Happy 5th Birthday Seany and RyGuy

The loot!

The birthday twix -- Seany in gray, Ry in red.

The knights: Seany left, Ryan right.

The zoo -- Andrew, Seany (sitting), Ry (standing), and Alex.

Preschool: Day 1

Seany waiting for the bus and posing for the camera.

Ryan on the way to his classroom.

More bests

I spoke to some of the chicklets on the phone this afternoon. I asked how each chicklet was and the best thing that happened.

Seany: "I made a tiger and a mfoashgnwtroawetiajkgaslfd!"

Mommy: "Great! What did you make with the tiger?"

Seany: "I said I makde a mfoashgnwtroawetiajkgaslfd, Mom."

I could hear, "Sheesh, listen when I speak to you" coursing through his brain.

Break to RyGuy....

Ryan: "I took a nap! (pause) And I went potty!"

Papa to Grandpa

Andrew: "Dad, I forgot how to spell PAPA, so I wrote GRANDPA instead."

Best thing

Every night at dinner, we go around the table highlighting the "best" thing that happened that day. Seany usually creates an adventure with sound effects and a super hero -- Seany. Ryan will either say something he did -- took a nap, ate lunch -- or go the Seany route. Alex and Andrew try to home in on one stellar moment.

Last night, Alex enjoyed soccer practice because he got to play with the rest of his team.

Andrew announced, "OH! I want to go. The best thing about my day was school. You wanna know why? Lunch. Mini-corndogs."

So glad the school district aspires to improve the palettes of such young charges.

Little Man

Welcome to the world, little man. You are loved.

First day of school 2010, baby!

The buds -- Andrew heading into 1st and Alex cruising into 5th!

In they're school gear, ready to go.

And they're off!

The Grotto

Ryan playing in the dam.

Ryan and Seany in one of the Grotto 'caves.'

Commotion

One morning, we woke at 6 am to lots of banging and crashing. A disgruntled Mark got out of the bed to investigate. Suddenly there was silence. Mark came back to the bed, "Gladiators with blasters" he whispered as he went back to sleep.

Girls

At my work bbq at the park. Seany and the little 3 year old blondie spend time strolling to and fro hand in hand. Break to Ryan catching sight of this sweetness. He ran full blast over there and tackled blondie.

Golden Gate Playground

Alex climbing the ropes.

Seany hanging from the zip line.

Ryan (above) and Andrew (below) headed down the hill slide.

Choose your favorite 4 pack

Ryan in red, Seany in blue, Andrew in blue, and Alex in grey.

Haircuts for summer

Ryan pre-cut

Twix post buzz buzz

Andrew's Kindergarten Graduation

How much does your RyGuy love you?

My RyGuy loves me so much he looks at me instead of camera.

Wave Pool

The first time in a wave pool, we got about half out, when Andrew thought about the name. "Mom, maybe we should get out of here before the wave hits."

"What, you know it's not like a tidal wave crashing over us."

"I think I'll just get out, take me to that ladder."

Muffins

Alex said, "Relma made us some muffins but they never rose, so they were more like miniature pancakes."

"Oh, right! Relma mentioned that she tried to a new recipe. The first batch never managed to rise and she gave them to you older boys. But when she made the second batch she modified the recipe and they turned out much better."

Alex in a state of disbelief, "What happened to those?!"

Confidence

While at dinner, Mark said to Andrew, "Alex is wise."

Alex interjected, "Well, yes I am in fourth grade going into fifth."

Wise indeed. So much experience.

Andrew's Kindergarten Graduation Portrait

The world holds such hope and promise for the future. You can see the future in Andrew's eyes.

Poem inclued with kindergarten grad pictures:

ON MY WAY

I will climb the highest peaks
and find a way through the
deepest valleys as I follow
my heart in pursuing its dreams.

I will hold the sunlight and
welcome the rain as my garden
of knowledge prospers in its
quest to benefit the world.

I will learn from the defeats
as well as the triumphs on my
journey because from this day
forward there are no limits to
what I can achieve.

If we taking this kindergarten graduation any more seriously, what is left for college graduation?

Chicklets

We were all out of the car, some of us slower than others:

Ryan, furiously indicating foward with his arms, "Come on chick-witts let's go! Chick-witts come on!"