School Daze

The first trimester of school is already over, TJ has received his first report card, and yet, we have been in such a DAZE, we haven't had a chance to even post about his first day of kindergarten!

So... let's backup:

TJ's first day of kindergarten came way too fast.  I'm sure we'll say the same about that when Frankie goes to kindergarten.  But, seriously, despite all the preparation - the ordering of uniforms, the buying school supplies, the pumping ourselves up for the big day, the big day came really fast.  TJ was ready for it, but the rest of us?  Not so much.

TJ is in class with his best friend, Caleb.  The two were in Jr. Kindergarten together at PCK, and Mommy may have pulled a few strings to get them in the same class so the transition to GVA went smoothly.  It worked!  TJ was so excited to see Caleb and his family that he forgot to say goodbye to us as we went down the hall with his class.  He turned the corner, turned around smiled, waved and then he was gone.  Mommy and Daddy did pretty well.  It was Little Frankie who burst out in tears and yelled, "TJ no go!"  Broke my heart into pieces. 

TJ's school is Global Village Academy.  It's a brand new charter school that was finished being built days before the first day of school.  It's an immersion school that teaches Spanish, Mandarin and French.  TJ is in the Spanish village, which means he is immersed in Spanish 50% of the day -- that includes science, match, reading, everything!  Sra. de la Flor is his morning teacher.  She's from Peru, and she only speaks Spanish to the kiddos.  It's amazing to see how far he's come from the first day when he said, "I don't know what my teacher is saying," to him being able read Por Favor Sr. Panda all by himself! After lunch, he goes to Ms. Buck's class, where he works on reading and writing in English.  He loves them both, and he's really thriving at GVA.

TJ has several extracurricular activities.  At one point, between Tae Kwon Do, Faith Formation and Basketball he had something going on every day of the week!  We've toned it down for the winter so TJ can make it up to Monarch to snowboard as much as possible this season.  Right now, he attends a Lego class after school on Mondays.  Last quarter, the theme was energy, so they built solar panels, windmills, etc.  This time around, his class theme is space, so he's built a centrifuge, among other things.  TJ is excelling at Tae Kwon Do.  Master Lee is amazing, and it's been so wonderful to see TJ's confidence and strength grow.  He's earned a Blue Stripe, which means he only has one more (red) before receiving his Black Stripe and moving up to the full-belt classes.  TJ finished up Grid Iron Flag Football at the end of October.  He absolutely loved it - and it was the only way Mommy was ever going to cheer for the Patriots!  He scored a couple of touchdowns, learned the game, made new friends and had FUN! TJ is also taking Faith Formation classes at Ave Maria. He's really enjoying the classes, and I love having conversations with him about God and Jesus when he gets home from class on Sunday evenings.

Frankie is loving his school, too!  He still attends Merryhill, and right now, he's in Beginners II.  His teachers, Ms. Cara and Ms. Nachelle totally spoil him.  They say he's the sweetest kid in class - always playing nice with friends, sharing, cleaning up and listening well.  He loves to come home and sing the songs he learns in school.  Right now, his favorite is the bumblebee song.  He can count to 14 without any help, and he knows his ABCDs (that's what he calls them.) 

Frankie is also a busy boy.  He took part in Boom Basketball in October and absolutely loved it.  He was so cute out there, and Mommy was impressed with his dribbling and passing skills.  Frankie wants to play flag football, so we may try the Boom program with that once the holidays are over.  He also does gymnastics every Saturday, and boy, is he good at it!  He does an amazing job, and he doesn't need Mommy's help even though it's a parental involvement class.  Coach Brian has talked about moving Frankie up to the 3-year-old class soon because he's so advanced. 

Things really picked up at the start of the school year for both Mommy & Daddy.  A few weeks after school started, Mommy left her job at 7News for a new opportunity down the street at 9News.  She's having a great time learning the ropes at KUSA as the Morning Executive Producer.  The hours are tough, getting to work at 2:30 a.m., but it's the perfect schedule right now for the boys.  It also allows Daddy to have flexibility for his freelancing gigs.  He's also working at 9News right now in the sports department freelancing for preps, college and pro sports. 

Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind three months.  We'd say we're looking for it to slow down, but we know that's not going to happen -- It's almost Christmas!

Vacation is AWESOME!

Everything has been so AWESOME, we haven't had a chance to tell everyone about our AWESOME trip to Legoland California!

In early August, the family was finally able to get away for a week and visit family and friends in Southern California.  We had a great time playing with everyone, catching up with cousins and meeting the newest cousin, Anthony. 

The boys loved the beach so much, we made extra trips to catch in the rays and the waves. 

In the middle of spending time at Nana's, we made the drive to Carlsbad to spend a couple of days at Legoland.  Needless to say... it was AWESOME!  The boys had so much fun, and we were all surprised at how much Frankie enjoyed the rides and the Lego guys.  Cousin JoJo and Nana met us down there to play at the amusement park for a few hours. 

TJ absolutely loved getting soaked on the log ride, and Frankie loved riding the helicopters and the little Lego train.  They met Emmet and Lucy, and we even got to see the set from the Lego Movie. 

After Nana & JoJo left, we got settled into our Lego room, which was well worth its price.  The boys partied at the dance party and they loved having their own bunk beds.  They even got to do a special scavenger hunt with a Lego treasure inside the room!

The next day, we checked out the aquarium next door, did some shopping and spent one last night with the cousins.  Before heading to the airport to go home, we took the boys to Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden.  We hadn't been back since 7 years earlier... when we got married.  It was such a special moment to be able to be there, on the bridge where we said our vows with our children. 

Mid-Summer Classics

Halfway through summer, it's easy to understand how it's flown by so fast -- we've been busy!  From playdates with friends, visits to H2O'brien Pool and the splash park, trips to the park and celebrating birthday parties, it's been a jam-packed couple of months.  Here's a summer break breakdown so far:

PARKER DAYS:
This year, Parker Days didn't disappoint.  This year, we were smart and bought TJ a four-day ride pass.  While he couldn't use it Thursday night because it was pouring rain -- and we mean pouring -- he definitely got his money's worth the remaining three days.  He met up with so many friends... Jack, Asher, Caleb P., Caleb G., Braden, Jameson, Keira, he was one popular guy.  Little Frankie still wasn't a huge fan of the rides, he was more of a play games, eat food kinda guy, but that worked for him!  The boys were each in the parade this year again.  TJ & Mommy walked with RATCo, while Frankie dressed up as a super hero and walked with his school.  Apparently, Frankie was quite the schmoozer... handing out water, shaking hands and waving to the crowd. Saturday night, after a quick downpour, Mommy and TJ returned to ride more rides while Daddy and Frankie stayed home.  We stopped by the KYGO booth (Mommy's favorite country station), and TJ sang their jingle.  He was so cute, the workers gave him a family four-pack to see the premiere of Inside Out before it hit theaters.  He was so excited!  TJ picked his friend, Caleb, as a guest, and Mommy and Daddy took the boys while Frankie stayed home with Grandma.  It was such a great time!  The movie was so good... we even went back and paid to watch it! :)

CAMP GRANDPA
The boys have spent a lot time at Grandma & Grandpa's this summer.  Whether it's a quick weekend with Mommy & Daddy or an extended stay while Mommy and Daddy work, the boys have enjoyed their time in Buena Vista.  Activities included: Fishing, S'more making, Landscaping, Western watching, Parade going, Evening walking, the list goes on and on.  We spent FIBArk in Salida, riding rides and going to the parade; 4th of July in BV and Salida - attending the parade, then going to the courthouse in Salida to watch fireworks shoot off S Mountain; time on the lake in Pa's boat fishing and eating Ding Dongs and Twinkies.  So many wonderful memories were made there this summer, it's so fun looking back on those good times.

SPORTING GUYS
TJ and Frankie both spent the summer attending gymnastics.  Frankie really loves the tumble track and playing on the rings.  TJ has decided after four years, he's ready to move on.  This is his last month at 20 Mile Athletic Center, and he's moving on to Tae Kwon Do.  TJ spent the summer playing soccer with his friend Caleb.  Daddy was the coach.  He also just finished his first tee-ball season with Caleb and Braden. 

MOVIE TIME
We've spent a lot of time in the air conditioned theaters this summer.  In addition to Inside Out, which TJ saw twice, we've checked out Minions and Ant-Man to name a few.  Little Frankie is into those crazy yellow guys, we decided to take a chance and take him to his first movie a little sooner than TJ went to his first.  Much to our surprise, Frankie was awesome in the theater.  He sat through the whole thing, just mesmerized.  (It could've been a food coma from the Icee, M&Ms and popcorn).  He loved it!  The next weekend, while TJ & Daddy went to Ant-Man, Mommy & Frankie saw Inside Out.  And while Frankie didn't love it as much as Minions, he is still singing "Bing Bong Bing Bong!"  We also enjoyed a fun family night at Parker's Movies in the Park.  We watched Back to the Future II, and had a great time with friends.  The boys did pass out on the blankets, so we were glad we only had to walk a few blocks home.

There have been so many other little moments that have added up to big fun this summer.  Just today, we had a great day with Grandpa & Grandma at Casa Bonita!  (You've gotta go at least once a year if you're a Coloradoan!)  As the summer winds down, we definitely are not!  We're heading to Southern California in a week to visit family, friends and take a trip to Legoland!  We can't wait!