Luke's First Day of Preschool

The "firsts" just keep coming at the Gisler house!  Luke started preschool today!  He has been very excited about going to preschool, especially after we did a "play date" this summer.  This was his first time being left alone in class, and just like Jack, once he found a center he liked, there was no missing Mommy and Daddy!  For Luke, it was the grocery store center that captivated his attention.  Ms. Angie, the preschool Director, helped Luke find his nametag, and showed him where to put his lunchbox.  Luke chose mac & cheese for his first preschool lunch :)  What a big boy!!!

 Luke picked out his own lunchbox.

 Ms. Angie helping Luke with his nametag.

Jack's First Day of Kindergarten Connection!

I know that I am painfully behind in my posts, but this is a VERY BIG DAY, so I wanted to make sure to share the photos. Jack started Kindergarten Connection today. It's a bridge class at the elementary school between preschool and Kindergarten, and will be great for our little man, who needs a little more time to grow and mature. He is really excited to be at the "big school." It was hard for him to fall asleep last night, and I know he's excited because he gets even more jumpy and impulsive (yes, it's possible) when he's looking forward to something. Jack and I had a talk last night about how he was feeling, and he told me he was nervous because I wasn't staying with him at school. We talked about how much fun he would have and how much he would learn, and I reminded him of his very first day of preschool and how I didn't stay with him then, either, and he felt much better about Mommy and Daddy not staying with him in KCC. Once we put his backpack in the classroom, he got to go play on the playground. He found one of his old preschool friends, and then the jitters were gone. All we got was a "goodbye," which I guess is what we really hoped for. No tears from Jack this morning. What a big boy!

Labor Day in Surprise, Az

We joined the Del Vecchio's for their annual trip to visit their family in Surprise, AZ, which is about 45 minutes outside of Phoenix.  It was hot, but we had a lot of fun!  We took the boys to the Children's Museum in Phoenix and everyone had a blast.  Zak and Jack enjoyed the ice cream stand (serving up "fancy ice cream" ;) ).  Luke loved the grocery store, the restaurant/kitchen, and the ball play.  We couldn't pull Josh away from the lentils/weighing station.  We also took a trip to the aquarium, which had an "awesome" and very rare albino alligator (Jack's favorite!).  Zak was very brave and fed the rays, and all of the boys attempted to feed the Koi fish.  There was also lots of swimming, sharing toys, watching movies, coloring, and board games.  So much fun!

 The Koi pond at the aquarium.

 Me and Zak "inside" a fish tank.

 Zak and his Uncle Matt

 The Del Vecchios

 Who wants ice cream?

 My surprise at the lovely "pizza" Zak made for me ;)

 Josh having fun with lentils

 Jack served me this plate and told me it was "African food."

Camp Out!

It's summertime, which means the weather's warm enough for a backyard camp out!  Nick set up the tent and he and Jack spent the night in the backyard.  Luke's a little too young, still for backyard camping, so we set up the dinosaur tent in our room, and let Luke camp on the floor in the dinosaur tent. I think this was as good as the backyard, as far as he was concerned!

Sawdust Festival

We headed to the Sawdust Festival down in Laguna with the Del Vecchio's.  The kids liked watching the glass blowing exhibit.  They also made picture collage magnets, and Zak and Josh even tried their hand at pottery.  We tried to get Jack to try it, but he didn't want to get dirty, and since he didn't want to, neither did Luke.  All of the boys did an art project where they made a snake out of a paper plate.  So fun!