FIrst Day of Preschool!!

Jonas was VERY excited for his first day of preschool today!  He will be going 3 afternoons a week.  He was up 3 times last night and as soon as he heard Ben's alarm go off this morning, he was out of bed and wanted to get dressed right away!  I guess they learned about dinosaurs, sang songs, and had a snack.  I suspect they did more, but this is what he reported.  He can clearly tell me both of his teachers' names, but he claims he did not learn any of the other kids' names.  Oh, well, it is a start!

These "first day of school" pictures aren't very good for a few reasons:

1.  It was dark, overcast, with 30 mph winds here this AM so we had to take them inside.

2.  Jonas chose to wear all black, which I don't think is the most flattering on him (although it is probably a step up from the black and navy combo that I overhead Ben talking him out of earlier!)

3.  Miles kept walking/hopping/sneaking/gliding around in front of the camera.

4.  Jonas was so excited, he just simply would NOT stand still!!

But, clearly, the pictures show how happy and excited he was!

 

Summer Vacation, Part 2 - Ithaca

The second part of our summer vacation had us back home from Kentucky for about 15 hours, then up to drop off the boys with Grandma and Grandpa M. before flying off to Ithaca to FINALLY visit James!

And what a great host we had!!  On Day ONE we were already at Niagara Falls.  We saw the Falls from the Canadian side, the U.S. side, and from a boat in the water, and it is really amazing from ALL angles.  Maybe just a little DAMP though, at times!

Ithaca and surrounding area is beautiful!  Gorges to hike and breathtaking waterfalls...luckily we had some perfect weather to take in all the outdoor activities.

When driving between the gorges and parks, one MUST stop at all of the wineries!!

We also toured the Ithaca College campus, ate out (with no kids to keep track of!), went kayaking, and enjoyed our time catching up with James!

Kentucky Road Trip

August found us road-tripping to Kentucky (yep, 13 hours!) to visit family.  Miles had never met many of his great-aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, and great-grandpa and great-grandma.  It was pretty remarkable to see Miles amongst the Kentucky relatives - everywhere we went, people commented how much he looks like Ben and that side of the family!  He really does!!

Miles LOVED "driving" the Gator at Uncle Toby's farm.

Feeding the cows!  Another highlight, which I didn't catch on film, was seeing peacocks and collecting feathers.