Lake Michigan

An idyllic lunch on the beach followed by throwing sand back into the lake. What could be more perfect?

First Day of School

They start late up here . . . not this late, but we've been busy. Moving in, starting a full-time job, finishing Dennis book (still indexing!). I miss sharing our pictures, our stories. So I'll start catching up . . . slowly.

Goodbyes

So many, many goodbyes to say. It's been hard, so much harder than I would have thought a year ago when the news of a possible job in Kalamazoo came our way. It seems as if so many more dear friends and neighbors have come into our lives. Wonderful, but now we have to say goodbye.

Xander cried last night. Confused about this whole move he was worried about the cats and his toys. Dennis had to reassure him about the things that we would be taking with us. Some of the things that we would be leaving behind. His hand brushed the wall as he sniffled tears. I'm glad it wasn't me explaining it.

Tonight more packing. The boys and I leave on Sunday. Two more sleeps on Penrose . . .

Happy Bloomsday

Today we celebrated our first kiss with a trip to the Aquarium. Certainly not the most romantic destination, but Dominick has wanted to go for quite a long time, and the jellyfish were really cool.

Dominick was super excited to see the sharks--and walking through a tube with sharks and rays all around was pretty incredible--although I couldn't stop thinking about Jaws . . .

Romantic Bus Rides

I remember many bus rides crouched down in the seat holding hands with my beau as we rode on home from a track meet or band event. Today Xander! had his first romantic ride home from Sun Rock Farm. He and Dennis went with Dominick's class to the farm. After milking goats, grinding wheat (to the applause of the whole class), and petting baby chickens, they rode home on the bus. Dominick got a seat in the back of the bus and Dennis and Xander sat next to Samantha. We were informed this weekend that she "was off the list." But she might be back on the list. Xander was thrilled to be sitting next to her. He asked Dennis if he could hold her hand. He told Xander he would have to speak to Samantha directly. She said yes!

Proud Mom Moment

Today we had our last MOPS meeting. What a very cool mom centered program. I met some great people and had a monthly child-free moment to look forward to. Xander went to the preschool classroom because he's "all grown up." They were all concerned and wanted me to put him with the 1s and 2s because he was so young and they do "structured programs" --I assured her he'd do fine (he had issues last month because, I think, the babies didn't understand his words and he got all upset when they put balls in his stroller) When I came to pick him up she told me that he did an amazing job and that if he wanted he could come live at her house! A good mom moment.

Children's Day

In honor of Children's Day (formerly Boys Day) in Japan I decided to take Dominick to zoo instead of school. He was super excited. We met our friends Owen and Eli and they were gracious enough to share some of their ride bracelets so we were able to ride everything. We rode the carousel about a "million times" according to Dominick. Poor Xander wasn't such a fan of riding the train or the carousel. He only wanted me to hold him on the carousel. After the third go round . . . I had had enough.

It was a fun fun day. But when we came home at 4pm I was exausted and had to get ready for work--not fun. Luckily it's been a quiet stream of questions--not enough to be busy but enough to keep me awake.

Mostly today was great because I got to hang out with my friend Amanda. She's just easy to be with, relaxed with her boys, and fun. Going to the zoo with just the boys is fun but so much better to have another mom to chat with while the boys study bird behavior or naked mole rats. I also loved watching Dominick and Owen, they are just really interested in the same types of things and seem to get each other. I haven't seen him interact in such a real way with to many other kids. He's so growing up.

It is a good thing that Children's Day is only once a year. I was tired but the boys were tired and hungry--Poor Dennis!