Sister Bears First Day

Sister Bear started preschool yesterday. She is in a pre-k program at a church preschool down the road from us. We pass the church the majority of the time we leave our house. Every time we drive by it she would say "that's were I am going to preschool" To say that Sister was excited to go to preschool is an understatement. On Monday morning which was a holiday, she came in and woke me up. "Tomorrow is Tuesday and after that is Wednesday." Of course Wednesday. The start of preschool. One night she told me she couldn't sleep because she was so excited for preschool. What a silly girl.
Tuesday night. The outfit was all laid out. I thought she might have a hard time going to bed but she was out. Wednesday morning, the big day had arrived. I was feeling a little sad. My buddy was going to be gone for 2 1/2 hrs, 3 days a week. On Wednesdays Brother starts school earlier so Papa got him off to the bus while I finished getting Sister ready.
She was so excited to get in the car. She had her backpack and was ready to go. We went into the narthex and there were three lines for the different classes. Sister saw hers, hugged us and off she went. There were no tears, no extra hugs goodbye, just a "see you after school!"
When the teachers took the lines back to the classrooms a couple of kids had to be physically pry ed away. One boy was screaming, dragging his feet into the ground.
Finally it was time for me to go pick her up. I took Sister over to Papa Bears office for lunch. She talked the whole way over about school. I think she likes it. :)

Bennett/Leonard Camping Trip

I forgot to write about the Bennett/Leonard camping trip at the end of July. And since it is almost the middle of September, I thought I should do a little post about it. We went camping down in Southern Oregon with Granny & Grandpa and Papa's sister Stacey and her boys Paul, Pizza and Popsicle. Sister Bear was Princess Pea while Brother was French Toast. Silly kids.

We had only been in the car for about an hour when Princess Pea asked if we were almost there. Oh about 7 hours of that to go! Princess Pea is quite the talker and she did not nap on the way down. French Toast was happily entertained with his books and i-pod.
Finally after three stops we made it. We all arrived at the same time. The kids couldn't wait to get out of the truck. There were a lot of open spaces near our sites so there was plenty of room for the kids to run, run and run.
It was nice to relax by the campfire and look at the lake. We would take a daily walk down to the camp store where they served yummy soft serve ice cream.

The kids some fishing but I don't think anyone ever caught anything. One day Granny and Grandpa rented two boats and we went out on a 4hour cruise onto the lake. Stacey and I were in the boat with Granny and Grandpa while the kids and dads were in the other. There were some places where we stopped and the kids fished off the boat. We saw some bald eagles on our ride also. The kids and dads got into the chilly lake for a few minutes. On the last day Stacey and Paul got their call to go to Korea to pick up our new nephew. So they had to spend some time at "camp wi-fi" making travel arrangements.
All trips must come to an end and so it was time to pack up and make the long drive home. As we were driving the winding road down from the lake a mean old bee decided to come into the truck. It it the side of the door and got into Papa's shirt. It stung him twice and he couldn't get it out of his shirt. There was no place to pull over on the road either. Finally we came to a spot and he got the big black bee out of his shirt and gave it a big stomp! Princess Pea was tired because she slept for a long time on the ride home. The best part of the drive home was we stopped at Sweet Tomatoes outside of Portland for lunch. Yum!

First Day of School

6th grade! Wow, I can't believe I have a 6th grader. Where has the time gone? Yesterday we went to school and met his teacher and dropped off all of his supplies. Brother was happy with the teacher he got this year. It was the teacher he wanted. This year though two of his really good friends who have been in his class are with other teachers. Brother has a man teacher this year. He had one in 4th grade too.

Cade rides the bus to school. Our tradition is that I take him to school on the first day. Last night during dinner I asked if he wanted to ride the bus with his friends. He said no he wanted me to take him. Big smile inside.

All Stars

This year the All-Star team Brother plays on had their state tournament in Longview. The kids were very excited to go spend a few days in a hotel. The team didn't fair very well in the tournament but they had a great time playing together. Brother Bear did a great job in the tournament. He went 6-11, plus a couple of walks, a sacrifice bunt, stole home and had some good plays at home tagging guys out.

Camping

We went camping a few weekends ago with some friends of ours. Our second summer camping with them. Last year we camped at the beach, this year we camped in the mountains.

It was a little chilly and drizzly the first day we got there, but the rest of the trip was beautiful. Sister Bear loves camping, the hot dogs, the smores.

Phillies

Since the regular baseball season ended in early June, I will just post some pictures from Brothers baseball season. Sister Bear enjoyed hanging out with her friends at the ball field. Papa Bear was his coach again. Brother played catcher again this year and was the only catcher on the team. His team finished in 2nd place this year. He has been playing with most of his teammates for several years, whether it be regular season or all-stars.

Dance Recital

Sister Bear was taking dance and they had a recital a few weeks ago. It was a circus theme. She was so excited. The class was two and three year olds but since Sister turned four during the time they practiced for the recital the teacher just had her stay in the same class until the recital was over with. Sister loved being up on stage. Her great grandma was in town visiting so she got to see Sister perform.

Last Day of School

The last day of school for Brother Bear was last week. Normally Brother rides the bus home from school but he has always wanted me to pick him up on the last day. I am thankful that he still did this year too.

I can't believe we have a 6th grader now. Scary! How can it be five years ago that I was picking this kid up

on the last day of school.

I was going to take Brother out to lunch. I suggested a nice sit down lunch at the Ram, granted I did have a free coupon, or Pizza Hut because he really likes the lunch buffet. But he really wanted to go to Panda Express. So Brother and I had a nice little lunch together just the two of us. I don't think next year on the last day of school with a future 7th grader is going to be very easy on me.

Find the Kid

Sister Bear has to go up and have a little quiet time on her bed every day. Some days I get lucky and she actually falls asleep. Usually she just lays on her bed and "reads" books to all of her friends who share the bed with her. I went in the other day because it was getting late and it was unusually quiet. I found her covered by animals. By the time I got back with the camera she had moved and some of the animals had fallen off.

She was really sweating underneath all of her animals.

Merry Christmas

In November 2009 I bought Papa Bear tickets to see U2 for Christmas. We weren't doing presents for each other. But I bought these tickets and saved them and gave him them for Christmas. It was a present for both of us. The concert was going to be June 20, 2010 at Qwest Field where the Seahawks and Sounders play. Then in May we started hearing that Bono had hurt his back and was having emergency back surgery. There would be NO North American concerts now. What do we do? Ticketmaster sends us lots of nice emails saying as soon as they know anything they will let us know.

June 20th rolls around. This should have been concert day. Its Fathers Day. Brother Bear is playing in a baseball tournament all weekend. It is POURING rain and Qwest Field is uncovered. Maybe just a little thankful that there is no concert as the tickets do say Rain or Shine.

Now it is August. Ticketmaster and U2 have sent emails announcing the new North America tour dates. Seattle is now June 4th. Hold on to your tickets and they are still good or return them by a certain date for a full refund. Thank you, we will be holding on to ours.

June 4th is here. THE SUN IS SHINING!!!! Brother Bear has a baseball game, which started late as a result of the game before. The concert starts at 7pm. It is hot. We have to change, get kids off to where they need to be. We now have Gramma and Granddad here who keep Sister over night as Brother goes to a friend house from the baseball team. We've got to get to Seattle and find a parking lot that makes us choke on the cost. Have we eaten dinner? Nope.

Finally we are in our seats with plenty of time to spare. I get a phone call from a friend who has moved to Texas. She had bought tickets when still here and came back for concert. We figure out where each other is sitting and wave across the stadium. And yes I actually saw her waving, both her and her husband were wearing white shirts and it was helpful in spotting them. We are hungry and thirsty but don't want to eat at the stadium. We share a soda. Its time for the concert. Lenny Kravitz is the opening act. It was kind of weird to be at a concert outside and it was still daylight. It doesnt get dark here until about 9:45.

This is the 4th time we have seen U2 together. The first time dates back to 1992 when we were both in college.

Great concert! Takes awhile to get out of the stadium as it was packed! Not an empty seat or spot. We are hungry! So we head up to Beth's Cafe, home of the 12 egg omelet featured on Man vs. Food. Nothing like breakfast at 1am, and the place was packed. We don't get home until 2:30am. Sunday = Tired.