Saturday, August 27, 2011

First week complete!

Isaac LOVES school! He's come home every day excited about what he's done and the adventures he's had.

The bus came for him on Wednesday and I was there as well. I wanted to make sure he got on the bus and got to daycare all right. He loves riding the bus! On Thursday, he forgot to give the driver his ticket so he needs to remember to give 2 on Monday (they are pre-paid so it's not like we didn't pay for the ride!)

He had his first school breakfast on Thursday, with me taking him into the gym and seeing how it goes. I left him there to eat his breakfast. On Friday, I dropped him off at the gate and made sure he told the teacher on duty that he was going to eat breakfast. I was so proud to see my little pre-k'er walk into school by himself. He told me later that breakfast went great.

Friday, he had music class. He thought the teacher's guitar was pretty neat.  I picked him up from school and we went to the library, had lunch and he accompanied me to get a pedicure. He thought it was pretty cool. Friday afternoons will be our fun time together: library, lunch, park, etc.

It appears that my boy is going to love school! I am thankful for that, as I believe a solid education is a needed attribute!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

a new beginning...

Today is the day!

Isaac starts school! We decided with his birthday being in July to send him to Optional (pre, prep, whatever you want to call it) kindergarten.  This means he goes every day from 8-11.

We met his teacher this past Monday night (Mrs. "Hansom" as Isaac pronounces it) and saw his locker, classroom and school. He said he was going to be shy but he was totally the opposite, as usual! His teacher seems extremely nice and is very eager for her students to learn.

**Just got home from dropping Isaac off at school. It was good to see the routine. I walked him to the playground, where they wait with their class until 8 (unless the student is eating breakfast. Isaac will start that tomorrow). The principal spoke a little bit, I got teary eyed (but didn't cry!) and then we went inside. I walked with him to his classroom, he put his backpack (Cars 2), hat and sunglasses in his locker and went on in. He sat down to write his name (check in) then like an after thought, got up and gave me a hug, told me good-bye.

I am excited for him to start school. He seems to love to learn new things and he's so eager!




I'll meet him at school at 11 to make sure he gets on the bus to get to daycare. Even though I'm still home for a few days, we are going to get him started on the bus routine so he knows what's going on.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Adventureland

My sister Kat (Kate) was able to get discounted tickets ($20!!) to Adventureland through her work this summer. I hadn't planned on going until Isaac saw a commercial and asked when we were going. Knowing Kate could save us some bucks, I asked her to get 3 tickets (a savings of $40) and then we waited to find a date.
This past Saturday, Kate, Isaac and I trekked off to Adventureland. Isaac had been talking about roller coasters all week and was really excited to go on them
I had researched already and found he could go on the all the ones I liked-and NOT the Dragon (the one that goes upside down. Whew-I hate that one)

Picked up my sister around 940ish and we got to the park around 10. I've never had to wait to get into the parking lot before, but that day we did! We paid our $5, found a spot and continued on to the gate.

Sister and I had a plan-go counter-clockwise around the park so we could hit the coasters before the lines got too long. So, we actually went on the log ride first. Isaac was a bit nervous, but said he loved it. He sat in the back with Kat, while I sat in the front and got soaked right away. They snap photos of you so we decided to take a look. The picture is taken right after coming down the big hill. I had ducked down to avoid the big splash-Isaac's face was priceless so we plunked down too much money for 2 magnets to remember it.

Then we headed over to the Tornado. As you can tell, Isaac was plenty tall to ride. We got in line and waited about 15-20 minutes. Not bad, really. He again decided to ride with Kate. We had the last 2 seats on the entire coaster. Click went the seat belt, down came the lap bar and we were off.
I would turn around on occasion to look at him-he looked terrified. The first thing he said when he got off was "it was scary and bumpy and I don't want to ride it ever again". Ha Sad to me though since that meant I didn't get to hit up my favorite roller coaster there-The Outlaw.

We road the Sky Glider several times (all but 1 time he rode with his aunt). We spent too much money on 35 cent stuffed animals but Isaac loved it. He came home with a fox, 2 octopus, a penguin, a frog, a plastic hammer (someone gave to us) and a monkey inside a banana.

Waited in way to long of a line for lunch. We had tacos and lemonade and then dessert was mini donuts. Yummy!

We thought there would be less people there because 1-The State Fair 2-the straw polls were going on up in Ames and 3-it wasn't hot. The weather seemed to be bipolar, as my sister called it. The sun would shine and it would be hot. Then the wind blew in some dark clouds and it cooled off. Then the sun, wind, etc, repeat. We got there at 10 and left the park at 630. It was a fun, full day!

Driving back to my sister's house, we drove by Bonanza (Anyone remember those?) Yes, there is still one left in DSM so of course, we had to go! Memories of our great aunt and family dinners there. This was a pretty nice place, with a really nice salad bar. Isaac of course was to entranced with the raisins and Goldfish crackers to eat any of the cheeseburger he wanted.

Isaac and I got home about 830. he had a quick shower and was in bed by 9. He was tired and I was happy he had slept in until 730 that morning.

Isaac and I are going again Wednesday with my friend Jess and her family. Isaac will love having someone else to ride the rides with.

The rides we rode:
1-The Log ride (Isaac loved it)
2-The tornado
3-The Sky Glider
4-Bumper cars
5-sawmill splash
6-Ferris wheel
7-Isaac rode the Frog Hopper
8-The kiddi semis
9-Infant Ocean
10-the kid airplanes
11-the train
12-Kate and Isaac rode the Carousel

I was sad we didn't get to go on the Space Shot (Sister and I love it) but Isaac was too short and no one else to watch him. Overall, we had a fantastic time!

Thanks for going with us, Kate!