School Days

Well, it's been a long and hard process, but we decided to enroll Eric in school this fall! We were originally going to start him in a one-morning-a-week school but it ended up having a poor policy for kids with allergies. So thanks to my bad timing, we ended up getting him in a GREAT school that is 2 days a week. I'm still not sure about the 2-day-a-week thing for a 2 1/2 year old, but he loves it the week that he has gone.

Eric is a quiet and tentative toddler, so we're hoping that this will help open him up a little and get him socializing a bit more. It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly he is learning! After just the first 2 days, he is singing new songs, counting in Spanish and telling me the days of the week. WOW.

This has also opened up some time for me to get some more work done at home, which I feel good about. Anyway, we'll see how he does and see where this leads. We're very much "if God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window"-type people, so we feel that this opportunity was presented for a reason!!

Here are some pictures of his first day. He wouldn't wear his backpack (that gives us more photo opps in years to come!) and he ran into class instead of taking pictures. I think that's a good thing!!

Saying "cheese"

Many of the kids were having a hard time saying goodbye but not E!

With his teacher, Mrs. Brenda. Notice all the boys - it is a class of 9 boys and 1 girl! Poor girl...

Go Thomas, Go!

This past Saturday, Tim and I took Eric to Lebanon, Ohio, where we got to spend "A Day Out With Thomas." Let me first say, for anyone reading this who has a small child, you need to look into this and find out where there's going to be one near you!

We had SO much fun! Eric loved Thomas before, but loves him now even more (possible?). They did a great job of putting on the event and Eric was in awe the entire morning. Not to mention that the weather was perfect. Let the pictures tell the story..

Our first glimpse of Thomas...

Eric loved the "tall man" - there were actually 2

We got to meet Sir Topham Hatt - although he doesn't look like it in the photo, Eric actually got a huge kick out of this and laughed a lot

Thomas!

When it was our turn to ride the train, Eric handed the conductor our tickets

He first sat with Daddy to look out the window.

When the train was getting started, the conductor had everyone yell "Go Thomas, Go!"
Hooray for Thomas! Here, Eric is saying "All Aboard!"

We had to change shirts since it was getting so warm..and thankfully, so Eric could show off his new Thomas tattoo!!

We got to wave to the next train coming in

Trains are fun for big boys and little boys alike!

We had barely been in the car 2 minutes when Eric was fast asleep. A sign of a wonderful day!

The Year of the Starfish

We just returned from our bi-annual trip to Hilton Head and it was better than any of us expected. (can we go back?) We ate wonderful seafood, spent quality time with each other and Eric was a perfect traveler. Most of all, Eric absolutely loved the beach. His favorite thing was to "build sandcastles" and jump over the waves. While on the beach, we saw more wildlife than we've ever seen - lots of starfish, sand dollars, crabs and even two stingrays. We can't wait to go back to one of our favorite places on earth!!

Daddy and Eric at the beach

E loved the sand - LOVED it. Especially putting it all over mommy.

Before dinner one night
Here is one of the many starfish that we found - Eric was mesmorized!
No fear of the ocean, especially toward the end of the week...
Eric and Dad in the pool waving HI!

Aunt Heatty got to visit for a few days which was much needed by all!

Here, Eric shows off his feet which are hidden under the sand


Spending the evening on the beach was wonderful



Dressed in beach gear

In front of the lighthouse (just imagine you can see it through the glare!)

The beach was so perfectly bare...

Goodbye until next time!