Wednesday, August 21, 2013

First Day of School 2013

It really is that time of year again - back to school!

Seth will be starting 2nd grade at J.C. Sommer Elementary. His teacher is Mrs. Rokoff. We have met her twice already and are excited that Seth is in her class. We received a welcome letter in the mail from Mrs. Rokoff, and she has a daughter in 5th grade and a son in 2nd grade, so we can certainly relate to her and vice versa. Seth knows a few kids in his class from 1st grade and one of our neighbors, Jaxson, is in his class this year. With a new backpack and lunch bag, Seth headed off to school first. His bus picks him up at 7:53a.m.





Isabelle is going to a new school this year! Hayes Intermediate is for the 5th and 6th graders in our area. She'll have Mrs. Gagliardi for 5th grade homeroom and reading/writing, as well as 3 other teachers for other subjects. We met them during the school's open house and we took a tour of the school. It is surprisingly large! Although only one story, it has several hallways. After the open house, Isabelle felt nervous that she would get lost in the school. All of the 5th graders are new to the school, so I'm sure there are many kids that feel that way :)  Isabelle is also excited to get back to school - she really excels and enjoys learning.





Here's to a great 2013-2014 school year!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Drive-In Movie

Last night we took Seth and Parker to their first drive-in movie! Isabelle spent the night at Grandma Diane & Grandpa Clyde's house. At South Drive-In, we watched Planes, which Seth had already seen, but really wanted to see again. He likes it so much, it's his favorite movie in the whole world and he says we HAVE to buy it when it comes out! Parker liked being at the drive-in but he didn't sit still very much :)  Seth, on the other hand, had his eyes glued to the screen the entire time.



Sunday, August 4, 2013

Kings Island 2013

This summer we made a trip to Kings Island. It was Seth's first visit, and Isabelle's first visit that she'll remember. She was there when she was only one year old. Grandma Barb and Grandpa Steve agreed to keep Parker for the day so that Shane, Isabelle, Seth and I could go to Kings Island together. Parker wouldn't have been able to go on many of the rides yet. Our first ride was Flight Deck. We thought this would be a good starter roller coaster for the kids. We were wrong! We didn't remember it being so fast and it bumped us around a lot! Seth really didn't like it, though Isabelle liked it.

Flight Deck Slide 1
Photo of Flight Deck from Kings Island web site
Next we went on Adventure Express, another roller coaster that we thought was not too big or high for Seth. Wrong again. Seth really didn't like this coaster either.

Adventure Express Slide 3
Adventure Express - photo from Kings Island web site
So we decided to not ride any more coasters unless he felt like it later in the day. We all headed to the Scrambler, and Seth really loved this ride! Isabelle did too, but was anxious to ride more roller coasters.

Scrambler Slide 4
Scrambler - from Kings Island web site
Next, Shane and the kids went on Dodgem (bumper cars). Then we decided to try Backlot Stunt Coaster, which looked to be a fun, small roller coaster. It too was a bit faster and rougher than we expected, but we all survived.

Backlot Slide 2
From Kings Island web site - top view of Backlot Stunt Coaster
We also got on a fun family ride, Boo Blasters. It's one where you sit in a "cart" and it moves you throughout the building. The goal is to use your Blaster to shoot at targets everywhere. This was a lot like something you'd see at Disney World.

There was one roller coaster Seth did like - Woodstock Express which is in the kiddie area (Planet Snoopy).

Woodstock Express Slide 2
Woodstock Express - from Kings Island web site
After that, we decided Seth would have more fun on the "smaller" rides, so we took turns riding different rides with Seth and Isabelle. Seth really enjoyed the "calmer" rides, in particular White Water Canyon (with Shane) and Race For Your Life Charlie Brown /the log ride (with me and Shane).

Isabelle rode the Diamondback with Shane. This is a 3-minute ride that is 230 stories tall that goes up to 80 mph! It's the tallest and fastest at Kings Island.

Diamondback Slide 4
Photo from Kings Island web site
Isabelle also rode The Beast with me. She loved it - I didn't remember it being so FAST! The web page says it goes up to 65 mph.

Beast Slide 2
From KI's web site

These photos were taken with our phones during the day:

We just arrived!

Planet Snoopy

Kiddie bumper cars



Seth in front of Shake Rattle N Roll (Isabelle and Shane rode on this, Seth didn't want to)

Zephyr - one of Seth's favorite rides

View from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower

Strike a pose

Isabelle wouldn't go up the Eiffel Tower (due to a fear of elevators), but she touched the bottom of it!

With Mom on the log ride

Prizes won! Vortex is in the background (we did not ride on it).

Zephyr - who's the big guy?
It was a GREAT day!! And Parker had a good time with Grandma Barb & Grandpa Steve at their house all day!