First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Alyce's first day of kindergarten! And it couldn't have come soon enough! Mom and I weren't in a big hurry to see her out of the house. But both she and her brother have been bouncing off the walls for the last few days in anticipation of the big day. Now that the day has come and gone we hope that life can return to normal.

Alyce is in afternoon kindergarten along with every other child in the neighborhood. A few events last week we met some of Alyce's classmates and their parents. I think about a third of the families in attendance live in our neighborhood. One girl, Ellie, lives three houses away. We've met her and her parents before but haven't had much reason to carry on a conversation let alone become friends. We are hoping now that the kids ride the bus together and get off at the same spot we will become closer.

I stayed home from work today. I couldn't miss such a big event in my children's lives especially since I have a dearth of vacation days saved up. The morning was pretty much like any other. Mom got the kids up and fed and then fed again earlier than normal because they'll be in class during their normal lunch time. Once dressed up in their 1st day of school finest we brought them outside for the required 1st day photos. Timings being what they are Alyce can't ride the bus to school except for Fridays when Luke doesn't have preschool. We have to drop Luke off first and then hightail it over to Alyce's school to get her in on time.

We didn't get to walk Alyce to her room. We just brought her outside and waited for the buses to show up with her classmates. Many parents put their kids on the bus and then drove to school to record the experience and to make sure they got there ok. If we didn't have to drop Luke off I think we would have done the same thing. Once everyone was accounted for it was time to say goodbye. Except things happened so quickly we didn't get the heartfelt goodbye we hoped for. We had given her about a million hugs before then so she didn't seem to notice not getting one more. And then they marched in. Mom and I turned and walked to the car holding back a few tears. I was sad to see her go but happy that she was taking such a big step.


Later that afternoon when she got off the bus she was as happy as can be. She and Luke even played with Ellie and her sister while we and Ellie's mom chatted for a while. Mission accomplished. We asked Alyce how her first day of school was and she said some pretty generic stuff like she had fun, she liked her teacher, and enjoyed the bus ride. The big item of note was that they search for some buried treasure of tootsie rolls.

Eye Muscle Surgery

There is some news out of left field; Alyce is having another eye muscle surgery for her Strabismus. Last week Mom took Alyce to the eye doc for her annual checkup. During the visit the doc stated Alyce's eyes needed another adjustment. We noticed her eyes drifting a bit before the visit so we weren't too surprised by the statement.
The schedule was booked so tight that Alyce would have to wait until mid September for her procedure. In order to get it done before school started we elected to be put on the Cancel List. The Cancel List is a waiting list for those who will step in when the the scheduled procedure cannot be done due to complications, fever, or some other factor.

We figured we'd get in roughly August when the list had exhausted itself. Well the list must have been really short because we got the call yesterday and Alyce is in surgery today!

Mom spent yesterday getting Alyce ready. Watching videos about the outpatient experience provided by Children's Hospital. I spent an hour talking to her at bed time allaying her fears. Throw in some dinner, ice cream at Culvers, a new set of Legos, and Alyce seemed ready to go.

This morning she was in great spirits. Playing video games on the computer and with Legos. Even at the hospital she seemed unimpressed with the events that were transpiring. I think she was more interested in watching Blue's Clues than going into surgery.

Alyce is out of surgery, recovery, and was just wheeled back into her room. Talking to the surgeon all went well. They only needed to operate on the inner muscle of her left eye. Worse than the surgery Alyce can't go swimming for the next week unless she wears goggles. I'm thinking we will just keep her out of the water altogether.

Once she's woken up completely and manages to drink something and keep it down we can head home. Now that Alyce has made her way through she said to us "this is not fun".

The white thing over her eyes is just a wet washcloth and not bandages. Other than the pool Alyce can go right back to her normal routine. We're not too sure about day care tomorrow.

Six Flags

What spring and summer would be complete without season passes to Six Flags? One of the nicest perks we have living where we do is making quick trips to Six Flags. 5 minutes down the road and you are parking your car. A few minutes after that you are in the park.

We ride the same rides every time we go. The kids don't mind. I think they prefer the routine. One bonus on going late in the evening is that all the other children have gone home. Leaving our kids with the run of the place. So much that the Bugs Bunny Airplane ride didn't have anyone in line providing Alyce and Luke the opportunity to fly their own planes.  Upon taking off Alyce went straight up to the top. Luke well it took him most of the right to figure out that he had to pull back hard on the stick to go up. He managed to get off "the ground" but never got all the way up.  No worries though he enjoyed himself.

Strawberry Picking

Two weekends ago we with some neighbors went to go pick strawberries. It was supposed to be a neighborhood event but at the last minute most people cancelled. While their cancellation was regrettable the other family (Cris and Cory) that joined us is our favorite family in the neighborhood.

The Eckert's farm is a fully working farm. I'm sure they make a lot of money out of growing food the conventional large farm way. However, they've also perfected the small farm experience. During the year they have all manner of crops available for people to come and pick their own; strawberries, peaches, apples, and pumpkins to name a few. To get to the fields you take a tractor ride which pretty much made Alyce's day. On top of picking as much as you want you can also eat as many berries as you want while out in the field. A first I was a bit skeptical but looking at the vastness of the fields there are more berries going bad on the vine in a day than they'd lose from people eating their fill.

Picking the strawberries wasn't easy work. It was really hot and dry out in the fields. Alyce withered first. After 10 minutes she said she was ready to go. I don't think she was too hot, I think she wanted to get back to the farm house where a bounce house was setup. Mom and I picked over a flat of strawberries. However we made it back to the farm house with a single flat. The reason for that is another story.

I really enjoyed picking strawberries with my family. I think it is one of those unique family events that can turn into a tradition. I'm not sure the kids got as much out of it as I did but stuff like this has a way coming back around when you least expect it.

Alyce's Dance Outfit

Alyce picked up her costume for her upcoming dance recital. Her dance this year is to Rockin' Robin. Half of the girls in her class are wearing pink and the other half is wearing pink. Alyce happily is wearing pink. It's not purple like last year but it's still pretty cool.

End of the Year Party

At the end of Alyce's school year the district put on a little carnival for the kids. It was a fairly simple affair in that there were just games and artsy things to do but no rides.  Alyce and Luke went to all the different stations and played all the games. They also took a few turns in a bounce house. Balloon animals being made were also a big hit; Alyce with a unicorn and Luke a horse.

After the games we took a trip down the hall to the art area and each kid made a picture. The crafts provided were plates full of paint and circle stamps. By dipping the stamps into the paint and then onto the page you could make pictures out of circles. Luke's picture was pretty random. Alyce's was a very happy caterpillar.

Father Daughter Baseball

Last night Alyce and I had a father daughter moment. We played baseball together. I guess it wasn't really baseball as we were just throwing the ball to each other and swinging at it with the bat. I did get to show Alyce how to hold a bat and the path the bat is supposed to take when swinging. Surprisingly Alyce bats left handed and throws right. Between my poor pitching and her mediocre swings we didn't have a lot of success driving the ball over the fence but we did have fun. Alyce did knock a ball pretty good; right into my head. The ball and bat were so squishy I barely felt anything. Luke was out with us but wasn't interested in swinging the bat. However, he sure wanted to throw the ball around. Mom gave him one of his own but on occasion he'd steal the ball from us.

Spring Flowers

Alyce picked these beautiful flowers for Mom.


I don't have it in my heart to tell her it's a weed.

Lost 2nd Tooth

Alyce lost her second tooth last week! Unfortunately we don't have any evidence; Alyce swallowed it. It had been loose for days but still too attached to pull it out. During breakfast one morning it was gone.

Naturally Alyce was saddened by this. I think she was afraid the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come. Mom had a good idea about this predicament. She suggested that
Alyce write a letter to the Tooth Fairy and leave that under her pillow instead.


One picture later we were in the clear. I thought her picture of the Tooth Fairy was great. However we can't pull it out until both she and Luke are older. It's currently on my wall at work.

No Longer Needs Night Lights

This is old news but Alyce no longer needs night lights. However she still needs a night light. Confused? It used to be that Alyce needed three night lights to go to sleep. Two plugged into the wall and a Cinderella night light in her bed.

Starting in January she no longer wanted one of the wall ones but kept Cinderella and the other. A few weeks after that she said that Cinderella was too bright and that she didn't want her on. We couldn't have been happier. Cinderella liked to tear through batteries. The only light remaining is an LED light we gave her for Christmas. At its lowest setting is provides pale pink light for the room. Enough light to find the door in the minefield that is her room but not enough to keep her up.