Sea T is so strong!

Fire Truck

Lowes has this great program where you can go and build a wooden toy on Saturday mornings once or twice a month. We built a pickup truck last month, and Owen has been looking forward to the fire truck for a long time! He helped hammer it together and put the stickers on. I actually put it together wrong, so the wheels don't quite reach the ground. Owen couldn't care less :-)

BIG Questions

I've been noticing lately that during prayers Owen says ..."if I should dive before I wake..." So last night I corrected him, which prompted a serious of huge questions I had not planned to discuss at bedtime!

Owen: Why do I have to die?
Me: Well, everyone dies eventually, but you are going to live for a long, long time.
Owen: What happens when we die?
Me: Oh my, that's a big question... We don't know for sure, but I believe that our soul lives on.
Owen: What's a soul?
Me: Oh my...

You get the picture. He's an inquisitive kid, which is great. He will not take an answer at face value, he probes it until he truly understands it. Occasionally he gives up, then comes back in a week or two for more answers. I'm anticipating another round of discussions on our souls next Tuesday!

Treasure Hunt

We had some beautiful trees planted in the backyard this week, and this is some of the leftover dirt. Yesterday our neighbor put some small items in the dirt pile and the kids got to dig for buried treasure. Apparently there were two pieces they couldn't find.

Owen wakes up this morning, runs into our room, runs back to his room. He puts on his clothes and announces that he's heading out to find the treasure. I think it was less than five minutes from the time he woke up until he was up to his elbows in dirt!

Two-By-Two

Owen learned about the story of Noah's Ark in school on Monday.  As you can imagine, he was very excited about it because of all the animals.  He was very concerned about the rhinos, since the pictures they looked at didn't show rhinos and he wanted to make sure they were safe too.

Last night we were walking up the stairs to go to bed and he wanted to march up two-by-two!

Race Day!

Whit and Owen came to my race on Sunday morning. It's the only one I've done this summer, so it was interesting to see how it would be different from past years. Owen was more interested in the race itself and I could hear him yelling the loudest each time I went past. Whit says that he was good about amusing himself in -between "Daddy sightings". At the end of the run, he took my hand and we crossed the finish line together!

Uncle Rodney and Cousin Brian

Rod and Brian flew in for a visit on Saturday.  Owen loves to play with Brian, and he thinks Rod is pretty funny.  We spent the afternoon at Canandaigua Lake and did some kayaking.  They stayed the night and planned to attend my race on Sunday but had to take off early to beat the weather...

Boo Boo

Is it me, or does Rucker look like he has something to say?  I imagine it's something like, "Cough, cough.  Don't just sit there, cough-cough.  Get his hands off my throat!"

More Mummies

Grandma came for a visit and did some gardening today!

"You have a beautiful voice..."

Here's my favorite story of the year so far:

While we were at Frost Valley this weekend Owen was acting up during dinner on Saturday. I took him outside to talk to him about it and there were three teenage girls rehearsing a song by the corner of the building. One of them had a particularly striking voice and Owen and I were both distracted during our discussion. When we were ready to go back inside, I asked Owen if he'd like to go over and tell the girl that she has a beautiful voice. He was a little apprehensive about it but I reminded him that it would probably make her feel great to know that he appreciated her singing. That seemed to resonate with him.

So off he marched, little Owen, to tell the girl twice his size that she has a pretty voice. I couldn't hear the conversation but could see that she was beaming as he turned and walked back to me. She was obviously touched by the gesture, and I was proud of him for stepping beyond his own comfort zone so he could bring a little joy to someone else. I felt blessed to be there to see it!

Frost Valley

We went to Frost Valley this weekend for an alumni reunion.  Frost Valley is the summer camp in the Catskills I went to for 7 or 8 years.  I talk about it all the time and I still have close friends from camp so I thought it would be fun for Whit and Owen to see it.  My friend Chris and his daughters Claire and Natalie were there too, and Owen likes them so he was psyched to go.

We got there after dark on Friday night, but Owen got to stay up late and play with the other kids so he was happy.  The three of us were sharing a room and although Owen slept well, Whit and I had a rough night.

In the morning we had breakfast at the dining hall.  Then we headed for the climbing wall.

  Technically you're supposed to be at least five, but we thought we'd see if Owen was up for it.

  There were a bunch of high school age kids there too, but Owen volunteered, got his harness on and did a fantastic job!  The older kids all clapped for him and he was very proud.

We also went to the barn (where I spent a lot of time as a camper) and Owen got to groom a horse and had a pony ride.  He definitely enjoyed that too.  Later that afternoon we made candles and had a huge game of hide and seek.  Overall, it was a great trip.  Owen even slept a little in the car on the way home!

First week of school

Owen's first week of school went great.  He likes his teachers and has already made some new friends.  He especially likes that he gets to play with cars occasionally.  

Meeting teachers

We went to see Owen's classroom at St. Pats and meet his new teachers this morning.  It was a big success.  He has several friends in his class and the teachers seem great.  Big day tomorrow!

Classroom Visit

Whit and Owen went to see his "Good Start" classroom and meet his teacher yesterday.  Good Start is the Tues/Weds/every other Friday program.  

Although he's excited about school, he's also a little nervous about it.  His teacher seems like a perfect match - she's very sweet and connected with him right away.  He even made friends with one of his new classmates while he was there.  So, it looks like he's all set for Tuesday!

School Bus

School (K-12) started in Victor today and it was a big event in our neighborhood.  Everyone lined up with their cameras to watch the kids get on the bus.  Owen waited across the street with the Morreales and watched the whole production.  At one point I thought he was going to make a break for it and jump on the bus with the other kids.  He's very excited to start his own school next week.

A nice, quiet holiday weekend

We've been pretty busy lately, so we decided to have a quiet weekend. We did make it to Canandaigua and the water park for one last hurrah. He seems like he's done with the water park for the season, although I'm sure he'll start asking in November if it's open yet!