The Summer, Aaron's birthday, and 1st day of school!

So our summer FLEW by and here I am trying to sum it all up!  Aaron wrapped up his last year at Trinity Preschool with Mrs. Fox as his teacher...  He loved being in Grammy's class and it was a great experience for him all around.  

We spent a lot of time this past summer at local splash pads with friends... 

And of course, swimming....

As soon as it was warm enough to swim, Noel would not be out-done by big brother...

We were able to do a quick trip to California to hit the beach with our cousins...  We had a great and cheap week there thanks to the fact that we were able to stay with family!  I have great memories of California vacations with my family when I was younger, as well as my college days there too.  

One of my best memories was eating at Ruby's out on the pier....

And at the end of summer, we squeezed in not one, but TWO birthday parties for Aaron's 6th birthday.   We had one at our house with our neighbor friends.... 

And then a bigger one with our church friends and family...

Obviously, super hero themed... =) 

Aaron's actual birthday was also on his very first day of school starting Kindergarten.  He is going American Leadership Academy, a charter school, just a mile away from our house.  

We are all adjusting to Aaron in school  full-time....  Even Mommy =)  Aaron had a great first week - He gets tired and worn out from all day school EVERY day, but he has been very brave and good.  Noel misses her brother and playmate, but we worked on potty training all week so we couldn't think about it too much =)  

Some things I want to remember about Aaron's first week of school -

- when he came home and told us about the first day, he said, "Mom is was so long.  We stayed there until it was almost dark!"

- I left a note saying "I love you" in his lunch box.  He doesn't know how to read just yet, but I told him what it said.  That night, he told me to "please take that note out of my lunch because it made me sad and miss you too much.  I need it gone."  

- I had to have a bribe and reward for him to actually pee at school - He held it for 8 hours the first two days! =) 

- Remembering to enjoy the evenings and weekends of him at home.  He will never again be at home with me full time and that is a strange thing to accept and process.  It went so fast, and I know the years to come will go even faster.