First Week of Preschool

 The time has finally come.  Eli's first day of preschool was this week.  We've been talking about preschool starting for almost a month now.  He was sooooo ready to go back to school!  He will be going the same days as last year (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) but will stay until 2:00 instead of 11:15 like last year.  It makes me very sad to think that this time next year Eli will be starting kindergarten.  I can already tell you I will be a basket case!

I swear he's grown a foot and matured so much over the summer.  We measured him the day before he started preschool.  From March to June Eli grew 1/4 inch.  From June to September he grew 3/4 inch!  Talk about a growth spurt the past 3 months!

Eli went right in his class room and started playing with his friends.  A few of his friends from his class last year are back in his class this year.  His new room is right next door to his old class (and connected by a door).  So there are many familiar things to make the transition easier.

This is his teacher, Ms. Trisha.  He loves her!

I think this will be a great year!

I set my alarm Wednesday morning so I would have time to get up and make his lunch.  Making lunches everyday is one thing that will take some getting used to!  I tried to be creative and pack a healthy lunch he would eat.  I went to wake him up to get dressed.  Then I remembered... he gets out early the first week so they won't be needing a lunch!  Ha!  All that hard work for nothing.  Oh well.  The weather was nice when he I picked him up from school.  We decided to sit under the tree in the front yard and have a picnic (with his school lunch I had packed)!  Eli thought this was a big treat!

Strawberries!  Yummy yummy!

Last year when I would ask Eli what he did at school he would always say "I can't remember" or "I don't know".  Now when I pick him up he talks non-stop about what happened at school.  I love listening to his stories!

  To make Eli seem even bigger he graduated to a booster seat in my car!  He has grown out of the car seat in Chad's car so I decided to get a booster for my car and put his Britax (which he will fit in until he's 70lbs) in Chad's car.  I think he was just as excited about his booster as he was to start back to school!  Talk about growing up.

We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch to celebrate a great week of new firsts.

This afternoon we went to Bentonville's splash park and First Friday.  Then we went to eat pizza and frozen yogurt.

Eli decided he didn't want to sit with Mom and Dad.

He's no longer a baby, that's for sure.  He is officially a big kid.

And I'm so proud of the big kid he is becoming!

Family Bike Rides

We went on our first family bike ride this month.  Eli is doing so well riding his bike!  Last year we went on the local paved bike trail and Eli rode in the bike trailer.  Now he's able to ride his own bike!

 We had many pit stops along the way.  One of Eli's favorite pit stops was the playground.

After the playground we went down to the little creek that follows the trail.  Eli thought he was doing something wrong since I allowed him to get in the water!  HA!  He had the best time and came out soaking wet.  He said playing in the creek was his favorite part of the ride.

I would love to go back and get some pictures in the creek with my real camera.  I'm sure one day I will be mad at myself for not using it more.  My iPhone is just too convenient these days!

Ain't Life Grape

The Annual Tontitown Grape Festival is becoming one of our favorite things in August.  Eli remembered the Grape Festival from last year.  He specifically remembered riding the Ferris wheel!  For a month or two he had been talking about wanting to go to a carnival so the timing was perfect this year!

We stood in line and got his wrist band.  Definitely the way to go if you ask me... but then again I only have one child so the $25 wasn't terrible.  We would have spent WAY more than that without the wristband that allowed him to ride all the rides he wanted.  

First stop was the big slide.  This used to be my favorite when I was young too!  BTW, he got in trouble for going down like this.  His response?  "Daddy told me to."

:)

Then he went again.  And again.  And again. And again.

You get the point, right?  Now see why the wrist band was worth it?

This little roller coaster went FAST!  Eli loved it!

I think he rang the bell the entire ride.

Eli has been eying this trampoline jumping thingy at other places.  We thought he was finally big enough.  It was a hit!

What's a carnival without a carousel? 

What kid doesn't love picking a duck?  That was my favorite game as a kid.

Of course we had corn dogs for dinner.

And the best part of the night?  Riding the Ferris Wheel!

Life is grape!

:)