Me and my coach

I heard that a friend of mine was playing soccer this fall and I really wanted to join his team. With a little finagling (and a promise to be the assistant coach) my dad got things sorted out and I'm on the right team. Here I am in my very own soccer uniform. No. 7! Today we got shin guards and cleats so I am all ready to go. And I even call my dad "coach."

Off to kindergarten

Can you believe it? My first day of REAL SCHOOL was today! I have officially started kindergarten.

Like my snazzy new backpack?

I'm so excited to carry supplies and homework and my snack.

Here I am signing my name before entering the room. That expression on my face isn't anxiousness, I'm just tired of having my picture taken.

Alright mom, I've found my name tag, hung up my backpack and found the Lincoln Logs. It's okay for you to go now mom. I'll have a great time so don't worry about me!

A lucky day!

My cousin Nina is visiting and we took her to a local amusement park. One of the best things at the park (besides the rollercoaster) is the games! And today I won big!!!

I got the ball in the red square and won (another!) gigantic frog. I won another one of these frogs almost a year ago. My other frog is blue and now he's got a big yellow friend! I think my parents might suggest I retire from playing that game... I seem to be a little too good at it.

More Michigan Adventures!

I've been up to all sorts of fun things while on vacation in Michigan! Here are a couple of highlights. 

I got to go for a ride in Grandpa Chip's fancy sports car (it looks an awful lot like Lightning McQueen!). It was AWESOME!!

Yesterday we were at Gun Lake and in addition to a pontoon ride I also went kayaking:

Catching (and releasing) Nemo

Life is pretty good up here at the lake. I have two fishing poles and I've been practicing my casting skills. Yesterday my Grandpa Chip came up with a great idea. He anchored this swim toy (that is in the shape of Nemo) and I used it as a target for my fishing weight. I'm not using any real fish hooks yet. Maybe when my dad gets here I can try fishing for real. But what would I do if I actually caught a fish?

F.U.N.

What is there to do during an afternoon at Gun Lake? Let me tell you...

Jump on a trampoline.

Go on a couple of JetSki rides.

Go TUBING! REALLY FAST!!!!

Get to look at a really cool old car (this is me trying really hard not to touch).

And finish up with a handy carpentry project.

What an awesome day!

Cruisin'

Being escorted around town in Grandma's convertible is a pretty cool way to travel. Vacation is awesome.

We all scream for ice cream!

I'll admit that I've lost track of how many times I've had ice cream or popsicles over the last few days. Isn't vacation GREAT?!?!

At the office

Last week something pretty special happened. I got to go into work with my dad. I did this last year and it was so much fun. I've been asking for MONTHS for the chance to do it again. Finally the time came. Here I am wearing my necktie with my pajamas the night before our work day. 

Nice ensemble don't you think?

Here we are, dressed up and briefcases in hand. We had a really productive day. There was a bunch of paper that needed to be shredded (under close supervision obviously). We had a conference call with my mom. We had lunch at a restaurant that makes AWESOME milkshakes and then someone at the office was having a birthday so there were even cupcakes. Work is GREAT! I wish I could go with my dad every day!

I'm 5 (finally)!!

The past week has gone something like this. 

"Mom, how many days until my birthday?" 

"Five." 

"How many days until my birthday is it tomorrow."

"Four."

Next Day:

"Mom, how many days until my birthday?"

"Four."

"How many days until my birthday is it tomorrow?"

"Three."

....

So, you can bet that I was awfully excited when it was finally my birthday TODAY!!

The day was pretty awesome. Even though we were out late last night I was up bright and early and ready to start the day. First my mom and I got up to decorate my birthday cake. 

We had homemade chocolate sheet cake that I helped make!

Once my dad and sister were awake we got to open some presents. PRESENTS!!!

I got some awesome stuff. Books, legos, cowboy boots, and real GOLF CLUBS!!

I am totally read to hit the driving range with my dad.

Later in the afternoon my birthday party started. I had some great friends come over and we had a great day. For awhile we just played in my room (it was really hot outside) but later we had a great treasure hunt the my parents planned for us. We ended up finding a treasure box filled with gold chocolate coins in the sandbox!

After pizza we had CAKE! And then we burned off that sugar by smacking around pinata (which was filled with candy!).

I had a great day. My parents asked me what was the best part and I just had to say "all of it."

CANNONBALL!!!!!!

"TO INFINBITY AND BEYOND"*

(*this is how Robby says Infinity)

Did you get wet?

Another good thing about Disney

LOTS OF ICE CREAM!

I know it may look like I was grimacing in this photo, but really I was just trying to concentrate on eating my ice cream, walking and trying not to drop too much chocolate all at the same time. It's hard to do in a crowded theme park.

And there was MORE ICE CREAM the next day!

This time I got to sit in the stroller and enjoy a huge cone of mint chocolate chip. And you know what made this cone even better? I got it from INSIDE A TRAIN!!!

Make new friends/Keep the old

We had a great couple of days at DisneyLand. I was so excited to go to Mickey's "California house" and I was so excited to see some familiar faces there.

It's always nice to see Goofy.

And McQueen... we go way back (look here).

I made a great new friend too. Buzz Lightyear and I really hit it off.

And of course... the mouse himself. Who doesn't love a visit with Mickey?!

Tee-riffic

Yesterday was my last day at t-ball. Lots of stuff wrapping up before summer I guess. My dad is out of town so my mom took me for the first time all season. This time we "played" an actual game rather then practicing our skills.

Here I am running the bases. See me in the red shirt?

And at the end of the day we each got a medal for our excellent job participating. Now I have this awesome baseball metal to add to the ones I have from soccer and basketball.

I'm really looking forward to being on a real tee-ball team next spring!

Graduation day!

Today was the big day... I graduated from preschool! WAHOO! You know the best thing about graduating?

CAKE before 10am!!

And I might not like my sister all the time, but I do love her and I shared my cake with her.

The Last Day!

Today was my very last day of preschool! This wasn't my very last day at the school because I'll be there for two weeks of camp later this month, but it was my last day of class with my regular classmates and teachers. I had so much fun during my years at Children's House and this year was particularly fun! Think I've changed much since the first of the year? Here's a photo from my first day of school...

An Almost Birthday

My mom did something pretty special for me today. Even though my real birthday isn't for another month, she arranged for my teachers and classmates to celebrate my birthday early. This way I didn't miss out on some special songs and attention from so many nice friends. I got to wear the birthday crown, they sang some songs and we ate (pretend) chocolate cake. I even took a piece of pretend cake to my little sister, but I don't think she understood what was going on.

And then my mom read a book to our class. We gave a copy of "Library Lion" to the school in honor of my birthday. I think my friends liked it when my mom asked the class to roar like a bunch of lions!

No we aren't brainwashed

We picked these outfits out ourselves. Honest!

It's a hoe-down!

A couple of weeks ago we had the "Hoe-Down" for my school. The teachers had been helping us practicing new songs and some square dancing moves for weeks so it was fun to do our little show for our parents. But first we had to have dinner. A picnic in the park!

I'm somewhere here in the crowd of kids singing "Oh Susannah". Can you find me?

Then it was time to show off our square dancing moves. I think our parents were pretty impressed. There were cameras and camcorders everywhere. Afterwards we got to play in the park. We stayed out extra late and didn't get home until after 8. It was a blast!