First Day of School

The boys headed off to school today after a breakfast with cousin Karen from Columbus. They carried their little snack bags to their cubbies and headed straight for the computers! Had to peel Ben off and guide him back to his chair and coloring assignment. Zach walked in ahead of me and his teacher said to me: "Where's my buddy?" and I said he's already in. "That's a good sign," she said. They're wonderful at this school. George had to be out of town but he left the boys an encouraging note. The dogs, as usual, went with us and helped me celebrate the transition with a romp around the park. We met a lot of old and new friends yesterday at "Lemonade Day." The boys met their teachers and saw their classrooms. Afterward, George took the boys to the Yogurt Shack. There they met a mom and some kids who go to the same school and who also went to the same summer camp. George said Zach made him proud with his exploding conversation skills.
The mom: Zach. Did you meet my daughter at camp?
Zach: I don't know. Did she play pool?
The mom: No. She didn't play pool.
Zach: Did she play foosball?
The mom: No. She did arts and crafts.
Zach: Oh, I didn't do any of that.

Ben Meets the Midwest

Have to do a fast post today. It's the day before school starts and the boys will meet their teachers in about 90 minutes. Very exciting. We returned from a fabulous trip to Minnesota yesterday. Ben met eight aunts and uncles and seven cousins and that's just a part of the crew. We tried to keep the visit somewhat subdued so as not to overwhelm him. He is hard to overwhelm, turns out. By day two, he was helping serve the roasted spuds and cleaning crumbs off the kitchen floor. Good boy! He did not swim in the lake, too cold. I couldn't convince him that it was warmer than the mountain lakes he's experienced. But, he dove into multiple pools and enjoyed playing pool, ping pong, trains, Star Wars and Toy Story with Zach and his cousins. Here, one photo is of the Minnesota crew and the other of Ben on a hike in California with friends.

Special times

Upon finishing our week near Tahoe -- during which we rode kayaks and canoes, climbed boulders and trees, ate watermelons and hot dogs, watched Popeye and Lady and the Tramp, visited with old and new friends, fished for fish and frogs, picked wildflowers and various scabs, watched skateboarders and bald eagles and a few other things, George asked the boys if they had fun at the cabin.
"No fun," they said, and fell asleep a few hours later asking when they could go back to the cabin.

Not all is ever lost

When I think that all is lost: the lovely "chalk art on the driveway" project turns into "throw chalk on the roof," the boys do something to soften my thoughts. This morning, as we prepared for company, I washed floors, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, etc., as the boys played. While I was upstairs, I heard Zach say in an exasperated voice: "Ben. Don't. You're making the rug all dirty and mommy will just have to work harder." Turns out, Ben had mud on his shoes. Good Boy, "Zachy" as Ben would say. The boys did do their part to get ready for winter. We stacked wood and they carried, one, then two, then three, then four pieces before they tired.

Pooping frogs and hissing geese

We had an adventuresome day with a lot of animal encounters. We started this morning in a meadow that rivals the best of Yosemite. We'd heard that the meadow was hopping with frogs this time of the year and that was an understatement. As we walked, frogs no bigger than a little kid's thumb hopped around our feet. The boys wanted to hold them but I had to grab one first. YUK. Actually, they were so little you couldn't even feel them. They were all heading for the shrinking pool of water in the middle of the meadow -- the last of the snow runoff from last winter. After Zach held his first one, it hopped off his hand and left behind what Zach said was "frog pooh, so gross." I doubt it was frog pooh, but it was black and it wasn't there before the frog so who knows. We laughed about that all day.

In another part of the meadow, the frogs disappeared and, I believe, flying grasshoppers filled the air. Ben was walking in front of me and he stopped and held out his arms. They were thick. Two pelicans performed above us, flying in perfect formation, just before the last hint of the moon disolved into the blue sky. This meadow is one of my most favorite places -- more so after today. The boys climbed on top and around huge boulders. Zach decided we'd "play family" so he claimed the biggest boulder as his house. Ben claimed the next boulder as his and I took the third. Zach was insistent we all have our own, but Ben invited me to his house quite often. When I settled into mine, the dogs followed and soon the boys were there, too. Then, Zach claimed another boulder so he'd have two houses. So Ben claimed another one, too, but thought better of it: "All of these are my houses," he said, surveying his sea of 20 houses (boulders) in the valley below. His face held the pose of a king at the edge of his kingdom. Of course, this magical time disintigrated into a whine fest before we made it back to the car. But of course it would. They're 5-year-olds.

The hissing geese were at the lake near Tahoe Donner. Ben had Cheetos on the beach. I was in the lake. Ben gave the geese Cheetos. Then Zach did. Then the geese roared up for more, hissing. I was out of the lake, fast, but the geese hissed at me, too. Love those geese! They do clean up the beach. We ceased eating Cheetos and the geese moved on.

Old Photo, New Post

This picture is from Taiwan, before we met Ben. I forgot my camera and have no new photos to share. We're at the cabin for a week, our last mountain hurrah near the end of our magical summer. No photos, but picture this: I'm in the kitchen on this computer. Zach is in the top bunk in the kids' bedroom. Ben is in the bottom bunk. It's 8:00 p.m. and we've read stories, brushed teeth, eaten dinner, had ice cream, fed dogs, rode bikes, played frisbee, swam in the lake -- all after 5 p.m.

Zach: Ben. Are you asleep?
Ben: No.
Zach: Are you ever going to go to sleep?
Ben: No.
Zach: Never, ever, ever?
Ben: (No answer)
Zach: Ben. Do you want to have a sleep over?
Ben: Sure.
Zach: Mom. Can we have a sleep over?
Mom: Sure. Five minutes.
Zach: Ben. Do you want to come up to my bed?
Ben: No. You come down.
(Zach clamors down.)
Ben: My blanket.
Zach: We SHARE!
Ben: This is my bed.
Zach: But we're having a sleep over.
Ben: No.
Zach: You can come up to my bed.
Ben: Don't like it.
Zach: Mom. We're having a sleep over.
(He's now on the floor next to Ben's bed.)
Zach: Can I climb into bed?
Ben: No.
Zach: Tickle your feet. Tickle, tickle. (He's trying all his moves!)

Ten minutes has passed.

Mom: Two minutes and sleep over ends! Is that a Leapster game machine I hear?
Zach: Ben. Hide it from mommy.
Ben: Okay.
Ben: Mommy. I'm done with the Leapster.
Zach: Mommy. I'm done with the Leapster.

Serene Lakes Days

The boys did their first three-legged race, sack race and broad jump this past weekend during the Serene Lakes Days festival. They took home nine ribbons between them and, believe me, the odd number causes issues! The event was very fun, very homespun -- a place where we feel we can let the boys run here and there and not have to be on top of them all the time. They enjoyed a little kayaking, too, and hiked into a mountain lake. They're painting now on the patio. They're really enjoying each other much of the time. The other morning, they played around the house for a good 90 minutes and George and I could've been on the moon. We're so fortunate.