Ok, enough sappy . . . well, maybe not since I'm talking about Riley starting school now!! lol Yep, that's right. I now have a 3rd grader!! I can't believe it. He is so grown up! I really saw him shine this summer with how much he has matured. (Thankfully there's still quite a bit to go, but even since last year he has really gained a lot of confidence, maturity, and dare I say wisdom) Perfect example . . . This weekend we went to our small town's annual festival. Long story short, I was walking around with a petition talking to people, and Cam had to take Jayce to his rock climbing class. So that left Riley to watch after Amara for me. I wasn't intending that, I had the stroller and was planning to push her around with me, but Riley took over. Playing with her on the playground, pushing her around to different places and booths, even checking in with me every 10 minutes or so. But my favorite part - The bounce houses. There were 2 of them. One for big kids, and one for little kids. He wanted to go down the big kid one of course, but Amara wasn't allowed to go in. So instead of leaving her outside by herself, he put his own wishes aside and took her to the little kid one. But, he was too old to go in, so again he missed out on his chance to jump in the bounce house. The best part though, he didn't just leave to come back and tell me they couldn't jump. He stood there and waited while his little sister had fun jumping in the bounce house without him! This kid really is golden! He's so considerate, kind, and caring that I couldn't be prouder of him! And he's like that with a lot of things. He gives up a lot to put his younger siblings first, like riding his bike to school instead of his scooter because he knows that Jayce needs the practice on his bike. Like not getting candy for a treat because Amara got treats taken away and if he gets one she will throw a fit. Of course he is usually sad about these things, but he doesn't dwell on them and pout for hours on end like his siblings would. I'm really amazed at how understanding he is. So, I better stop there before I get too weepy! Here is his picture from his first day of school last week.
That day was quite the day for me. Well, for Jayce really. Remember me saying how Riley is growing up and maturing? Well, we are still working on that with Jayce. That morning was a complete disaster for him, and therefore for me too. After prepping him for a week about taking Riley to school and riding our bikes, and getting up early, etc. I thought he would be ready for all the change that comes with the first day of school. Nope, not a chance! He made it about 2 blocks before throwing a compete meltdown fit, refusing to ride his bike the last 4 blocks to the school. I tried leaving the bike for us to continue the walk (and get there on time still) and pick it up on the way back . . . that just made it worse. So I ended up alternating dragging him, walking a ways and waiting for him, then just flat out leaving him, so that I could get Riley to school on time. The best part, I was still dragging the bike for a while, but now I also had about 600 parents staring at me and my screaming child. Poor Riley. He had to be so embarrassed. After he was in the school I made a beeline for the gate, and at that point Jayce decided to rip his (already slightly broken) sandals to shreds. So now he also had to ride his bike home without any shoes! That made things worse again, and now we were sitting just outside the school playground gate with him screaming and crying and every single parent walking by. It was fabulous! NOT!!! We then sat in that same spot for 45 minutes until another little girl about his age rode by on her bike, and then SNAP! Magically he was fine and could ride his bike again! ugh. this kid. But the good news . . . after that day of me forcing him to ride his bike both to drop off and pick up Riley, he was a pro! He had struggled all summer to learn. He could ride it, but had trouble starting and stopping the bike on his own. And when you live 6 blocks from school and have to stop and start at every corner going there and back twice in one day . . . you get lots of practice in!! :) I know I'm such a mean horrible mother aren't I! And just this morning (only day 3 of school) he's doing it entirely on his own, even standing up on the pedals to ride! Jayce doesn't like doing new things, but he's usually so good at them once he finally does! he's a natural at just about everything. If he would just jump in with a positive attitude . . . Oh well. He doesn't start preschool for another couple weeks. He's doing the actual pre-k class this year (as opposed to the beginners class he did last year) and it goes 3 days a week for 3 hours a day. He's still in afternoons, so I'm hoping to get a few hours of peace and quiet while he's at school and Amara is napping.
Ahhhhh, Amara! This girl is something else! She is so fun, and such a pain at the same time! She's all girl, but she knows how to hang with the boys! She will bring her "baby" everywhere with us, but drops her off in the driveway when it's time to play with the cars in the mud! She jumps on the trampoline getting tossed and flipped by the bigger kids, then comes and cuddles with me on my lap during a movie. Just yesterday I had a few glimpses of her girlie side. While curling my hair with the curling iron for church, she comes in and announces she wants me to curl her hair too! I've attempted this only a couple times with her (once being for my sister's wedding) so for her to be so gung-ho about doing it was a big surprise! A welcome one! So you betcha I curled that hair!! It lasted all of 30 minutes in her fine baby hair, but I don't care! Then again last night I was soaking my feet in my fabulous sea salt mix from Pink papaya that I love, and she came in (from playing with the boys outside getting dirty) and wanted to soak her feet too! Of course her feet were filthy, and as much as I wanted that nice clean calming water to myself, I couldn't say no to a chance to sit still with her for a few minutes! So we did. We soaked our feet together. Although she only stuck around for about 3 minutes so it was more like washing her feet, but I don't care. I'll take these little snippets when I get them. The screaming however, that I could do without. We are entering the phase with her where I'm beginning to see the difference between boys and girls. Jayce throws fits, and cries, and screams. But Amara, she screams!! There's just something about the difference between the boy cries and wails, and the squeals and screeches of a girl! And it's not just when they are upset and crying (which is way more often than boys - even Jayce!) but when they are happy and laughing too. My poor ears!!! So i'm really learning to take the good with the bad with Amara! lol
As for our end of summer adventures, we did have a few. Of course we had some more hikes, but I'll do those in my #52hikechallage update. We had a playdate with MOPS at the Poudre River, and got to cool off on a hot day, took a trip to the zoo, and Cam took the boys on one last Camping trip. Here's a few pictures from our "end of the summer she-bags!"
#52 Hike Challenge Hikes
#13: Ramsey Shockey Open Space 8/4/15
#14: Hewlett Gulch 8/10/15
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