Jack has completed his first full week of first grade and lived to tell the (very limited) tale.
Necessary first day in front of the sign photo.
Jack was excited to learn a week before school starting that his buddy
Salvi would be returning for first grade.
Found his hook and cubby.
Right into building things.
Here is a summary of what will be covered in class this year.
They are studying Massachusetts, so some historical field trips are on the schedule.
For one of Jack's first homework assignments, he brought home the class mascot,
Nutmeg, for the weekend. The assignment was to document what Nutmeg did over
the weekend by pictures or drawings and by writing a few sentences in Nutmeg's travel journal.
We took Nutmeg on a hike to Lynn Woods.
Eight days in and there has been drama over friendships, frustration over his one homework assignment, and excitement about some class activities. Jack's teacher seems great and provides us with a weekly summary of what happened in class which is quite helpful as it is an effort to get much information out of Jack about his day. Here's hoping for a fun year with lots of learning.
Jack turned six last weekend. He was pretty excited for his birthday this year, but didn't do a calendar countdown like last year. Now he can stop telling people he is "five and three quarters." We had a small family gathering at the house to celebrate. This year Jack wanted a Lego disco party and we did our best to oblige.
We gave him some presents to start off the day.
Jack lost tooth #3 while eating pizza for lunch.
Blowing out candles. Jack made a "6" cake topper for his cake out of Lego.
He got some pretty great presents, including this special one from his cousin Laura.
Family portrait with Lego glasses under the disco ball.
Jack started first grade this week! Pictures to come.
A few weeks ago we went up to Wells, Maine for an extra long weekend. It was much better than last year in that we didn't spend any time with Jack in the hospital. Instead we spent a lot of time in pools, at the beach, playing arcade games, and eating ice cream.
First stop before checking into our hotel, the diner for lunch.
Jack made this pancake face all by himself and he was very proud of his creation.
On our first night we attended a Surfider event at a nearby nature reserve.
We had a picnic, watched a movie about ocean pollution,
and heard a band play, sometimes from unique vantage points.
We also saw a rainbow.
We spent two days at the beach building castles and moats,
and Jack learned how to boogie board, with mixed success.
Here is a brief video of him on a good run.
We went down to York one day and did some shopping.
Jack tried his first salt water taffy and was pretty neutral about it.
Finishing out July, on a free weekend we went to a local farm and did some blueberry picking. Unlike last year, there were enough left over to freeze.
Then it was family weekend time in Maine. This year didn't go as smoothly as usual due to a camper breakdown and, unrelated, Jack reverting a couple of years and having multiple breakdowns for reasons we can still only speculate. But we did get in some of the usual activities.
A bit behind on posting, but we went on a family vacation to Lake George, NY about a month ago. We rented a house with Derrick's family on what turned out to be the most hot and humid week of the summer (so far).
Checking out the lake.
Hanging out at the beach.
Weird to be at the beach and not get all salty.
Ready and waiting for his first fireworks display.
Play for a very brief example of Jack's dance moves which
shows his excitement over the fireworks.
Also had to get in some history education, of course.
Gift shop at the Fort. :/
In the stocks.
What is a summer vacation without a round of mini golf?
