Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to school we go! Hi ho, hi ho...

Well, today was the day!  Another school year has started and this time Mason and Olivier are joining Anna in the excitement!  We took photos before leaving the house.  

Anna wants to be a horse trainer.

Mason wants to be a police officer.

 And Olivier wants to be extra silly...

 And a fireman!

 Could not seem to get them to stand up and not be silly all at the same time.  They were all a little on the jittery side.

 We stopped by Anna's classroom first.

 Then waited for the boys class to start.

When Matt went to pick them up, Mason hurried over to one of the helpers and ask for his panther.  Last year Anna would come home with a small panther on different colored paper to let us know how she did in the classroom.  They started the day on green and could go up to blue or down to yellow (or all the way down to red).  She always came home with blues or greens (although only a handful of those).  Mason wanted to show us he could get a blue panther!  Poor guy was disappointed that they don't do it for the kinder kids.

They all had a good first day.  I think the only complaint that I heard was they wished there was rest time.  And I have a very strong feeling we will too by the end of the week.  All part of the adjustment!

Water balloon fight!

Today the 2nd graders (as of tomorrow) had a water balloon gathering at the park to have some fun before school starts.  It was our kids first experience with water balloons and they weren't sure what to think but once things got going they had fun!  In case you couldn't tell by their silly expressions!

 Matt almost got Mason!  The balloon hit him but didn't pop!

 And Mason still decided he needed to get him back!

Fun day at the park!

They really are starting kindergarten!

I was doing okay with the idea that the boys were going to be in kindergarten, then this week hit.  And now I think I was in total denial.  This is hard!  On one hand I am so excited for them to start this new adventure.  On the other hand, I want them to stay sweet and innocent and need goodnight kisses until they are 80!  

Today Mason and Olivier got to explore their new classrooms and meet their teachers.  Some of their friends from school will be in the same classrooms so it will be nice to have a few familiar faces in the group.  The first day of school is the 24th.  

We also explored the kinder yard.  Each child makes a tile that they put up around the yard.  It is amazing to see all these tiles from the previous school years.  We had never seen Anna's so we went to find it today.  And yes, our sweet Anna starts 2nd grade next week!

Beach!!

Today we enjoyed a trip to the beach!  We live minutes away and yet we often wonder why we don't go that often.  Weird.  Anyway, we were there just before 10 a.m. and it was great!  The water was warm (for our area) and the sun wasn't too hot.  Mason even ventured out a bit, as long as he was holding my hand.  I love seeing Anna skip into the water.  

 Rufus got totally exhausted and yet refused to let us stop playing fetch.  Yes, he refused to leave us alone unless we were throwing the ball for him.  He would bark, howl, and whine until we threw the ball.  Matt eventually hid it, which helped but only for a while.

 Yippee!  Mason wasn't holding my hand!

 And this guy loved making a mess in the sand!

A fun time was had by all!

Who needs sleep?

After bowling, a special dinner, stopping at the candy store (went for cotton candy and they hand none!!), Matt and the kids went camping - in the back yard!  They had been asking to for a while and this weekend just kind of worked out.  One way to get it to look like they are sleeping...use a flash in a dark tent!   

 Rufus was on watch duty for a bit, before he wanted his warm bed in the garage.

They didn't do too bad, and did sleep all night in the tent.  Next time, air mattress needed for the grown ups!

Bowling!

This afternoon we took the kids bowling!  Anna has been a few times this summer with school (they go to the bowling alley on campus) and the boys have been wanting to go.  So we all went.  And since it wasn't a whole bunch of kids, they got to wear bowling shoes too!  I think that added to their silliness!  :-)

They each had a different technique.  Mason really wanted to use the holes but due to the size it just didn't work.  So he went with the between the legs toss.  

 Anna went with a side toss of sorts (as did Olivier).  Thankfully those bowling around us were understanding of the kids.

 And did I mention they were a bit silly?

 This is how Olivier often carried the ball.

 And off it goes!

 Mason struggled with fouls a bit.  Bummer!  :-(

 I liked this photo because you can see how they are all paying attention.

 And this is a good "action" shot of Mason.

 And did I mention they were being silly?  :-)

After bowling we went out to dinner with their free dinner certificates for completing the summer reading program!  They were very proud to tell our server what they had done to earn their certificates!  And we are very proud of them!