My 6th Birthday!!!

I had such an awesome 6th birthday!!  I actually had school on my birthday this year, which was kind of different.  I'm wearing my jacket because my classroom is so cold.  I wear my jacket most days.

 After school, I got to go swimming with my buddies, Cooper and Noah!  We had such a blast and swam for almost 3 hours.

 I got to open one present in the morning before school.  I opened my new microscope!  I've been wanting one for several months now.  It was the most wanted item on my list. :)  It came with some slides already and then I created a few more with grass, a thorn and.... a booger. ;)

 When Daddy got home, we got to have my Batman cookie cake!

 And open some presents. :)

 I got a remote control puppy from Max.  He really wanted to get me this so I could have one like him. :)

My night vision glasses from Mommy and Daddy!

Maxy's 1st Big Boy Playdate!

While I was at school last week, Maxy had his first big boy playdate where he got to have his buddy, Noah, over without his mom.  They had fun playing Hungry Hippos and eating popsicles.  Sweet little buddies!

First Day of Kindergarten!!!

Last Thursday was my first day of kindergarten!!!  These first few pictures are actually from "Backpack Night", which was the Tuesday evening before school started.  We got to go meet our teacher, see our classroom and put our school supplies in our room.  Then there was a hot dog cookout.  I have been a little nervous about kindergarten starting, but I was ready too.

 

 This is my classroom!

And here's the first day of school!!!  I was so excited to get to ride my bike to school.  It was a beautiful morning, not too hot.  We went to Target the day before to get a bike lock so I could lock my bike up at school.  Max and I rode our bikes and Daddy, Mommy and GG walked behind us.  I was so happy GG was able to come for my first day too!

 I was excited to see my friend, Charlie, when he got there.  I showed him how I locked up my bike.  I felt pretty proud riding up on my bike.

 The welcoming kindergarten crew!

 I went in my classroom and got right to work.  I wasn't sad at all when Mommy, Daddy, GG and Max left.  I was being such a big boy.

 Mrs. Heenan and me

Mommy, Daddy, Max and GG all picked me up at 11:45at the end of the first day.  We went to lunch at Nordstrom Café (my choice!  I love their pizza).  Daddy had to head to work but I was so glad he got to go with me and meet me after school the first day.  We had fun at the mall having lunch with GG, riding the carousel and playing.  I told Mommy that afternoon, "I like school!  I can't believe I'm in kindergarten!"  After the second day on Friday, I told Mommy all about how the boys built a marble maze during free play, we got to go to art class and draw a picture of the art teacher and build a brick wall.  And at recess how I was swinging until the whistle blew and then I had to jump off the swing but I landed on my feet.  I told Mommy how I liked school even more that day "because I pretty much already knew everyone."  :)  I was such a happy boy and feel like it's going to be a great year!!  By the way, Mommy didn't even cry the first day!  She only cried a little bit on the way into school on "Backpack Night."  And I said, "Mommy, are you crying?" She can't believe her little baby is in kindergarten, but she's excited for me too!

Maxy keep going!!

Here's Max on Tuesday going far on his bike for the first time without training wheels!

Max on 2 Wheels!!!

We are so proud of our Maxy!  He is now riding his bike without training wheels!  He really wanted to take the training wheels off last week after watching me ride around all summer without training wheels.  Daddy and Mommy weren't sure he was ready, but he proved us wrong!  With much practice, determination and an awesome attitude to keep trying and not give up, this little guy did it.  He didn't want any help from any of us.  He wouldn't even let Daddy get him going at first.  He wanted to start and stop and do the whole thing on his own.  We all kept trying to give him advice and tell him what to do, but he just did his own thing and figured it out.  This was the first day of him practicing last week.  He started doing really short distances but within a week, he was going quite a ways on his own.  Go, Maxy, Go!  Mommy and Daddy loved to see how I encouraged him too.

End of Summer Fun

With kindergarten quickly approaching next week, we've had some good quality time doing fun things with Mommy and our buddies.  It's been a nice summer with lots of down time at home, fun outings, family and friend time.

At the arboretum with our friend, Allison

 At Kookiedoodles, an arts and crafts studio in Old Overland Park, with buddies Nolan and Maya

 Our final summer reading program poster!  We ended up reading 226 books this summer!!  Our original goal Max and I came up with was 199 and we surpassed that by quite a bit.  We looked forward to putting up "dots" each day for each book we read.

 Last swim lesson with our favorite swim teacher, Miss Ashley

 A day exploring at the Nelson with buddies, James, Maya, Jack, Nolan, me, Max and Luke
We loved the glass maze, mummy, knights and Native American weapons

 After our morning at the Nelson, we went to Coalvines on the Plaza for lunch and stopped in Brookside for an ice cream treat. We saw this cool gator at a shop near Baskin Robbins and had to stop to do the Gator chomp for Daddy.

 Bowling with buddies.... Max, Noah, Jack, Coco, Maya, Cooper, me, Reid and Nolan

 During quiet time yesterday, Mommy said that we could hang out and do something special at home.  I wanted to make a robot, so here's what we came up with.

Backyard pool fun

Mommy's birthday and Chicago

We had a fun time celebrating Mommy's birthday with her.  Max and I took her to her favorite lunch spot, Nordstrom Café.  We had a quick dinner at Unforked and then Mommy and Daddy took us over to the Beyers because they were leaving bright and early the next morning for Chicago for Auntie Sarah's wedding.  We had such a fun time with the Beyers clan.  They are like our second family!

 Here are a few of Mommy's favorite pics from Chicago.  She and Daddy had a really fun time!