Sweet Little Andrew Turns 5! (In May!)

05.22.2011 - yes, I am THAT far behind in my blog posts.  Shame on me!

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We celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday with the Hoffart family at Chuck E. Cheese this year.  We usually have a big party with everyone at once but this year we broke things up a bit and, sadly, ended up not finding an opportunity to celebrate with my family.  But Andrew had a GREAT time at Chuck E. Cheese and I hope the other kids did, too.

Dollywood - May

Andrew loves Dollywood.  So, when we realized William was off a couple of days during the week of Andrew's birthday, we planned a trip.  And since we had passes to bring two adults to the park for free, we invited my parents to go along too.  (William's parents don't care for Dollywood.)

I'm not sure what happened to Megan the first night.  She was very much unlike herself and refused to go to sleep.  And what made it even worse was that she decided to scream like crazy to keep herself awake. 

My parents were in the room next door and Andrew was bunking with them.  I was thankful because we didn't need two kids to go without any sleep.  We finally decided around midnight to take her for a ride, hoping that would put her to sleep.  We drove forever, but she did finally fall asleep.  But when we carried her in, she popped right up ready to start screaming again.  And she did.  We tried everything to make her happy and nothing was working.  William even went to Walmart and bought a DVD player and Barney DVD (her favorite!) but even Barney couldn't calm her down.  If we put her in her play yard, she screamed.  If we held her, she screamed.  If she climbed into her play yard on her own, she screamed.  It was so frustrating.

My mom knocked on our door around 3 am to see if she could help.  She tried most everything we had already tried, but the screaming would not stop.  Finally, around 4:30 am or so, she screamed herself to sleep.  Thankfully, we didn't have any neighbors on the other side of us and I'm guessing since we didn't get kicked out, there must not have been anyone across the hall, either.

I'm also guessing this all stems from the fact that both of our kids are creatures of habit, and since I can't even remember the last time Megan slept somewhere other than her own bed, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised she was a little (a lot!) out of sorts.

The next day, we were all kind of dragging our feet.  And the weather was cold, wet, and dreary.  We decided to do a little shopping and wait to see if there was more rain to come (as predicted).  We then decided to go to the park at 3 pm.  If you go in after 3 pm, you get to go the next day at no charge (not a big deal for our little family as we all have season passes, but this way my mom and dad could go back in the next day, too).

Andrew had a great time.  He decided he wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel, which quickly became his ride of choice this visit.  The bumper cars are usually his favorite.  Megan enjoyed the kiddie rides she was big enough to ride, too.

After we left the park, we went to dinner and then settled in for the night.  And thankfully, that night went MUCH better.  Megan laid right down, watched Barney, and went to sleep. 

Thursday was my sweet boy's 5th birthday.  And we spent it at Dollywood.  He was so excited and had a really good time - complete with a birthday funnel cake!  The weather was much nicer.  Wednesday, we dressed in layers, complete with sweat shirts.  And Thursday, Megan wore a tank top!  Crazy.

Most of the pictures I took were blurry.  I hate my camera.  So, I depended on my mom to get some good pictures.  I'm sure she did, I just haven't secured a copy of them yet.  And that's been holding up this blog entry entirely too long.  So, here are a few pictures that turned out okay.  Maybe I'll be able to add a few more later. :)

Kindergarten Registration

Remember how bad I was dreading taking Andrew to Kindergarten Orientation and Registration?  Well, on Registration Day, Andrew found a great way to distract me from my fears and worry. 

He disappeared. 

Literally.

Often when we are ready to leave, Andrew will head out to the van, buckle himself in, and wait patiently.  So when he went outside that morning, I expected his smiling face to be waiting on me in the van.  After all, he was excited about going to school.

But when I went outside, he wasn't in the van.  He wasn't playing on the swing set.  He wasn't down at the spring.  I couldn't find him anywhere.  And I'll be honest, I was frantic. 

My mom had come to watch Megan so Andrew and I could make the journey to Registration alone.  She immediately helped me start searching for him.  We yelled for him over and over.  We looked everywhere.  My mom finally jumped in her car and took off down the road (we live on a gravel drive/road).  She found him at the last house before you come to the main road - and I was totally fearful he had made it to the main road.  Luckily, he had stopped to watch a neighbor plow his garden.  My mom came back down the road blowing her horn so I'd not it was okay to calm down.  I'm sure I was dangerously close to hyperventilating. 

We had to leave immediately for school because we were already in danger of being late.  And I hate to be late.

When we arrived a school, I was shaking.  And to be honest, registration is a bit of a blur to me.

Now, move forward a few days.  William was out working in the yard and Andrew wanted to go outside and play.  William said he would watch him - and I reminded him that Andrew had to be watched closely because of what happened a few days prior.

A short while later, William came to the door and asked if Andrew was inside with me.  What!?! 

He was gone.  Again.  I started down the road and didn't see him anywhere.  We alerted the neighbors to our right and I started toward our neighbor's on the left.  I couldn't see him anywhere.

I almost panicked (again!).  I finally heard William yell that he had found him.  But when I saw William, no Andrew.

It seems Andrew had wondered all the way up to the last house on the road - a house I've never even seen.  Tracy (the neighbor) tried to talk to Andrew, but he wouldn't talk to her.  So, she called the neighbors to our right and they explained who he was.  She walked him home but was shocked he had gone so far all by himself.

A little while later, William ran into another neighbor, Kathy.  She had seen Andrew the first time he disappeared.  In fact, he had walked to her house and tried to open her front door.  Now, why she didn't deem it necessary to figure out where he was supposed to be is a mystery that will never be explained.  I mean, I think if a kid I didn't know was trying to make his way into my house I'd have a few questions.

At this rate, Andrew will never be allowed to play outside by himself.  Or with his Daddy.  He's definitely a flight risk.

Parks & Playgrounds - April 2011

We take the kids to the playground a lot.  And one really great thing about living where we do is that there are several parks within a short drive.

We've already learned Megan is fearless.  When Andrew was her age, he was so careful about each step he took.  He surveyed the route he was going to take, and proceeded with caution.  Megan takes off, full-steam ahead, with no regard of what she's facing.  But she has a really good time and is super cute when she does it.  That has to count for something, right? :)

Easter 2011

William had to work half a day on Easter Sunday.  The kids and I went to church, had a short visit with my parents, and then when William was home and ready to go, we headed out for an afternoon in Old Fort with the Hoffart family.  We had a nice dinner and a few fun Easter egg hunts.  My kids always enjoy running around outside.  A good time was had by all.

And since William wasn't home Easter morning, the Easter Bunny waited to visit us while we were gone so Daddy could share in the festivities. :)

 

Kindergarten Orientation

So, we took Andrew to kindergarten orientation last week.  He seemed to enjoy it.  We took a tour of the school.  We saw where Andrew will eat lunch and where he will get on the bus - should we ever need him to ride it.  He played on the playground for a few minutes.  I was trilled to find out the K-2 students have a separate playground.  And we visited a couple of the kindergarten classrooms.  Andrew loved the classrooms.  Heck, I'd like to spend my days there too!

My biggest surprise was the fact there are six kindergarten classes.  I thought there were only two.  The average class size will be 20.  I was also surprised to find out the school is "peanut free."  This means when I pack his snack and lunch, I can't send anything like peanut butter, etc. 

I think he'll be happy once he gets into the swing of things.  And I'll be okay too.  I'll have to be!

Easter Bunny

We took the kids to Asheville Mall to visit with the Easter Bunny.  I was hoping to dress them in something nice and springy but it was really cold that day, so no such luck.

Dollywood - April

We took our first trip to Dollywood last week.  But our adventure started with Ella's birthday party.

Playing on the playground makes you thirsty!

Megan made a new friend.

After the party, we hit the road.  Andrew was so excited.  We didn't make it time to go the park that night so we went out for burgers and Andrew's first game of mini golf.

The next morning, we finally made it to the park.  We had a good time (minus the sunburn that's itching me to death right now!) and plan to go back for Andrew's birthday next month.