The End Has Come...

We knew this day would eventually come, and I won't even say that the summer flew by. It was perfect - nice and relaxing mixed with fun family adventures. But all good things come to an end, and today Ethan started his fall semester. We're very sad to see him go, and we've all been reflecting on how wonderful it was to have daddy around so much for the last few weeks. Anna has been informing us that she, "Hates daddy when he is at school and loves daddy when he is at home." (She means she hates 'it' ...) At the same time, I'm excited for Ethan to get started on his second year, and closer to the end of his program. So, what kind of things did we do this final week of summer vacation...besides lounging and re-couping from our vacation? Heheh.


Anna helping daddy warm up for his race.

1) Anna trying out some of the free, fun kiddie stuff. 2) Ben and Daddy. 3) Beginning of the race.

Ethan ran in the CRIM this past Saturday, a running race in downtown Flint. It was fun for the kids to go and support him, and I was seriously amazed that we were all out the door at 8am. (Anna usually sleeps until at least 8.) The main race is a 10 mile race, but there is also a 5 mile, 5K, 1 mile, and a walk. There were 14,000 people participating, not to mention all the spectators. Crowded! There were a few challenging moments trying to maneuver a double stroller through all the people. I felt like I had a good workout that day just walking to and from the car (we were parked about a mile away), and stoller-ing/entertaining Anna and Ben-Ben during the race. Okay, it doesn't compare to the actual race. Ethan did great - 3rd in his age group. Good job Babe!

Notice Ethan sporting his "back to school" hair-cut, after a summer of letting in grow wild. Looking sharp, sweets!

We went to Blue Bell Beach one day to enjoy the Splash Pad and park. The kids got soaked, which you think we'd expect. But the other times we've gone there, they mainly ran around the water, trying to dodge it. Not this time. After, we played at the park until Benjamin's lips started to chatter from wearing his cold, wet clothes.

We did a few other fun things - parks, Children's Museum, library, and hung around the house quite a bit. Ben-Ben has been pretty entertaining with all the things he's learning to say. I forgot how exciting a one year old is. Ben is in the middle of a language explosion! It's so fun. A few weeks ago he could only say a few words - mama, uh-oh, num-num. Now he's trying to repeat many simple words, and knows how to use some - often unprompted: Bye, Hello, Two, Uh-Oh, Cheese, No (I believe his cousin Rorie taught him that one :) Ball, Ma, Daddy, Yellow (he says this when pointing out any color), Achoo, Hot, Yum, Shhhh, and DewDew (for grandpa Dewey...My dad is visiting right now for some work meetings in Detroit, so we've been practicing). I'm sure there are more words, I just can't think right now. He does some actions to some of his favorite songs, and says ee-i-ee-i-0 during Old McDonald. Cute. I especially love that Anna gets excited about it too. She is also trying to teach Benjamin new words, among other things he needs to know about the world. I feel like they could have a beautiful friendship. :)