Allan has shown a lot of interest in getting outside this summer. He's been indoors his whole life except for a few forays on a leash where he laid on the ground and rolled around the whole time. I fear losing him so I never liked letting him outside. But a two weekends ago on a Saturday morning he snuck outside when a visting kid was standing in the doorway with the door wide open so I closed our gates and let him roam around the yard with me supervising closely. I think he's too wide to fit through the spaces in the rickety old fence (you can see one in the picture below) but I know he could clear it if he wanted to and I also think he might like to climb a tree and maybe couldn't get himself down.
He really enjoyed himself and went on the prowl like a tiger. Now I don't worry so much if he gets out back there as long as the gates are closed. You can see from the picture that we've spend the whole summer here without trying to get our yard in shape. This was before it rained later that week and it was on about a month without any water which makes it look even worse.
What else...during the last week of the pool being opened I brought the GoPro and we took some fun underwater pictures.
See you next year towels! I will take you off the shelf and inhale your chlorine/sunscreen scent soon enough! I wish could make some wax melts or air fresheners to replicate the smell of my beach towels.
There is also very big news. I will spare you the photos but Milo is now potty trained! This isn't a bragging announcement. He is, after all, going to be 3 in about 1.5 months. It is more a celebration. He has even been dry at night since the first day. It will be really nice to have only one kid in diapers and changing a large toddler's size 6 full of poop as he uses his rapidly expanding vocabulary to describe the condition of the diaper is not something any parent is nostalgic about.
Now, the fun part. The first day of school! Oh, was I a happy lady. Unlike last year, I had no anxiety at all. Ben did start at a new school but, as I mentioned before, it is the school where I attended starting in 2nd grade and ending when I graduated. There is a group of new young teachers, construction is underway for a new addition and the mood is upbeat. Ben was excited to hear that his teacher is a military veteran and he already knew most of his classmates from summer activities. And, the best part for me and for him-he can ride his bike to school!
It's a two block ride and I can stand at the corner and see him arrive safely and it takes about 30 seconds. It is a great arrangement for now. Once snow falls we will have to come up with a new routine so hopefully it doesn't fall for a few months.
Ready to go in! Back in the archives of my mom's photo drawer there is a picture of me pretty close to this very spot but I'm standing in front of a big old tree. There were many trees lining the street in front of the school and they all died of elm disease in the 90's. They have been replanted but it's hard to overcome those losses.
This was a very quick photo where he sat down for about ten seconds before racing out to the playground. Well, OK then. See you after school I guess...I didn't mind because I had my own fun planned. I had a friend in Bismarck who hosted a back to school get together complete with mimosas for the moms to celebrate the return of routine. I always thought it would be fun so after inviting a friend over and being met with an enthusiastic yes, I decided to make it a party and invited about 20 more people. I wasn't sure how it would turn out since I knew people had varying schedules for work but many had taken the morning off already or have flexible schedules and I ended up with ten guests and we partied the morning away until lunchtime while the toddler crowd ransacked the basement and the kids' bedrooms and Calvin pulverized a muffin and spread crumbs all over the floor but it was totally worth it!
Time for the moms to get it poppin'!
Success!
Yesterday Tessa started preschool! We went shopping a few weeks ago and she chose a tunic with a sequined dinosaur on it. Okayyyyy. Then she had a bow in her hair and I hoped she would forget but she remembered also add her sequined headband!
And, lucky for her it was a cool first morning of school and not a standard August sauna morning so she got to wear her kitten boots!
It was fun to have her start at this preschool. My great aunt used to run this place until she retired in the 90's but I was already in elementary school when we moved here so only my brother attended. It used to only be in the basement of the building which was a Masonic Lodge upstairs but now the Masons in town have mostly, ahem, moved on to their reward so the preschool has a nicely renovated upstairs as well. It's a well regarded program with real educated teachers with advanced degrees and people from other towns bring their kids here and there is a waiting list and everything (Milo didn't get in this year waaaaaah) and I'm really glad we have something like this in this small town.
What else has happened in August? I am pretty sad about John McCain dying. Usually politicians come and go and you can't get too worked up about it but I am going to miss the stability he brought to the government. Like whenever everything was going to h3ll and he would be interviewed on TV I always thought, "well at least that guy is there." I am confident he knew what he was doing and I think it made everyone feel grounded. Now...who knows anymore. It's a lot of pressure for one guy in his 80's to keep America calm. John Kerry is still there at least.
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