Football!!!!

Collin started flag football practice last night for the Raiders.  He will be playing #3 for them.  During last night's practice, Coach was trying to see how all of the boys did with throwing, catching, running and pulling flags.  Collin was not the best kid out there but he did well in every category.  He did not pull a flag but he was able to block the runner enough that a team mate could get to a flag.  Coach is going to take the information from practice to determine where the boys will play.  Collin has not said anything about running with the ball yet.  As a reminder, last year, he was adamant about not wanting to run with the ball to the point that he purposefully ignored the Coach or would not catch the ball so he would not have to run with it.  I have a feeling this year, Coach will make him run with the ball a few times because Coach is known as DAD at our house.  Yep, Dad is coaching one of Collin's sports for the first time.  He has been assistant coach but not coach.

Coach talking to the team.  Collin is the furthest left in the red shirt.

First Day of 2nd Grade

Collin has been indifferent about school starting.  Other than seeing his friends, having lunch, riding the bus and playing on the playground, he does not care if school starts or not.  Wait.....that's probably normal for an 8 year old boy......ugh, already 8 and going into 2nd grade.

The morning started as it normally does.  Even though I gave him lots of kisses, he still ordered his breakfast (chocolate donuts) before he got dressed for the day.  At least he picked out his clothes AND they looked good together.  I did not want to have to convince him he needed to change.  He did not care that I was taking pictures of him before he got on the bus.

We all got up in time to not have to hurry to get out the door.  Before getting on the bus, I took the traditional picture in front of the tree outside.  It was another foggy, humid morning so I had to wipe the camera lens between pictures and take them fast before the lens fogged up again.  I was able to get some good ones.  He does have the same backpack and lunch box as last year.  These were in great shape after a little cleaning.  Plus, he was happy to keep these and not interested in a change.  Music to my ears!

Collin holding the usual sign.  I noticed I forgot the year after we all left for the day.  Oh well!

We were the last ones to arrive to the bus stop but we had plenty of time to talk to the other families and kids before the bus arrived.  Dad and I both got really big hugs and kisses before Collin got on the bus.

Really good picture of Dad and Collin before the bus arrived

Collin is the guy closest to the bus about to get on

That morning, I did check on Dad to see how he was doing without his buddy.  He said he was good and keeping really busy.  He plans to pick Collin up after school most days because the bus takes almost another hour to drop him off.  This is until the new school is finished which should be by January 2016.  Then, they will walk or ride bikes because the school is within 2 miles from the house.  Collin likes to ride the bus with his friends and prefers to be a bus rider especially on cooler days.

After school, Dad picked him up and they went to the movies.  We all got home around the same time to talk about our days.  Collin did not have much to say about school which I expected.  He did this the last several years, too. It takes him about a week to start talking about the day, his teacher and the students in his class.

That night, he did thank me for being home when he got home.  He knows I am working a lot right now and could have been working instead of sitting with him before he went to bed.  I thanked him for being thoughtful, gave him kisses and laid down with my little man to enjoy these times we have together.

Looking through pictures earlier in the day, I put this together from the last three years.  The progression is interesting especially the smile on his face.  The first picture, he had been going to Montessori school but this was his first year in a new school.  He was worried about not knowing anyone and not having friends. In his 1st grad picture, he is all smiles and ready to get on the bus.  He knows what to expect, loves riding the bus and cannot wait to see his friends.  He has grown taller and a little heavier in these pictures but not much else has changed.  He had fun looking at pictures last night noticing his messy hair and that it was still really blond like he likes it.

Love you Collin.  I hope you have a great year in 2nd grade!

Last Week Before School

Why would Collin want to go back to school next week with all of the fun he has been having this week?  Besides a birthday party on Sunday and then celebrating with the family Thursday night on his actual birthday, he, Dad and some of his friends have been hanging around town exploring, being artsy and having fun.

Monday, Barton, Dad and Collin went to the museum district and visited the Fine Art Museum and the Children's Museum. At the Fine Art Museum, the boys were actually interested in some of the exhibits.  When Dad needed a break from the questions, they walked through the general section of the museum.  Dad had no idea how many nude paintings there would be so he used his distraction skills as they walked through the hall finally ending up at the Shadow Monsters.  As explained on the museum website:

Shadow Monsters, an interactive installation by New York-based British artist Philip Worthington, invites Museum visitors to take part in a fully immersive art experience. Participants create their own shadow plays as their silhouettes are recast in fantastic forms.

Essentially a digital version of a traditional shadow-puppet theater, Shadow Monsters turns a childhood game of imagination into a reality. People's hands become mouths with razor-sharp teeth; tongues, eyes, and fins appear from every appendage; and birds and dinosaurs squawk throughout the Museum's vast Cullinan Hall—all thanks to vision-recognition software that augments visitors' gestures with sound and animation.

They boys having fun with the shadows at the Shadow Monster exhibit.

In the afternoon, the boys went to the Children's Museum.  Collin's favorite is still the water exhibit outside.  The spent most of the time in the basement climbing, crawling and jumping on the interactive exhibits.

After being at the museums from 9am til 4pm, it was time to head home and not get into too much traffic.  Plus they were already an hour late dropping Barton off at home.

The next day, Collin woke up and announced it would be fun to go to Top Golf and hit some golf balls.  Thinking that WAS a good idea, Collin, a friend and Dad hit some golfs balls for over an hour.  Collin later told me that was way too short and he wanted to stay longer.

Thursday, it was raining all day so the boys went to watch a movie, Shaun the Sheep.  So many of his friends had the same idea.  He had more fun knowing his friends where there than watching the movie.  

Friday morning, we went to school to meet his 2nd grade teacher, Ms Briggs.  He was ho hum about going back to school until he saw which friends were in his class.  Some of his good buddies are in there including Clayton.  We have not heard anything about Ms Briggs from the other parents.  While we were there, some of her students going into 3rd grade stopped by.  We talked to their moms who had really good things to say about her.  

Collin and Ms Briggs

After going to school, Collin got a hair cut because that was our deal for the summer.  He could grow it out but then had to cut it before school started.  

He starts school Monday, August 24th.  I'm looking forward to the school year. 

8 Year Birthday Party

Our little man celebrated his 8 year birthday party with 22 of his friends at a local gymnastics's club and sports center Sunday afternoon.  For an August birthday with people on one last vacation before school starts, I was shocked at how many of his friends were able to make it.  Because we have been watching a lot of the American Ninja Warrior competition on TV, we thought it would be fund to hold a Ninja Warrior team competition for the party.  The local gym thought they would be able to pull this off.

When the kids arrived, they said around a large parachute to hear about the rules which included having fun.  Then, they picked out of a bucket either a blue or a red warrior-style head band to determine which team they would be on.  Collin was on the blue team.  Next, they lined up to start running through the large obstacle course.  The kids looked like they were having a blast running through this.  Some were so fast, I did not have time to change the setting on the camera to be more focused.

Beckett, Linden, Saige, Carson, Collin, Diego, Jacob and Will sitting around the parachute.

Collin focused on the instructions for the party

There he goes to the next part of the course

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Timmy hung in right there with the other kids.  Here he is jumping to the high tower.

 After the obstacle course, the teams lined up to run and spring-jump into the foam pit.  This was a hit!  Some of the kids landed so deep into the pit, I could not see them until they started to "swim" out.

Huge jump into the pit

Finally making it out to go again

Leah's huge jump into the pit

Back in line to jump again

Focused to make this jump a good one

Can't you tell that it was a little exhausting to try to get out of the pit?

Here comes Leah!

While waiting for his turn, Collin had fun with his friends.

Jacob being silly with Collin.  What's Collin thinking about here?

Next was the trampoline competition.  A member from each time would jump on a different trampoline to see how high they could jump.  They then jumped into the pit to start over again.  I would have loved to have done this one.

Saige and Collin got to jump together

Collin catching some air!

Timmy jumped fast and high

Leah was all smiles when it was her turn to jump

Next, the teams were separated into the different teams.  One team jousted another member of the team and then they ran down a trampoline into a padded wedge that fell over so they could tumble down the ramp.  The other team had to capture a fake shark without getting hit by a ball.

Strategizing how to get the shark while waiting in line

Hiding so he does not get hit by the ball.  He and Clayton where the only kids on the blue team to get the shark.  Great job boys!

Jousting instructions

Collin and Timmy jousting.  One hit, and Timmy was down.

Collin and Beckett

Same story with Beckett...one hit and he was down

Running to hit the padded wedge and fall over

Tumbling down

While all of this was going on, Pappy and Ty were bonding.  :)  Tyson wanted in on the action and was practicing running while Pappy ran behind him.

All of this took an hour.  The kids where getting tired and hungry so it was a good time to break for cake and snacks (started at 2pm so they should have already had lunch...not Collin because he was too excited).  Before leaving the room, all of the kids were awarded a medal for participation.

Collin wanted to know why he was sitting in a really big chair.  He did not realize this was a special chair for the birthday boy.

Happy with his medal

Blowing out his candles after a VERY loud Happy Birthday song

Serious picture of most of the attendees

Funny picture.....love how creative some of the poses are.

After the 1 1/2 hour party (yes, not two hours like most parties.  We liked that it was shorter.), Mimi and Pappy brought the cousins over to the house to help Collin open and play with some of his presents.  I had to lay down because of a bad migraine (maybe from the party noise or the 50 miles I rode that morning....combination?) so I missed most of the play time.  When I woke up, the kids were resting watching Up and eating my popcorn stash.

He got several Zombie Nerf guns, gift cards to various places, a candy pillow shaped as a "C", huge flying disc, and more that I cannot remember at the moment.

We gave him a Razor scooter that he has been wanting since his sleep-away camp, some Under Armor shirts for school, watch and volcano kit.  He used the scooter around the house with his "C" pillow around his neck.  Guessed he really liked these gifts....until he opens the rest of his presents.