365 ~ 2016: Day 182

When trying to figure out what to do today, it was decided that we didn't really want to do the amusement park day trip, since the boys had to be back in town for their swimming lessons.  So I had suggested a trip north.  I have been wanting to cross off a breakfast place in Sugar Hill off my "Good Eats" bucket list and so we trekked the hour and 15 minutes to try the pancakes at Polly's Pancake Parlor.  The breakfast was good, but I would not say it's the "best I ever had".  I guess if I were every up in the Sugar Hill area again, I would venture to have some pancakes, but I don't think I'll be itching to get back anytime soon.  I admit that I have been spoiled by my local favorite, Tucker's and the bar is set very high.  On our way back south, we decided to sign the boys up for a ropes course tour at Alpine Adventures in Lincoln, NH.  They had lots of fun and I was most impressed by the littlest, who overcame his fear of the zipline and did it!  I think now that they know what to expect, they'll be itching to do it again sometime!  Evan Dad got in on the fun and managed to complete all 3 levels (the kids were not old enough for level 3)!  We finished the day with swimming lessons, dinner, and then some mini-golf and ice cream at Chuckster's!  I love STAYCATION!

365 ~ 2016: Day 181

It's our annual Staycation week, but with the weather being kind of meh, and some scheduled appointments and activities, we have had a hard time figuring out what to do.  With the weather up in the air again today, we decided to take the boys to the SEE Science Museum and then to jump around at the trampoline park.  We finished the day by picking up some delicious Indian cuisine at a place I found on Yelp with excellent reviews.  It did not disappoint!  Tomorrow the weather looks much better so we'll likely head north for an adventure at the Polar Caves or Lost River.

365 ~ 2016: Day 180

The boys will be swimming with the Blue Dolphins Swim Team this summer.  Tonight was their first practice!

365 ~ 2016: Day 179

Birds: Round 2 - There are 3 more newly hatched babies in the nest.

365 ~ 2016: Day 178

It was a breakfast on the porch kind of Sunday morning!

365 ~ 2016: Day 177

Had a lovely visit today from our NY Family!

365 ~ 2016: Day 176

Looking sharp with their new hair!

Schools Out for Summer 2016!

We are coming up on the close of our first official week of Summer and so far we have survived.  The boys were feeling a little under the weather and so it we spent the week detoxing from the hectic schedules that is the last month of school.

It started with our very last week of Family Center.  Family Center was a HUGE part of our lives for the last 5 years.  It was the first place where I felt at home in our new town!  I was grateful for this one last year with Evan and we'll miss everyone so much.  Evan made sure to let everyone know that he was "GRADUATING" and that he would miss them when he was a BIG FIRST GRADER.  And we celebrated with a cake!

Graduated from Family Center!

Evan and I brought a cake to celebrate!

Thank you Family Center!

That same afternoon, Evan went on a field trip to a local Farm to learn about animals.  His teacher had taken a short leave of absence but was able to come out for the day to spend time with the class.  The kids were all so excited and I was able to get my annual teacher picture!

Evan and his teacher Mrs. Williams

On Monday Shaun and David had their Move-Up days where they would find out who their new teachers would be.  That mean for Shaun he would walk over to his new school and check out where his classroom would be.  He was excited to find out who his teacher was and told anyone who would listen that his teacher was "so beautiful".  Oh. My. Word.  We're going to be in trouble!  Both boys are already looking forward to next year.  Evan would have to wait to find out his new teacher until Thursday!

On Tuesday we celebrated Success Night with Shaun and Evan.  Shaun is essentially graduating from Mill Brook (K-2) and moving on to Broken Ground (3-5) and Evan will be attending school full time in the Fall.  We took the boys out to dinner and then went to the school so they could show off their best work.

Dinner at El Rodeo

Evan and Mom

Shaun and Dad

Shaun showing off some of his writing.  He's REALLY good!

Last time in a Mill Brook classroom!

Shaun and his teacher Ms. Flynn - she completely got this kid and all his quirks.  He had such a great year and really matured a lot.

Evan showing off his portfolios

His Mendala

Evan and his teacher Ms. Martin - she was a student teacher in the classroom from January to May and then took over as the long term substitute when Mrs. Williams took her leave.  She was amazing and the kids loved her.  You would have never known she was fresh out of college.  I was excited to see that she would be staying at Mill Brook as a preschool teacher!

Finishing off the night with a little treat!

On Thursday, Evan rode the bus to school in the morning for Step-Up Day.  He would normally go to school in the afternoon, but needed to be in school for the morning to go meet his new teacher and classmates.  I couldn't wait to find out who Evan would be with and was excited to hear that he would have the same first grade teacher that Shaun had.  I'm already counting down the days to the Parent/Teacher conferences because Shaun and Evan could not be more different and I'll be curious to hear it from a teachers prospective.  David and Shaun had the same Kindergarten teacher and it was definitely a different experience!

Finishing off the week, we headed over to Broken Ground so that I could give David's teacher a hug and thank her for pushing my boy and making sure that he didn't fall through any cracks (like with his word work - he is a terrible speller).  She was really amazing.  I'll miss her, but she is confident he'll have a great year next year!

David and his teacher Ms. Pike

Look how much they have grown in a year!

First and Last Day of Fourth Grade

First and Last Day of Second Grade

First and Last Day of Kindergarten

365 ~ 2016: Day 175

This kid is determined to be a top reader for his grade this summer!  I am just happy to see him even wanting to read, and even more excited that he is enjoying the book that I picked out for him to read this summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 174

Summertime blues...

365 ~ 2016: Day 173

Checking things off the summer bucket list one activity at a time!  Today was strawberry picking!

365 ~ 2016: Day 172

We survived the first day of summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 171

My boys are the luckiest!  Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Today we celebrated the Dads with a fun family cookout!  We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and the kids swam in the pool.  It's always a nice day with family around!

Strawberry Pie!

Chocolate Trifle

365 ~ 2016: Day 170

The AA Champions - Capital Sporting Goods!  Shaun had a blast playing baseball with his friends and it was cool to see him try some new things and in the last few games his throwing improved. Walking away with his first trophy was icing on the cake!

365 ~ 2016: Day 169

School's out for summer!

365 ~ 2016: Day 168

It was Move Up Day for Evan!  Today he had the chance to meet his first grade teacher, see his new classroom and meet his new classmates.  However, since this Move Up happens during the morning, it meant that his day looked a little different.  Normally he goes to school in the afternoons, but all afternoon Kindergartners attended school in the morning today.  That meant that instead of me dropping him off to school, he was able to ride the bus with his brothers in the morning for the first time.

He was so excited! Normally if he doesn't wake up with his brothers in the morning, I'll let him sleep in.  Today however, he wasn't going to be able to sleep in and of course he was still asleep at 6:45.  When I walked into his room to wake him up, he started to give me a hard time until I said, "Evan you have to take the bus to school today, you need to get up".  He sat up and jumped out of bed!  "Oh yeah", he told me, "I forgot, thank you for waking me up, Mom!".  I just hope he continues to be this excited about waking up in the morning in the Fall.

He's going to have the same teacher that Shaun had, and he is beyond excited!  The last day of school is tomorrow and he's already talking about how excited he is to start first grade!

365 ~ 2016: Day 167

So proud of this kid and his amazing break out season.  Tonight was no his teams night and they lost in the championship.  But first place for the regular season and a second place trophy is not too shabby!

365 ~ 2016: Day 166

Evan and Shaun's school Success Night!  Tonight we celebrated Evan moving on to first grade and Shaun graduating (sort of) from his school and moving on to BGS in the fall (the 3-5 school).  We've traditionally celebrated these milestones with the boys individually, but this year it was all on the same night and so they had to share.  Good thing they both wanted to go out to eat at the same restaurant!

365 ~ 2016: Day 165

Tonight David's team advanced to the finals.  He has been playing some great baseball over the second half of the season and it's been so fun to watch.  While he's been killing it at the plate lately (like in the picture below from the game tonight, when he singled in the go ahead run) we finally got to see him make some big plays in the field.  Tonight he made three solid defensive plays at second base, including catching a pop up, stopping a grounder and throwing the runner out at first and the BIG play of the night, an unassisted double play!  That double play was the rally the team needed to get back in the game and then after he hit in the go ahead run, some big bats took care of the rest!  One more game to go!

Shaun is EIGHT!

I can't believe Shaun is EIGHT!  He's getting ready to "graduate" from his school and move on to the 3-5 school next door where his big brother goes.  The night before his birthday he got to pitch in his baseball game!  He normally would not have pitched, but he asked and his coach put him in to try it out.  He was on cloud 9!

On the mound!

He had a baseball game on his actual birthday too, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat with his uniform on and then headed out to his game!

Birthday Dinner Selfie!

He had a great game and here you can see him scoring a run!

After we got home we did gifts and I snapped a picture of my new turned Eight year old!

Gifts!

I am looking forward to seeing what his growth percentiles show when he has his appointment in September.  Since I had not scheduled it and they could not fit him in until then!  Oh well!

*Edited to add percentiles from 9/2/16*
HEIGHT: 52.25 inches (72nd percentile)
WEIGHT: 71lbs (87th percentile)

365 ~ 2016: Day 164

Finally!  Captain America: Civil War!