Last Saturday, the 23rd I believe, Adam's work had their company picnic. It is a new thing for the company to start so I cannot call it the "annual" picnic because up to this they have never had a company gathering. This is something that Adam has instigated and he is pretty proud of it. He has plans to continue having company gatherings. Anyway, we of course, have very little experience with this area, and Adam relied on recommendations on WHERE to have a gathering. Long story short a recreational park was chosen that is close by. It is only a 45 minute drive from our house. Which is just lovely. It was an amazing place. It has this great beach with the lake, parks, and playgrounds, as well as bike trails and hiking trails. We had a great time. Below are some of the photos. We had a blast.

This is the view if you were standing on the beach looking out. Amazing.

Xander trying to play like the big kids. You'll see below what I mean...

Yes, my own personal sand monsters. I cannot tell you all the amazing places that I found sand during bath time.

They would bury themselves in sand, but not really. It was like watching fish out of water. They would lie down and just flip and flop until they thought they were sufficiently covered. They they would race to the water. Only O and A did these remarkable stunts.

Ethan just looked at them and rolled his eyes.

Ok, so as usual, I am not the most "on top of things" mom. Yesterday, Thursday the 28th was the first day of school. I rearranged my school schedule so that I could be home to help the kids get ready for their first day. I also wanted to drive them on the first day as it is sort of a tradition. Well, sadly, I forgot to use the camera that day. So the TRUE first day of school was not immortalized on film. But, we rectified it this morning. So for prosperity.........and so that I have something........TODAY was the first day of school. Below are some photos of my very handsome yound men as they were departing our home for the bus stop.

O is more than ready for kindergarten. He is so excited to be a big kid. He didn't want me to drive them to school yesterday, he wanted to ride the bus. I ask him what his favorite thing is and he says, "Everything." Then shrugs his shoulders, like 'duh'!!!

He is just so cool. What a special boy he is (yes, they all are, I know.) E at least likes to have his picture taken. He is usually my clingy boy for new things, like first days of school. We walked into the building yesterday (A ran away from me like I smelled or something) and E just looked at me and said bye. That's it. I took O into class - thinking E would wait for me by his classroom - but when I went to his room he was already at his desk working. I waved and blew him a kiss. He waved back, but looked around wildly to see if anyone caught his mom throwing kisses. How uncool. Isn't he too young for that? It is just not fair. A I can see doing that for his age. But not E. It's too soon. Really it is.

The sad face. He already had homework. I really hope that 5th grade gets back to normal for him. I'm hoping there will be actual learning going on for him this year. With the move and the content of the rest of the 4th grade here, I do not feel as if he learned anything productive.

It like looking at stepping stones, isn't it. One right after the other. Almost mirror images of alternate reality or something. Seeing what is too come for the others.

C at the beach on same day. It didn't upload right sorry.

At the end of driveway waiting on the bus. All three asked me after taking thier picture if I would go back into the house. What kind of love is that for a mom I ask you........How rude.