Going Home

Unfortunately we couldn't stay in Utah very long.  But fortunately we got to do as much as we did with Dan's family.  It's not very often that so many of them are together all in the same place, so we took full advantage of it while we could.

After checking out of our hotel we needed to fill some time before meeting up with Dan's siblings for lunch. We a made a pit stop at the graves, then went with Dan down memory lane.

Either he was kind enough or I was convincing enough to get a picture of him at his old Elementary School.  The timing was perfect, seeing how Camden just started school he was somewhat interested to know Dad too went to Elementary.

I have heard many stories about the pink house on Galaxie Drive that he grew up in, so it was nice to check it out.  Dan was a little nervous about taking a picture here.  He thought for sure the people living there would come out and wonder what the heck we were doing.  I didn't care, in fact I was secretly hoping they would come out and invite us in for a tour(wink wink).

The boys(ok, me too) were getting a little restless as Dan reminisced about every bump in the street, basketball court he played on, field he burnt down, friend he lived by, and house that had been re-done.  So luckily it was time to meet up with his siblings for lunch.

We headed to Chili's where we took up an entire wing of the restaurant and loved every minute of it.  The few cousins that were there enjoyed sitting by each other and spilling their drinks all over the table.

The adults enjoyed visiting and hassling each other about which football team is better.  It was nice to see Dan's mom and how happy she was to be surrounded by so many of her children. 

Wedding Time

Today we had a jam packed day of family fun.  We dropped the boys off with Aunt Natalie while we attended Dan's niece's temple ceremony.  The boys had a blast and carried the gifts she spoiled them with around all day.  Dan and I enjoyed the things that were shared in the temple.  There was an incredible spirit and that will stick with me forever.

In between the temple and the luncheon we headed back to Uncle Jim and Aunt Natalie's place to hang out. The boys were in heaven!  Rylan and Dylan had trains, Wii, dirt bikes, and a go cart that they graciously shared with us.

After we worked everyone up with fun manly toys, we headed to the wedding luncheon.  The reception center had a play area in the basement with an attendant.  It was nice to not have to worry about the boys while we had dinner with the family.

I enjoyed all the time we had to sit and visit with so much of Dan's family.  I got to meet several nieces and nephews that I had never met before and spend some good time visiting with Dan's mom.

We are excited for Emilee and grateful she invited us to all the wedding festivities so we could have an excuse to hang out with family.

On The Road Again

We feel so fortunate to live close enough to family that we can make the drive for important things.  Dan's niece is getting married in Utah tomorrow and we were lucky enough to be invited.  We took off today after Camden got out of school and will come home Friday.  Which by the way, Camden reported the second day was good, he met a friend named Connor who is "a really good hider when I try to find him at recess".

The car ride there was rather uneventful.  Our boys are pretty good travelers.  They slept for a little more than half the drive then watched The Lorax for the remainder.

After arriving into Utah around 8pm we decided to call my siblings to meet up for dinner.  Lucky for us they were able to make it and we hung out for about an hour.  There is nothing better than sharing my Training Table cheese fries with the ones I love!

Worse than the First

I completely spaced that Wednesdays are late start days at the elementary.  So this morning when I took Camden to school we had plenty of time to play on the playground until the bell rang.  I noticed Camden had his hands close to his mouth and was nervously fidgeting.  I tried to ignore the desire to ask him what was wrong and was confident he could work out his jitters.  It wasn't long before he came up to me with tears in his eyes and said, "nobody wants to play with me".  "Those girls said we don't play with boys" and the boys said, "we are playing Star Wars and you have to have a yellow shirt".

My heart broke into a million pieces.  The second day of school was worse than the first for me.  Good thing I wore my big ol' sunglasses again today because the tears were coming.

I couldn't help but notice most of the kids on the playground had a buddy at their side.  Yes, there were kids clinging to their parents hugging the wall of the school.  But I could see how Camden felt a little alone surrounded by so many kids who had a friend near by. I explained to Camden that he can go run around and play by himself and still have fun, or try to meet some new people who might want to play.  Camden has never been a loner, he enjoys having a playmate. So he cautiously approached some girls who quickly ran away.  I could see with my grown up eyes that they were playing a game of tag; boys chase the girls, and the were not trying to be mean.  But Camden was devastated and came back towards me.  I turned around and pretended I didn't notice.  Just as he found me and grabbed my hand the bell rang.  I was so relieved to see the smile on his face as his teacher waved the kids into the classroom.  Phew, we were both saved by the bell!

Geez, who knew I would have such a hard time with this Kindergarten business?

First Day of Kindergarten

Camden was so excited to go to school this morning!  He got up, got dressed, put his backpack on, and came into my room at 5:50am to wake me up because he was "ready to go to school".  He has been anxiously waiting for this day to arrive and he could hardly stand waiting any longer.

It didn't take long to figure out this was a battle I was not going to win, I gave up on the idea of him going back to sleep and got my duff out of bed.  We made waffles and talked about what would happen when we got to school.

Camden felt confident and ready to leave mom and Jace at home to "play the Wii all day long".  He was thrilled as punch to see I had made him something special to keep on his backpack.

He was all smiles and dying to get in the car to go.

Once the photo shoot at home was over we headed to to the school.

The teachers asked the children to line up outside the classroom door while they explained what would happen.  It was pretty funny to see the nervous kids lined up against the wall while a swarm of parent paparazzi snapped photos.

I walked him into his classroom where he found his seat and listened as the teacher took roll. 

I felt myself getting a little teary and tried to pretend I was tougher than that.  But I completely lost it when the teacher said, "now you can go give your parents a hug and remind them that everything will be ok".  I quickly found my way out the door before Camden could look at me and made Dan and Jace come into the classroom.  But I didn't want to miss anything so I wiped the tears, put on my big ol' sunglasses and walked back into the classroom.  Camden was quick to give hugs and make his way back to the rug for further instruction from his teacher.

I never anticipated getting emotional because Camden has been so excited to start school.  I am just as happy for him to go out into the real world and enjoy the finer things in life like recess and chatting during class when you aren't supposed to. But it's funny how the rush of emotional overcomes you when you realize you are no longer able to keep him in your little bubble at home.

When we picked him up after school he had the same huge grin and was so happy to be big enough for school.  I kept asking for details about his day and he finally said, "please stop asking me, I told you I went to school and that's what I did today".