Flooded Hike

I went on the hike yesterday and was taken a back by the changes made by the floods. Areas were uncovered and revealed these amazing rocks, roads were washed away, creeks were tripled in size, and so on. It was spectacular, so I wanted to share it with Omer and the boys. So today we all went together and Owen loved it. I mean loved it, and really appreciated the changes. Omer and Aiden were indifferent, thought it was cool but not too impressed. On this hike thought Owen wanted to continue to walk through the creek and so happy we did; it was awesome. We saw frogs, tried to save a salamander, discovered a rock slide, found an old bridge that was under two feet of dirt and rock, etc. It was a great family outing in the woods.

Owen, still my little hiker

Washed up branches

New Rocks Revealed

This trench used to be part of a road which was washed away

This pipe used to be covered completely

Owen with Large Rock, that was moved

Aiden walking through the creek, which is about triple the width as before

Large slabs of rock piled on top that were not there before

New Waterfall, the water is crystal clear

Owen Hiking with Callie and Chester

Hill of Rocks

Owen Forging Through the Creek

Chester, King of the Hike

Owen wanted to follow Chester on the cliff rock

Owen, King of the Hike

Aiden climbing the rocky creek

Aiden wanted to climb on the rock cliff too

Owen decided to make this into a water slide

Aiden wanted to slide too but with my help

Not sure what we are looking at, but they are so intrigued.

Aiden looking at a tree just half torn out of the ground

Look at the size of those roots

First Day of School

Owen was beyond excited to start school again and meet his new classmates and teachers. He is a Honey Bear this year. Aiden was very excited too to go to school "like a big boy" and with Owen. He is a Teddy Bear.

These pictures are from the meet and greet yesterday that went so well. Both boys enjoyed playing with other kids and exploring their new classrooms.

Today was the first day however it is a short day, they start at 2 hours and then next week will be full 3.5 hours. Owen could not get ready quick enough, but I had to push Aiden along so we wouldn't be late. I decided to learn from my mistakes with Owen and just do carline as Owen never had a problem but always did when I walked him in, at least in the beginning. But sadly, Aiden is a different kid and with as excited as he was, he screamed and did not want to get out. The teacher had to just pick him up, I felt horrible. But I called 15 minutes later and right when he got in the class he was fine and loved it.

Both boys told me about their days and I always love hearing what they felt was important, and snack is always in the top three. Owen told me he liked his teachers and played with old friends and made a new friend that he built blocks with. They read a book about a raccoon named Chester ("The Kissing Hand") and he wanted to tell the teacher that his dog's name is Chester but "I knew it would be rude to tell her as she read." They sand songs and Owen got to hold the flag. For snack (actually the first thing he told me) was graham crackers and applesauce. He can't wait to go again tomorrow.

Aiden told me his snack was muffin, not sure what else. He told me they sang songs, he played with friends, read the raccoon book, painted his hand (for a handprint art we got), and washed his hands. I was happy the little guy told me some even if he didn't embellish on much. I also am very proud that he did not have an accident on his first day; he usually doesn't now but still weary in new places.

They were so cute in their raincoats holding hands as I picked them up; and I was welcomed with hugs and kisses from both.

Good Thing About Rain...

...Splashing in Puddles!

As I just mentioned it has been raining a lot, but today it stopped in the afternoon for us to get out and play. The boys were so excited to run around in the water and stomp in puddles. It is such a pleasure to watch kids just be kids.

Watching Rain

Callie is an active girl and really enjoys being able to run hours around our backyard, however it has rained and rained and rained the past several days. There has been long enough, perfectly timed periods that I have been able to at least walk the dogs and get the boys outside but just not enough. We have spent a lot of time playing tug of war and chase in the house to help tire her out. Today as it poured down rain, she perched in her spot peering outside and actual took a nap like this.

Claytor Lake Weekend

At the end of my 10 day's alone with the boys we headed down for the weekend to Claytor Lake with lots of friends. I was honestly hesitant because I was pretty tired at this point of no Omer but so happy I sucked it up and made the drive....we had a blast. Our friend's, Sarah and Matt, family owns a lake front house and invited us all down for the weekend. The house was beautiful, the lake was refreshing and peaceful and the water activities were the best. The boys got to experience so much. I was grateful to all my friends helping out with the boys while I was still on my own. If Omer hadn't arrived that morning at home, we totally would have stayed another day but as you can imagine we were all ready to see Daddy again.

Owen was a true lake, nature, water boy. He loved fishing, swimming and jumping in the lake, exploring the docks, kayaking, jet skiing, and tube ride on the boat. His favorite was jet skiing with me. He could not get enough of it. I got to a pretty fast speed with him and his favorite part was hopping the waves. I squeal a little when hopping waves and Owen told me "Don't worry Mommy, you won't fall off because I am holding you. " What a cutie.

Aiden too loved the lake activities but was a little more hesitant and scared with some of them, which is a little shocking. He loved fishing and exploring the docks. He liked to swim around the lake, but scared to jump in and I had to hold him the whole time, and then he would freak and want out. But he got better. He did enjoy the boat rides but did not like the tube ride at all. He too loved the jet skis, and actually let Sarah take him out for the first time while I had Owen. Then he rode with me many times after and loved it. He didn't want me to go as fast but still enjoyed hopping waves. Aiden's favorite part was the kayaking, whenever I would take him out he could barely wait to get in. There was a couple times he actually jumped off the dock into the kayak.

I had a great time with the boys but also hanging out with several of my friends and relaxing on the lake a little. It was a great trip, and we are sorry Omer missed it but can't wait to go back next year.

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Jedi Party

One of Owen's best friends birthday party was today and was a Star Wars theme. Evan's grandma made jedi robes for everyone and with a blow up light saber, a lot of fun was had. The boys had a blast and looked so cute. Owen took the Jedi fight pretty seriously.

Little Jedi's Aiden and Spencer

Aiden Fighting Jedi Style (he's on the right)

Owen, the Serious Fighter

The Bad Guy Caught Owen

Owen Back and Ready to use his Jedi Training

It rained, and the boys loved it. Wet kids waiting for cake.

Bubble Bath

During bubble bath tonight the boys started to blow bubbles out the tub and I would catch them and Owen wanted his on his head and Aiden on his face. It was really cute!

Movie Sleepover

I thought it would be fun one night while Omer is away to stay up late with the boys watch a movie and have a sleepover down stairs. Even though I don't get too concerned with hyped up storms, I figured tonight would be a good night to hold our special night while the tropical storm happened. The boys were elated!

The boys chose Tangled, exciting for me as I love that movie. We had ice cream sundaes and then curled up on the pull out bed to watch our movie. It ended around 9:00 and the boys finally settled and went to sleep around 10:00. A little later than I had thought, but Aiden had a hard time calming down and falling asleep. Owen really wanted to go to sleep but Aiden kept bothering him. I finally had to put Aiden in his bed to fall asleep and then carry him back downstairs. Owen curled up next to me and went right to sleep. It was fun, a little later than I had thought but at least we all slept until 8:00 am. It was fun but we were all tired today and I was little annoyed that of course the storm did nothing.

Chuck E Cheese Birthday

We had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this afternoon, and I have to be honest I was not too excited to go. Wanted to go and celebrate Owen's friend's birthday and obviously always nice to get out with some adults when you are flying solo, but Chuck E Cheese grosses me out a lot. However, it was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. I was worried with the rain on a Saturday it would be really crowded but I guess everyone was preparing for the Tropical Storm. It was a good crowd and I just made sure to sanitize their hands every 15 minutes. (I know!) For the most part Owen wanted to stay with Aiden and play games together. He did go with his friends for a little to climb in the big tunnel structure.

Aiden loved driving the monster truck ride (SURPRISE!) and playing the dinosaur racing game with Owen. Owen really loved playing the dinosaur game, any shooting game (SURPRISE!) and this feeding the dog balls game. I have to say for a kid who has never really played video or arcade games before Owen did awesome and got lots of tickets. Aiden tried his best but obviously didn't want me to help so had to figure some out a little too late. It was a great afternoon, but we were all exhausted afterwards.