School!

Max started preschool this last Tuesday! He was so excited to finally be a "Grizzly Bear," and he couldn't wait to meet all his new friends.  As Kaysie and I dropped him off and said goodbye...he ran off to greet his new classmates and teacher-he did manage to turn and say "see you later" with an over the shoulder-you can leave now Mom-wave.

As my Little Man walked away ready for a whole new adventure, I found that a giant lump was caught in my throat.  I tried to keep it down while telling myself, "he'll be back in a couple of hours," "it's only 4 days a week," "we are only 2 blocks away if he needs us." But those thoughts didn't seem to make my lump go away.  I am sad to say that my Little Man is getting to be not-so-little. That little fact hurts my heart like I can't believe.

I did manage to keep my lump at bay...I don't do public emotion very well. Kaysie was a different story.

Max plays with friends, spends time at his Nana and Papa's and spends countless hours on the course-all without Kaysie.  They have gotten to be great friends and do so much together that I seem to be nonexistent when they are playing. I really thought this time alone with Kaysie would be so fun for us.  Apparently she didn't think so...you would have thought she'd never see him again. I don't know why dropping him off at school was so different from dropping him anywhere else-but she lost it.  She was reaching for him the entire way back to the car.  As I buckled her into her seat she was sobbing-not crying, sobbing. That broken-hearted sob that no mom should ever have to hear. I was trying to calm her down while still struggling with my lump when I decided that I quick trip to Nana's house would be a great fix. By the time we drove a block and got out of the car Kaysie had a tear stained face, complete with tears and a wet shirt. Nana was a big help-she got a little teary when it was time to leave Nana's, so off we went to Papa's office. One candy bar later and all was well with the world.

Kaysie didn't want to let go of Max's

hand as we were heading out the door.

A few short hours later we ventured down to pick Max up from school. Our entire walk home was filled with raves much like these: "Mom that was so great! I love school." "I have a new best friend!" "I have some new girl friends too!" I am glad someone enjoyed those few hours! I am so proud of Max for being such an outgoing person-he makes life seem so easy. When we walked in the door Max had to immediately call his dad on the phone. The only part of the conversation I could hear was, "Dad it was so GREAT, it really was great!"

As our week continued the lump in my throat seemed to get smaller each time we said goodbye and Kaysie's crying has tapered off as well. I am not going to lie, she is still not quiet herself until Max gets home and boy does she celebrate! 

Max we are so proud of you, I hope you enjoy the rest of the year as much as you did this week. Love you!

Camping in a TENT!

We took these two excited kids TENT camping last weekend. This was their very first time -ever- sleeping in a tent! I am not going to lie...I was really nervous. I wasn't sure how Kaysie would do in a tent or how Max would feel once it got really dark out- they loved every second of it!

This is Max trying to calm down enough to sleep

This is Max celebrating that he slept all night in a tent

(Notice the tired Dad in the back! Poor Kaysie was still a little groggy.)

Part of the camping fun - FOOD! The two smallest girls in these pictures had a hard time staying away from the snack food!

We took the kids to a little spot so they could fish...

These three decided it was more fun to explore...

So of course, so did Kaysie

Next came nap. Our morning adventure wiped us all out!

After nap we decided to hike down to Porcupine Falls....ooh pretty!

Max caught a fish! WOO-HOO!

(he's got some nice camping hair going on :)

Max scaled the mountains and Kaysie played in the water

Of course no camp out would be complete without s'mores!

 Max is getting all geared up to start roasting the mallows

We had a great time, Max had really hard time leaving. He wanted to stay for '4' more days. Thanks for inviting us along Walker Fam! It was so FUN!

Hot Chicks and Max

A while ago my brother gave Max some 'smell goods' (cologne) to keep for himself. Max loves to wear his 'smell goods,' especially when he thinks he is looking really good. The other morning as we were all getting ready this little conversation took place:

Max: "Dad, why do you wear smell goods?"

Charlie: "Just in case I run into any Hot Chicks."

Thanks Chuck! ...after about 10 minutes of teasing and Max trying to convince Charlie that Mom is a hot chick we headed out the door.

The next morning as I was helping Max get ready he asked if he could use the "hot toothpaste, not the kid stuff." I asked him why he wanted to change toothpastes...I am sure you can imagine what he said..."Just in case I run into any Hot Chicks. This kind makes my breath smell good!"

The next time you see my Little Man and he is looking pretty sharp or smells incredible, I can guarantee he'll tell you it's for the Hot Chicks! Watch out Ladies!

What did you do this summer?

Well the Cooley's...

Danced in the rain

Relaxed...just a little

Took Swimming Lessons

Max can now successfully dunk his head-without freaking out! WOOT!

With Max's new found confidence we spent a lot of time swimming

Spent time with great friends!
Had loads of fun with one great cousin!

Went to the Cabin

Found fresh bear prints!
This bear walked right down the middle of the road!

Had to relax some more

Went Fishing!
My water baby proved to be a giant handful while fishing...we couldn't keep her away from the water! It was ice cold and she wouldn't stop putting her little feet in-I was afraid her toes were going to freeze off.
Played with Nana's new kittensMax is so completely in love with these little things..It almost breaks my heart that we can't have one. (allergies) I said almost-I am so not a cat person!

Found a "pet" toad living in our "waterfall." Max named him Flame-O.

So we now have Flame-O the toad living by our putting green...Yeah, we're pretty lucky. ;)

Believe it or not this is not the end to our summer adventures! We just got home from an awesome camping trip. That great adventure will have to be told later!

Max's Prayers

Tonight Max's prayer went a little like this..."Thanks for my Dad, he can do anything...he can fix anything. Thanks for my Mom, she fixes all the light bulbs."

Aww. So cute right? What the heck?! I guess the greatest thing I do around here is change the light bulbs! Oh well, don't Dad's always get the credit anyway? You gotta love this kid!

I did thank him for thinking of me in his prayer....he usually misses me as he makes the rounds through every single person he has ever met. ;)

A couple of nights ago Max and I were saying our prayers and he wanted me to go first. In my prayer I asked for comfort for a family who's Grandpa had passed away. Then Max started his prayer-in this prayer he asked if Heavenly Father could make sure their Grandpa was comfy and comfortable there in Heaven with him. Max then went on to say something like this: "My fish should be in Heaven with you too...is he comfortable? Are you taking care of my fish? I miss my fish and I think I should get a new one. Thanks for taking care of everybody." I do believe that Max's prayer that night set a new Max record-it was somewhere close to 20 minutes long! He likes to share every detail of his day and his thoughts and wants to include every single person he knows. I love this kid!

4th of July

Our 4th was following the normal tradition...our family BBQ at my parents and then fireworks.

It then took a small detour. What we had all forgotten was that Devin (my little brother) has been gone for the last two summers and was not able to really celebrate the 4th properly. I don't know what it is about boys and fireworks! I think Devin was a little too excited. Much to my overprotective parenting-freak out- my brother was teaching Max and Hudson how to throw fireworks and smoke bombs.

Apparently this wasn't really fun enough so they started to chase each other with the smoke bombs. I know what you are thinking..."bad idea." Yep.

All was going well for a while.. but the boys and Devin disappeared behind the fence. Soon Devin came back with a huge smile on his face. He was looking at Cari and I and he kept saying, "Something happened. It's bad, but it could have been worse." In my mind I thought how bad can it be? I don't hear anyone crying and that is usually the sign of the something worse.

He proceeded to tell us that he had burned Hudson's shirt. We didn't believe him until Hudson strolled on up. Hudson seriously had a hole in the back of his shirt. Cari then began to freak out saying something along the lines of "I can't believe you were close enough to burn his shirt..." Devin's reply: "I put it out as fast as I could." As you can imagine Cari followed that comment up with; "WHAT? He was on fire?" Yep he sure was.

Hudson's neck was entirely blue. Thank goodness for tags on the back of shirts, that is the only thing that kept Hudson's back from the fire. You could see the white tag through the new hole in Hud's shirt.

Hudson is a very tough little man-it takes a lot to bother him, so he was fine with it all. In fact when I showed him a picture of his blue neck all he said was, "Oh my heck!" and then went back to playing. Cari also handled it well...I was impressed.