Days before Kindergarten.

I cannot even believe that in less than 2 days I will officially have a kindergartener. Sniff sniff.  Miles starts school on Wednesday August 27th. It seems so early to me, summer is still here hanging around and we are out celebrating our last days together before he is a full time little student. Last week we spent our mornings at Lake Harriet beach (twice),

Lake Harriet

we played at the park with friends, ate lunch picnic style both times at Bread&Pickle, celebrated with cake and more friends

Let's celebrate with cake! A new tradition is born.

Having a picnic with our buddies.

, visited some old friends for the day at their home out in Grant, MN,

Jennifer helping the kids pick carrots. They LOVED it!

The kids LOVED picking veggies out of Jennifer's huge garden.

and just had lots of unscheduled time together.

Walking home from Lake Harriet, taking our sweet sweet time.

It was so fun to really enjoy the free time with both kids before we have a very scheduled start to a new chapter in our lives....school. Today I took the kids to the MN Zoo for probably our last weekday zoo trip, well for awhile anyway. I will miss these days together, but I also know it is time for a new beginning. And yes, I will cry when I drop him off for the first time, and maybe even the second.

So excited!

Visiting the Big Bugs exhibit one more last time before they are gone September 1st.

Checking on his favorite animal...the Komodo Dragon.

2 Wheels!!!!

New wheels! And yes, Evie got a pink (her favorite color) strider bike.

Miles is off of his training wheels!! This is a HUGE deal for our little buddy. He's been dinkering around on a beater garage sale bike (that seriously weighs like 50 pounds) with training wheels. His beloved training wheels. When we took his training wheels off the first time, he cried, hard. He was so not into it. So we put them back on and just let it be. Then the chain on his bike kept falling off while he was riding. It was time to get him a new bike. We took him to the bike store and let him pick out a new bike. We were surprised that his little 16" bike was too small and he needed a 20" bike. Wow! Our little boy is truly growing up on us. He was excited to try his new bike without training wheels. No tears now. We are so proud of him, and boy did it give him a confidence booster. Right before he starts kindergarten too.

And just like that he's 5!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILES!!! What a great birthday week for our 5 year old. Miles got to celebrate his birthday 3 times this week and it ended with his big birthday party with all his little buddies. It was a great success and somehow all of the kids behaved and did so well. I cannot believe my baby boy is 5. FIVE!!! Where does the time go?!?

Happy birthday Miles!!

Cheeeeeeese!

  

Playing parachute games

Bowling

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Miles & his buddy Charley from school

Cake time!

Lots of fun in the gym with the parachute.

Making a dome for the kids to sit under - Miles said this was his favorite part.

Our little runner.

Miles ran his first official race! Our kids talk about running a lot. It's fun to see them pretending to run "marathons" around our basement, and how excited Miles was when we asked him if he wanted to sign up for a race. It was cold and windy, but we got him to the start line at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, and he did it. Tim got him his first pair of running shoes, and they came in the mail that week. He was so excited to try them out. He ran the whole .4 mile and was so proud to cross that finish line. Tim stayed with him the whole time (hey we are new with this?!?!) I had no idea what to expect, and it seemed strange to just send him off on his own. He is still my baby you know. I hope our kids grow up to be runners. I started running 2 years ago and it is so hard starting in your 30's but hey, you got to start somewhere right?

Easter

The Easter bunny came and brought all kinds of goodies for the kids. And thankfully no sugar treats...well besides a few tiny chocolate eggs. The kids enjoyed finding their Easter baskets stuffed with sidewalk chalk, gardening gloves and tools, new water bottles, and a fun shirt for Miles and sparkly gold shoes for Evie (she loves her shoes). We had fun watching them go through their baskets, and then we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Vedder's house for the annual egg hunt and large Easter lunch. It was fun for the kids to catch up with their cousins and play and play and play. We celebrated Miles' 5th birthday with them and the Despicable Me 2 cake he has been wanting for about 9 months (seriously, every single time we went to Target he would want to go see it and would declare that that was the cake he would have for his 5th birthday). He was spoiled with all kinds of fun birthday presents and got his very own Sonicare toothbrush for kids. He truly is growing up on us! Sniff sniff.

Tiny Tiger strikes again!

Miles passed his second level Tae Kwan Do test last night! He earned a new orange belt (belt stays the same color I guess) and an orange head band with a tiger on it, along with a tiger patch. Last night was his last class of his second time taking the Tiny Tigers class with Lakes Martial Arts.

Tiny Tigers - Orange Belt!

Someone got his orange belt!!

Miles has been taking Karate Wednesday nights for a couple of months now. We have always had an interest in getting him into a class, but when we looked around the commitment was just too much for such a young age. Then, one day we noticed they were starting a class for his age group at the park 2 blocks from our house. It is the first of it's kind offered there, taught by a 3rd level black belt Mr. Robert Kern. We usually go as a family for the 45 minute class because Evie LOVES to watch her brother and try to copy the moves. It has been so great watching him learn and grow more confident in the class. Once we started practicing at home he became so much more confident and just tested this past week for his next level belt - his orange belt. It was so fun to see all the kids test and get their next level belts. I almost cried. He is starting back up again tonight and we look forward to seeing him learn even more. Ki-hap!

Kiiiiii---haaaap!!

Leading the class with Mr. Kern.

Miles' Thanksgiving Feast

Miles and his best buddy at school Charlie.

The week before Thanksgiving Miles' preschool puts on a big Thanksgiving feast for the kids. They set up this long table and the kids make their own little place mats and turkey hats.

The kids all walk out in a line behind their teachers to be seated at the table and Miles came out walking with his buddy Henry. It was pretty cute!! He said it was Henry's idea :)

Every kid is assigned a food item to prepare and bring for the feast. The younger, first year students just have to bring one piece of fruit for a big fruit salad they prepare. That was us last year, while the older second year students bring a dish to pass for the feast. We were assigned our pumpkin chocolate chip muffins since I had just made them for the Halloween day snack and all the kids loved them. So I put my mini muffin pan to use once again, found some mini turkey liners and made a double batch for Miles to pass around to his classmates. He did a fantastic job giving each kid at the table a muffin and then finding his seat and waiting for the rest of the food to be passed out. Their little plates get pretty full of goodies and this year Miles actually did a good job of trying most of the food on his plate (last year he didn't eat a thing). The kids are so cute to watch and the teachers do such a good job preparing the kids for the event.

Waiting to be served.

 The kids take a break to gather by the piano and teachers to sing some Thanksgiving day songs and a little act where they are turkeys. Miles got chosen to be a turkey to run away and hide behind the piano. I'm also so proud of him for getting up in front of so many people and participating.

I love how Evie is trying to be part of the show. She loves trying to get right in there.

Evie sneaks a bite of cheese.

Miles as a little turkey going to 'hide' behind the piano.

Still hiding....