Last Sunday, Aunt Patty and I took the boys to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum to see Thomas the Tank Engine-- who made a stop in Nashville as part of his swing through the mid-South. We got to meet Sir Topham Hatt, got some temporary tattoos, and even got to ride in a train car pulled by Thomas...
Aidan shows off his tattoo.
Thomas showed remarkable patience with all of these gawking onlookers...
Catching up on the last couple of weeks..
Bryce started back to his little Y pre-school last week..
He was, we think, a little disappointed that he hasn't been able to make the leap straight to Kindergarten with his older brother.. but now that he's back with a few of his old friends from the spring, he's loving it.
And his teacher has been very complimentary to us on what a strong, independent little boy we're raising-- and we laugh to each other because we hardly feel like we've had anything to do with it.
Young Bryce is a force to be reckoned with!
Bedtime story-time is all the rage at our house..
And occasionally, Aidan will take it upon himself to read a story to Bryce..
And yes, Bryce does have that monkey's paw in his mouth.. and no, I don't have any idea why.
Okay, I know this is off topic..
but Notre Dame plays Penn State today... so I've just got to go back to the last time the Irish played the Nittany Lions...
Bettis, Brooks, Mirer, Bobby Taylor, Irv Smith, and Craig Hentrich (... and a really gutsy last-second call by Lou Holtz..
Remember the "Snow Bowl".. and the days when coaches needed 'Cable Caddies' so they could stalk the sidelines with the headset on..
Last Sunday morning, the boys amused themselves playing pirates.. they tore the couch apart (throwing all the cushions onto the floor) to make their pirate ship. Then they put on their costumes and were off sailing on the high seas!
This is a quick picture of Aidan as he came downstairs, ready to go for Day 2.
And just to let you know, Day 2 went just fine. Aidan had lunch with his class and met more of his classmates-- Matthew, Ari, Austin, Leonardo, and Talah. And although his friend Keaton is in the other Kindergarten class, he gets to see him out on the playground at recess.
Aidan has settled right in. Now it's just up to me to adjust to the new commute!
Aidan started Kindergarten today.
We were, naturally, worried over the change in schedule (getting to school at 7:30 instead of his accustomed pre-school 9:00am), the change in school clothes (a uniform, no more tie-dyed t-shirts to class anymore), new kids, new classroom, new teacher.. the list goes on.
But Aidan gamely popped out of bed this morning, put on his uniform (informing me-- "Look Daddy, I'm dressed like you today."), and jumped in the car with his new book bag.
We took a few pictures along the way, of course.
We got to school and walked him into his classroom. He took a look around, immediately searched for his cubby so he could hang his book bag up, and found his seat.
Incidentally, Bryce similarly plopped himself into a seat and started playing with the letters game he found on the table in front of him.
Ms. Natcher, the teacher, handed out little baggies filled with peanuts and a little inscription:
"Don't worry. We'll take care of your little peanut."
Mama says that little baggie and the laugh she got out of reading it is what saved her from tears this morning. I don't think she was the only one, judging from the rest of the room.
When we told Aidan it was time for us to leave, he gave us hugs-- including Bryce (who was, as this was happening, asking us where we were going, as if he were going to be staying too)-- took a 
moment to look his Mama in the eyes, then ran over and set down in with a group of kids and started telling them about how we drove here in our van.
Mama went to pick him up this afternoon and he reported that he had a good day at school-- it was just a half-day, with pick-up at 11:30; first full day will be tomorrow-- he said he played with the kids in his class, and Mama says he seemed a little disappointed that he didnt' get to have lunch or naptime, since it was a short day.
Well, maybe tomorrow.
So our little boy seems pretty well adjusted. I'm sure there will be some adjusting to do later, maybe next week.. but for now, Aidan seems up for the adventure of finding out about a whole new school.
So it's been a little while since our last update.
We're all moved into the new house...
We closed on the new house on 7/14, and you may as well have heard a starting pistol fire with all the activity that followed in the two weeks that followed. That, and it was about 125 degrees here in Nashville that week-- what a time for a heat-wave!
The POD guys came and took the fully loaded POD from the old house to the new house.
The boys were excited to watch the POD being lifted and taken away.. but they were, naturally, happy to have the comfort and reassurance of having their Mama nearby throughout..
Then the furniture movers came and brought all of the furniture over to the new house..
And it was around this time that Sylvie, our erstwhile, if elderly cat, started to get a little upset and hid in the cabinets at the old house.
and now, after about 300 round-trips in the car, moving all the boxes and last minute things, we're all moved.. though I wouldn't say we've made a lot of progress with unpacking. We've got the daily, routine essentials worked out...
Aidan's last T-Ball game of the season was last Thursday evening. Coach Doug was out of town last week, so Daddy manned the Tee for the week. It was a really hot day and the kids were all really worn out, but they had a good time and were all sorry to hear that it would be the last game of the season. They all really came a long way in the last few weeks though, really hitting the ball well. Maybe next year, we'll focus on fielding and catching. There's always room for improvement.
So now, the rest of the summer will be spent with boxes, boxes, boxes!
And Aidan and Bryce have gotten into the spirit of it!
A few pictures from Aidan's 5th Birthday party with his friends!
The birthday boy
Anyone for cake?
(somewhere in there, there's some present-opening going on)
Bryce loves McKenna
Well, after days and days of slinging boxes and bags full of stuff we probably ought to have thrown out weeks ago, I think we've finally done it. The last touches were put on cleaning the old house out, scrubbing it down and getting it ready for the buyers to take over after closing tomorrow.
We're trying not to be too sad about it. We've spent a lot of good years there. Of course, it's where we started this little family of ours, it's the house we brought both our boys home to-- it's where Grandma Irene stood in the backyard, hatchet lifted high above her head preparing to take another whack at a tenacious old shrub we had spent most of a day trying to dig out of the yard (what eventually became the round flowerbed). We bring those with us, the pictures and memories of the times we spent there. But still, there's something about the place, itself, something we're quietly honoring tonight, on the eve of handing the old place over.
The boys, of course, are not so sentimental. Mama took them by there this afternoon during the cleaning process. They each ran from room to room and exclaimed about how clean and nice everything looked. Then, as they drove away, Aidan and Bryce both waved and said "Bye bye, House." And now they've moved on, thoroughly.
"Bye bye, House."
For us, though-- and maybe we're just being sappy-- we're spending a little time reflecting on the last 8 years and the family, the life we started building within the sheltering embrace of that house.
G'night, Olivia.
We closed on the new house today, and the boys FINALLY got to see the inside of it for themselves!
They both instantly fell in love and had a great time running around all the rooms, trying out all the doors, practicing going from each room to the bathroom. We'll get to firedrills later, but for now, we need to make sure everyone knows how to get to the potty in the middle of the night!
We brought a few boxes over today after the closing, but we'll be back there most of the day tomorrow to start moving stuff in earnest. The POD people will be coming tomorrow morning as well to take the POD over.. looking ahead, the movers will be coming on Wednesday to move our furniture, so Wednesday night will be our first night in the new house.
Between now and then, we've got a refrigerator and at least one mattress to buy!
Here are a few pictures from this afternoon's visit.
Aidan and Bryce see the inside for the first time (really, it was all we could do to get them to look at the camera).
Aidan shows us the closet in his new room.
Aidan and Bryce examine the view out Bryce's window. Bryce said, over and over, "I can see the pool."
Oh! Those of you who've been following the house- hunting project closely knew that this day would come. Aidan finally gets to meet the garage in the new house.
Aidan has been obsessed with the number of garages the prospective houses have had. Was determined that we should have "two garages".
While this house has only one big, two-car garage, Aidan was happy to discover that the window in his new room affords him a view of the neighbor's house across the street-- and their TWO garages! All things work out in the end, I guess.
Aidan had his first T-Ball game today. He got a hat and shirt with the logo of his team (the "Sounds" after Nashville's local Triple-A club) :)
Aidan was first up to bat and got a clean single in his first go. Then, despite some good coaching from one of the other dads down the first base line, on the next hit, he ran straight for the rolling ball, hoping to field it. That ball was called foul, so he went back to first. With the next crack of the bat, he ran straight for third.
Well, it was just the first game. :)
He was more disappointed with his performance in the field-- he wasn't able to field any of the balls that were batted his way. But then, every ball was basically followed by a brigade of kids chasing after it, falling on top of it, all in a cloud of dust and dirt. He'll get the hang of it.. and his coach, Doug, mentioned that they'd have to work on keeping everyone in position so everyone has a fair shot at fielding a ball.
Oh, and he's wearing #3-- we explained to him after the game that #3 is a pretty auspicious number to wear...
Here are a few more pictures from the ballgame:
Dad, it's hot out here.
Aidan's first hit!
Dad gives some fielding advice.Aidan and Bryce got to spend a few days playing with their cousins, Conor and Megan, visiting from Minnesota for a long weekend:
Aidan had his first T-Ball practice this afternoon.
Some of the kids clearly understand what the game is all about.
And, this being 4 and 5 year olds, a great many of them don't have any idea!
Aidan was, naturally, in the latter group.
He did a pretty good job of hitting the ball of the tee...
and then, instead of running to first, he ran toward the shortstop.
Beautiful!
Coming home, climbing out of the van, he proclaimed to his Mama,
"Oh yeah, I'm a good baseball player."
Tonight at dinner, Bryce asked for some Broccoli (yes, I know; I can't explain it either; the boy will eat just about anything!).
When we asked Aidan if he'd like some Broccoli, he launched into a protracted explanation of why he would not be having any broccoli tonight. This main points were:
1) "I don't like Broccoli."
2) "I'm allergic to it." (I think someone at school may be allergic to milk or peanut butter or something, so now he's decided that the allergy ploy is a good way to explain why he won't eat something.)
and last, but not least:
3) "If I eat Broccoli, it'll make me turn all green!"
Aunt Patty took the boys on an outing to Cheekwood yesterday-- it was a regular 'Birdhouse Bonanza'!
