Z Goes to Kindergarten! (Part 2)

Well, Friday Z broke my heart started Kindergarten. It has been an awesome 6 weeks with him spending mornings with me and afternoons with Nunna! As a matter of fact, I sit here at work on Monday morning wishing he were sitting next to me begging me to let him “watch something” instead of reading or practicing his handwriting.

Thursday was meet the teacher. Nick and I blocked off our mornings so we wouldn’t miss it! His teacher was PRECIOUS, and we were all so excited to be there!

I took him straight to Nunna’s for the afternoon. Then, Friday was the big day, and we were ready (as ready as we could be, anyway).

 

*This adorable printable can be found here.

We decided to all go together, because how many times do you drop your first born off to his first day of Kindergarten? amiright?

He did really well, and about two seconds after this walking in picture, when I couldn’t see him anymore, the full body sob hit me like a ton of bricks. Sunglasses anybody?!

That was rough!

Then, I get home and Lu is sitting quietly at the table, and when I remind her that she gets to pick her own show without Z interfering, I start crying again…. Sheesh, get it together, woman!

Lu followed me around all morning, and she was a SWEETIE! We ended up going to the grocery store together, having a quiet lunch and early nap, so we could pick up Z on time.

Now, I use the term quiet loosely, because while Z was not there to argue with her about every little thing, she was certainly never quiet. She actually talked non-stop the whole day, including in the grocery store, and I loved every minute of it. I’m really looking forward to this special time with my baby!

In the meantime, I’ll be trying to get my emotions under control….

Z Goes to Kindergarten!

Way back when Z “graduated” preschool, I had this feeling like that should have been the end, but I really didn’t have any plans for summer at that point, so he continued through May, then on the last day of May it hit me, that June should be his last month in preschool and I should make some plans for July and the first two weeks of August, so I put in the notice and declared the “Summer of Z” would begin on July 1 (or after our 4th weekend in Ohio). He was to come to work with me in the mornings and then Mom would pick him up and take him to her house for lunch and the afternoons.

It has been going really well. I made sure we had a Kindergarten workbook, several level 1 and 2 books to read (so he wouldn’t forget everything he’s learned), math flashcards (basic addition and subtraction), and lots of snacks and Netflix to get him through when I’m with patients (hasn’t always stopped him from coming into the room while I’m working or calling me when he needs something, but keeps him mostly in one spot). Needless to say, he much prefers Netflix over reading and workbooking, but who can blame him?!

This week we’ve had the most fun finding Waldo (and friends).

We are almost to the end of this sweet little time, and while we’ve had our ups and downs, it has been awesome to spend time with him before he heads off to Kindergarten.

Speaking of Kindergarten, we must be getting close because we got this sweet little gift on our mailbox from the Elementary school’s PTO. When I pulled into our neighborhood, I spotted one, and registered what it was, so I had a few seconds to cry have a moment, then I was good when we got to ours. Z was really excited and so cute!

Fourth of July-Part 2

Friday morning, we hit up the breakfast buffet and splash park at Great Wolf, then headed back to Nana and Tata’s for lunch and naps. They fought it hard, but finally gave in, and we got them up in time to head into town for First Fridays and the Fourth of July celebration.

Hands down our favorite stop was the used bookstore.

We had a super yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant and went to the park where they were showing The Lego Movie, which my kids were drawn to like a moth to a flame even though they’ve seen it a thousand times. Then we snagged our spot and saw some really great fireworks! It took us a hot minute to get outta there, and the kids were wired (due to forced nap, ha!). We were all in Nana’s car, and Tata was riding in the back back, every time he said anything, Lu would say “Don’t talk, Little Mango!” Thus, the nickname Little Mango was born. She proceeded to call him Little Mango for the rest of the weekend. “Where’s Little Mango?” “Little Mangooooo!” Ha, it was hilarious!

Saturday, we hung out at Nick’s sister’s house for a bit, then headed to the park for a picnic with Nick’s extended family. Z and Lu had a blast with all the kiddos!

Lu totally crashed at dinner, so they called it a night a bit early, and we stayed up and visited a bit more with family.

Sunday came way too soon! We left around lunchtime, and while we made much better time on the way home, we still stopped at Wal-mart for road food and rewards/toys, had to get gas a couple times, and made it all the way to Hartselle, Alabama before we had to stop for dinner. Can’t beat Cracker Barrel on a long road trip!

The last hour or so was ROUGH and we got home just in time to hit the bed. I was so proud of the kids though, overall they did fantastic! That’s it until next time….

Fourth of July: Roadtrip Edition Part 1

This year we headed North for the fourth. We’ve never made the drive to Ohio to see Nick’s parents, only flown, but with connecting flights and layovers and two children, we realized it was time to roadtrip it Griswold style, with (stuffed animal) friends, entertainment, and lots of snacks (and treats)!

So we loaded up Tuesday night, woke up early Wednesday, and we were out the door by 7:30 a.m. We we making great time, when things came to a screeching halt, literally. There was a major accident on the road in Campbellsburg, KY, which delayed us just enough to hit rush hour traffic in Cincinnati and added a good 3 hours to our overall drive time, which ended up being a whopping 11 hours! Needless to say, even though the kids were TROOPERS, we were so relieved to finally get there, albeit at about 7:30 at night!

We hung out with family, played, ate, and then went to bed so we could get up and head to King’s Island and the Great Wolf Lodge the next day. It was about a 40 minute drive, and very peaceful because the kids rode with Nana and Tata, ha! When we got there, we went straight to Planet Snoopy and the kids loved it!

Someone may have ridden her very first (and certainly her last) (and probably one of the scariest in the free world) roller coaster called The Diamondback, and all I can say is I have enough anxiety about everyday things without intentionally bringing anxiety on myself, but let’s move on.

The kids loved meeting the Peanuts characters.

As if spending the day at King’s Island weren’t enough, we spent the night at the Great Wolf Lodge right next to King’s Island, which was so fun and PERFECT for kids. The kids slept in the “Wolf Den,” which they loved, and Lu is still asking to be called “baby wolf.”

The Great Wolf Lodge had the biggest indoor splash park you could ever imagine, complete with waterslides, a tide pool, lazy river, and hot tubs. It was CRAZY! These pictures barely do it justice!

After a full day of rides and splash park fun, we had dinner then what else, but hit the arcade! The kids RACKED UP on tickets, multiple times! We probably got close to 1500 all together.

This time we used our tickets to get this Great Wolf Lodge soccer ball instead of 5 tootsie rolls, three jelly bracelets, and a matchbox car. I think it was probably a smart move.

It just simply isn’t a Gax family vacation (or trip to the mall) without spending some time (and money) at an arcade. So fun!

Next up, the rest of the weekend fun!

Father’s Day

We had the most relaxing Father’s Day weekend! The kids and I went (almost) nowhere on Friday. We went to the gym and pool, then my parents house Saturday morning, and the Hammers Game Saturday night. Nick had already declared Saturday night (when Z scored those goals) as his best Father’s Day present, but we still celebrated him with a nice steak dinner and a movie (Big Hero 6, which is awesome, by the way) Friday night and a day at the movies on Sunday. We saw Inside Out, which was another winner in our books, so fun!

They’d already decided which feelings they identified with. Z was ‘Anger’ and Lu was ‘Sadness.’

Or, was it ‘Joy?’

Lu was a little small for the flip chair, so she ended up in my lap.

We snacked, laughed, could’ve cried, but suppressed it, basically it was a great movie!

We had a great dinner and ended the weekend with cobbler and ice cream on the couch watching Star Wars Rebels at Nick’s Zayd’s request ;)

I have some pretty amazing fathers in my life, and Nick is absolutely no exception! He loves his children fiercely and would go to the ends of Earth for them! He’s caring, devoted, and so much fun! We are so thankful for him on Father’s Day and EVERY DAY!

You'll Never Believe What Happens Next

You know those videos on Facebook that are like "A little boy meets an old man 'and you'll never believe what happens next'"? Man, those things get on my nerves, but we actually kinda had one of those moments on Saturday.

Z's school soccer program was having "Family Night" at a Birmingham Hammers game, our local soccer team which I never knew existed before last Tuesday. Anyway, I mentioned it to Nick, then we mentioned it to Z, and he got really excited about it. It rained in the afternoon and we were kinda getting settled in for the night, running late, but Z was so excited, we had to get up and go.

It was a really cool and fun game, but where things really got interesting was at halftime when they do this goal scoring competition where they put small nets in the corners of the goals and get kids from the crowd to try and kick the ball into one of the nets.

Nick had the idea for Z to go out there, but I wasn't so sure because he was a good bit younger than all the other kids out there. Thankfully, they didn't listen to me, and he jumped out there and got in line to take a shot.There were probably about 25 or so kids that lined up to try and score a goal. About five had scored when Z was up, then this happened.

He scored! We couldn't believe it! His reaction was PRICELESS, and I was so proud when he said his name and his age into the microphone!

They lined up the 6 finalists and had them go again to narrow it down further, and Z scored AGAIN! This time he kicked into the corner goal on the opposite side. The crowd went nuts, and I'm not exaggerating (well, maybe a little). Only one other contestant (who was about 13 years old) scored on the second round, so he and Z went again to determine the winner.

Z missed the third and fourth shot and the older kid got one, so Z came in second place and it was really the sweetest moment ever! Especially when the announcer said he won a $55 credit for Hammer merchandise, $10 for every year of his life, ha! We were beaming, and that really isn't an exaggeration.

Needless to say, we are all Birmingham Hammer fans now!