New School Orientation

We attended the orientation today for Benjamin's new school (Teens & Tots). He was hesitant to leave the house and was pouting the whole way there. When we got there, he refused to leave our sides. While I was filling out paperwork, John managed to drag him over to some toys. In no time he was playing with another little boy and one of the teenagers. John snuck away and Benjamin didn't seem to care. 5 minutes later we were completely forgotten. He got to play with one of the teenage girls assigned to him, Shaniqua. He'll get to meet the other one next week. She seemed very excited to meet him and very attentive. He had no problem following her around the room as she introduced him to the different toys and play areas. When it was time to leave we had to drag him out of the room and he hasn't stopped asking us if we can go back (Monday isn't soon enough and he wants to go now). I've made up a schedule for him so he can see what days he goes to each school.

Benjamin in the kitchen/store play area with Shaniqua. He's playing with a cash register.

Outside in the sandbox with another child, Shaniqua, and some other teens:

In the too-small-for-Benjamin play set. He couldn't stand all the way up, but it didn't seem to bother him. He did appear to be the tallest kid there.

Lizard Show

Pictures from the Reptiles Alive presentation at Amanda's library last week. Benjamin had a good time looking at lizards, turtles, and snakes. When the presentation was over, he got to touch a snake (python I think).

Before the presentation:

One of the lizards. Note Benjamin and Amanda on the left side of the screen. Amanda was taking pictures for the library newsletter.

An alligator (like the ones found in the sewers and metro):
The kids had a good time raising their hands whenever the presenter had a question, even when they didn't know the answer.

The snake:

Benjamin petting the snake:

Amanda petting the snake:

Benjamin-isms

-the other night while we were on our way home from visiting Amanda, Benjamin spotted the moon out his car window. After he pointed it out to us he notified us that it was "moony. It's not sunny, it's moony".

-while out and about today, Benjamin said the following:
"A spaceship goes up in the air. A car goes on the ground. A train goes on the tracks. And pizza goes in my mouth."

-tonight I was grumbling over the Red Lobster Crabfest advertisement on the TV (I really love crab). Benjamin asked me what was wrong and after stumbling over various excuses I finally told him that I didn't like the commercial on the TV. He asked me if it was being mean to me. In order to appease him I told him that yes it was. He walked over the TV, got right up in front of it and gave it a stern talking to by telling it to stop being mean to Mommy.

Benjamin's Graduation pt. 2

more videos... "I'm a Little Lion" and "You are my Sunshine"


2. Getting certificate:


3. Congratulating classmates:

Benjamin's Graduation

We attended Benjamin's preschool graduation last night. The kids graduating from the 4's class into kindergarten were even wearing homemade caps. All of the kids got to "walk" and accept certificates. They also received alphabet, color, and shape books that they've been working on for the last couple months. They put on a little program and Benjamin decided to be the star of the show. He was the loudest and most enthusiastic for most of the program. After he'd had his turn to accept his stuff, he came to stand with us and loudly cheered on his classmates that hadn't gone yet.

Before the show

Benjamin and his teacher Ms. Erin

And the videos:

1. The walk:

2. Pledge of Allegiance and Alphabet:

more to come...

Pictures galore

I've just put a bunch of pictures on Flickr. As many as there are, I left a lot out. There are only a few pictures from the reunion and the North Rim. Obviously I left most of the reunion pics out for the DVD. I only included a few of Benjamin. As for the North Rim, I certainly wasn't the only photographer there and I don't want to bore everyone with a boatload of repetitiveness. If you want copies of my pictures, I'll be happy to make a DVD (or transfer to your computer if you're visiting) and you can sort through them and decide what, if any, you want to keep.

Enjoy and let me know if I left anything out!

Back in Virginia

After a VERY long drive with a 2-year-old and a whiny dog, we finally made it to Virginia late Saturday night. Now we're just waiting to find out when our stuff is getting here.