Watch Out Kindergarten!

Tuesday was a big day for this kiddo!  Cooper had his first day of Kindergarten this past Tuesday.  He was nervously excited as the time to go approached!  He knew he only had to go one day this week so I think that made it much easier on all of us!  We sent Carter to his class and off we went to the kindergarten building.  We only knew which classroom number to go to, not which teacher he would start with so we were both relieved to see the room we were assigned to was Mrs. Harris, who was Carter's kindergarten teacher!  As soon as I saw it was her room and told Coop, he pumped his fist and said, "Yes!"  We walked in and put away his things, filled out a little bit of paperwork and then it was time to say bye.  Poor Coop didn't realize I was leaving him (he thought I stayed with him the whole day!) so that was harder than I thought it would be to explain to him he'd be there all day and I'd pick him up in carpool with Carter later that afternoon.  Once he asked me a million questions and seemed ok with the situation I left and had a lonely day with just Hudson.  We stayed busy but my mind was always on my Cooper at school.  I could hardly wait to pick him up that afternoon.  I told Jamey I felt like a kid on Christmas morning sitting on the steps waiting to get the go ahead to come down and see your presents!  Seeing Carter and Cooper walking out of school together proudly and hopping in the car was priceless and an image I hope I won't soon forget.  They were both just so happy and proud and couldn't wait to tell me about their day.  Fortunately Cooper loved it and said it was "way more funner" than he thought it would be!

The first day, kindergarteners rotate through all the kindergarten classes and meet each teacher and assistant and are evaluated in the process so he doesn't have an actual assigned teacher until after the first day.  I was excited he was able to start his morning with Mrs. Harris because I knew that would make him feel more comfortable to have a little familiarity but that didn't mean she would be his teacher for the year.  He liked Mrs. Harris and another teacher, Mrs. Lipe, the most so we were hopeful to go to meet the teacher and have his name on one of their doors!

Ready for his first day!

 I guess the sun was a little too bright!

We went for Meet the Teacher this afternoon and were so excited to see that Cooper has Mrs. Harris!  Hudson came along too and loved checking out the reading nook and loft and playing with the baby dolls in the class!  Cooper was shy but happy to know he had Mrs. Harris for the year and now he's so excited to start his first year of real school!  I'm so proud of my big boy for being brave this week and I'm so happy that he's actually excited about kindergarten now!

EIGHT?!?!

What could be better than celebrating your 8th birthday in Disney World?!  Too bad that wasn't actually the case but Carter had what we called a birthday week!  Before we headed home we treated Carter to breakfast at our resort, which was Mickey-shaped pancakes!  The boys were troopers and did well on our 9 hour car ride home.  We came home to birthday balloons from Ashley and sweet gifts from Ashley and Andrew, Brian and Sarah, and Nunu and Pop.  We had Carter's favorite dinner, spaghetti, followed by cake and cupcakes and then opened presents.  He was thoroughly spoiled and loves all his new stuff so much!

Cooper was so upset because we yelled at him for blowing out all of Carter's candles so we had a redo;)!

I just love this boy.

Love this sequence of pictures, too!  My parents thought we needed a night to recover after our big week so they weren't there to see Carter open his presents so I was hoping to at least capture his excitement opening his gift from them!

Just a tad excited!

We capped off the birthday night with sparklers and fireworks for the birthday boy.

Safety first of course!

 I think we have a mini pyro on our hands, look at that face!

Carter Bass, how in the world are you 8?  You have grown up into a big boy right before my very eyes but I still feel like we brought you home from the hospital as a tiny baby just the other day.  It has been such a joy to watch you grow and learn and turn into such an amazing boy.  You are wise beyond your years, the kindest boy I've ever met, handsome like your daddy, and just an all around happy and good child.  You are always polite and use your manners, especially with adults and teachers, which makes us so proud.  You are the best big brother to Cooper and Hudson and they are so lucky to have you to teach them things.  We love you more than you will ever know and my heart swells with pride knowing that you are mine.  I'm a lucky mom to say the least!  Happy Birthday buddy!

A Week With Mickey

Jamey and I had the pleasure of taking our big boys to Disney World for a few days while Hudson hung out at "Nunu's Disney World".  When my mom told Hudson he was going to her Disney, he said, "No I'm not, I'm gonna hit Nunu's Disney World!" Thankfully he had a great time with mom, doing lots of fun things like pool trips, seeing Planes, a day at Marbles, and checking out nearby parks.  We had such a good time with Carter and Cooper!  Cooper fell asleep the first two nights on the bus back to our hotel and told us the third night could he please get home awake because he wanted to "feel" going to bed, not just get put into bed!  We woke up early each day and slept great each night as we were so tired from our day of riding and walking!  It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back again when Hudson is big enough.  We were definitely happy to have waited until the boys were older because it was so nice to not need a stroller or have to carry anyone.  I thought the whole time what a different experience it would be to have little girls there!  It was so nice having boys that didn't care a bit about meeting characters or getting autographs so all we did was ride and have fun!

Day 1

We went to Magic Kingdom for our first day and made the big mistake of riding Space Mountain first.  Cooper was barely tall enough but was really excited for his first ride at Disney.  We didn't really warn him about Space Mountain because he definitely would've been too scared but in retrospect we should have!  While Carter absolutely loved it, Cooper got off in a state of pure shock with tears streaming down his cheeks.  It's a rough ride even for me, so I can't imagine being a 37lb little boy getting tossed around on your first real roller coaster in the dark!  He perked up after some fruit snacks and was a trooper with the rest of the rides in the park. 

Cooper's post Space Mountain face of horror.

Dumbo was fun for everyone!

We loved the tea cups and rode them three times each day we were in Magic Kingdom.  There was never a line!

Day 2

Our next day we spent at Animal Kingdom, which we were really looking forward to.  I've heard it's definitely more boy friendly and fun so we were all anxious to check it out.  It was fun and we did have a good time but it was probably our least favorite of the parks.  We started the morning with the safari, which was pretty cool.  You ride in a jeep and get up close and personal with everything from giraffes to elephants for about 20 minutes.  Next we rode the Kali River Rapids, which Carter and Cooper loved.  It's a circular raft ride that usually gets all 8 people super wet but isn't too scary.  We rode it three times and were all smiles and laughs each time!  The boys were scared of the roller coaster here called Expedition Everest but Jamey and I loved it.  They had a single rider line so we both had the chance to ride a few times and wish they would've tried it because they would've loved it!  We did see The Lion King show and they really enjoyed that.  Disney does an awesome job keeping you entertained in all of the parks.

On the safari...

Expedition Everest is in the background but it was too bright to capture!

This giant fake tree of life was super cool.

Day 3

We headed to Hollywood Studios for our third day and went into this one with a game plan.  There is a Jedi training that Carter and Cooper really wanted to do but you have to be there as soon as the park opens and race to the sign up location with your children to even have a chance of getting into it.  Jamey took the boys and went to sign up while I followed the mob of people to the Toy Story ride to get fast passes that would let us ride without a wait later.  We were lucky enough to get the boys into Jedi Training at 11:50 and get Toy Story passes for 10:30.  They really loved the Toy Story ride and so did we!  It was very popular and had a really long wait time but the ride was definitely worth it!  Carter also rode his first upside down roller coaster called the Rock N Roller Coaster, which was pretty awesome!  He was scared but is happy to be able to say he rode it!  We all did the Tower of Terror together and were proud to say we made it through.  It's like an elevator ride that drops you several times.

Inside Toy Story Mania!

The Jedi Training was very cool.  Cooper was by far the smallest of the kids so he had a spot right up front.  The man initially went over a light saber routine with them and then all of a sudden the doors opened and Darth Vader appeared.  Each kid had a chance to fight him and they were so cute.  Carter was very serious and Cooper was a little shy but had fun!

 Waiting in our 90 minute line to ride Toy Story again!

 Our hotel pool was really cool and had two fun slides and also a pirate ship play area with smaller slides.

 They loved getting splashed by the bucket!

 Day 4

Our last day in the parks we decided to head back to Magic Kingdom.  We skipped Space Mountain but hit all the other spots we really liked, like Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain.  Splash Mountain was Carter's favorite from all the parks...it's a flume ride with a few small hills and one giant one that really gets your stomach!  We loved it.  Cooper's favorite was Big Thunder Mountain, which was a roller coaster that looked like a train.  He rode it 5 times our last day and loved every second of it!


Inside the Toy Story ride at Magic Kingdom.  You have your little gun and try to shoot the targets inside.  It tallies your score and shows who won out of your car at the end of the ride.  It was pure luck but Cooper killed us all one round and had over 300,000 points!

 Outside Thunder Mountain

 Coop the photographer!

 We ate lunch in the beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast.  I waited in line for an hour just to order but it was by far the best food we had anywhere so it was well worth the wait.  The castle was so cool and the boys loved being able to see things from the movie.  We ate in the West wing and had a seat right near the red rose!

 We had to ride It's a Small World just to say we did it!

 Cooper and I are in the second row.

 Hey everybody!

 Jamey's turn!

 Crazy Cooper at his favorite!

 While you are waiting in line for Dumbo, they give you a pager like at a restaurant and your kids can play until their turn to ride.  They loved the circus-themed inside.

 Last ride on Dumbo before heading home!

 One thing we did our last day was called Enchanted Tales with Belle.  Poor Jamey was picked to be a suit of armor so he had to be part of the show!  Cooper and Carter were so cute and would never admit it but really loved seeing Belle up close and personal.

 We stayed at the park all day and night to watch the parade at the end.  It was really good but the boys had seen enough about half way through so we bought our souvenirs and headed back to the hotel for one last sleep before a long drive home!