in California with young kids, this far better than the southern California option. It was excellent for all of the girls. 

Merry Go Round

Who doesn't love a good ride on a merry go round. Lindy was certainly up for it as we visited a park in San Jose last week. 

Solids...

Oh yeah, Lindy is making her way through various solid foods now. We are proud to announce that we skipped the entire jarred food step! Woo!

Lindy has nursed exclusively until recently when she picked up various solids. Favorites include fruit and cheerios. 

Peace... where have you gone?

Oh, how nice it was before crawling arrived. Lindy, who was pretty much immobile when we left for California a mere 7 days ago, is all over the place now. She goes where she wants via pretty solid crawl. She also pulls up effectively. And stands without something to hold on to. And worst of all, she climbs up stairs! This is bad, bad news my friends. Bad news.

Uncle Brian visited

OK, I failed to get the blog going prior to our California trip, but I didn't want to forget to mention that Uncle Brian came in for a visit. We felt honored to be part of his magical mystery tour... Kingsport, Nashville, San Francisco, El Paso, and destinations unknown!