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STORY 3

Elliott: “Mom, do you know there is 1 dinosaur left on earth?”

Mom: “Wow, I didn’t know that.  Who is it?”

E: “You have to guess.”

M: “Is it your rhinoceros brother?” (Every since visiting the rhino at the Lincoln Park zoo in Chicago this summer, Elliott has an invisible brother rhino – which is fast enough to run outside the car alongside us, which makes “I spy” rather challenging when he sees something gray, but I digress.)

E:  “No, he’s a cousin to Trieratops.  Guess again.”

M: “Is it a bird?”

E: “No, that’s a cousin to Pterodactyl. Do you need a hint?”

M: “Yes”

E: “Kkkk”

All of us start guessing – Kangaroo, Cat, Koala.

E: “Do you all give up?”

All: “Yes”

E: Crocodile!!!

STORY 2

Elliott didn’t want to finish his protein shake at breakfast and instead wanted to move onto oatmeal.  So, he whispered in my ear:

Elliott: “Mom, I have bags inside my body and the protein shake bag is filled to the top.  I cannot fit any more inside my body.”

Mom: “How do you know you have bags inside your body?”

Elliott: “Because I have x-ray vision”

PreK which is different from preschool (that’s for 3 year olds says Elliott, even though he is in a Montessori program that spans many ages) he was also surprised to hear that PreK is a nickname for Pre-Kindergarten!

Natalie is in first grade!!  She reports 1st grade is “awesome” but so far not that hard.  I’m hoping she comes how with less coloring worksheets soon. It’s driving me nuts! This girl can do more!

On Day 2 she was a little bummed that she wanted to be friends with a girl who seemed more interested in being friends with someone else.  By Day 5 She also kinda shyly told me she is the most popular girl in her class but that another girl is the most popular girls in 1st grade. I asked how she knew and she said that people want to sit by her at lunch and are bummed when they cannot. She shrugged her shoulders. Things change quickly in grade 1! 

She was happy to connect with a friend from last year after school too. 

They are growing so fast!!! Here’s a pic from 2 years ago!!

I love when I get to drop off or pick the kids up from school!!! Impromptu playground play afterwards….

We were playing various forms of Chase. Here I am a shark or sea dinosaur and I captured all the kids (E was also a sea Dino, the girls were mermaids) in jail. 

Who knows what alternative reality E is in!! Love the facial expression. 

Kids worked hard this morning – at the Moms Club almost mile race on the town green. 

And then this afternoon with their first lemonade (and cookie) stand. Cookies or lemonade – $1 each. Made $12 and had fun playing with friends. 

Dads in the background “marketing” (aka texting neighbors to let them know we are open for business). 

After cleaning up, we had 20 min to go to the toy store and spend our earnings – on Dino’s and stuffed animals  usually I would try to promote saving or sharing but today we just went for the fun. 

At bed time we read a book about Rubble (from paw patrol) getting three wishes. I asked elliott what he would wish for. He gave me two guesses. I said that Dino’s were real… I mean Dino’s weren’t extinct. He counted that as two and told me I wasn’t right. That surprised me. A few min later he said his wish was for more Mommies so that one when of me went to work there would be another one ready to play all the time. 

I can take that two ways – feel guilty or feel grateful. I’m taking the latter. 

We went to a Hawaiian themed birthday party tonight. On the walk home, Elliott transformed into a Triceratops. Here is a pic of him running towards me to “power up” the stroller (which later resulted in him getting his head stuck). 

My sweet little boy raced all the way home barefoot – stopping for breaks for the Triceratops to block me of course. At one point he was racing me to a truck and shouted: I’m letting you beat me. I made it there first and I leaned over to give him a hug. Before I could even say thanks and give him a compliment, he said “I know” with a big grin. 

I’m such a lucky mom. 

Nat and I also cleaned out her room this weekend – hauling the equivalent of 3 laundry baskets of stuff out of there. What a pack rat! So many treasures. 

“I colored in the O of course because that’s how it is!”

“I think that God just appeared and I think that God and Jesus made us and sended it to our Mom” by Natalie

Fun week at the Cape! Our classically New England vaca. Highlights were fresh lobster and seal-watching in Chatham (props to Bill for finding that place!) and Mayflower beach in Dennis. And the kids loved the pirate ride in Hyannis and the indoor jacuzzi and outdoor shower at the house!