Here’s our group (except for me) ready for our float down the river.  From left to right, we have Terry, Jack, Josh (kneeling, Betsy, Kyle, Melanie, Michael (sitting), Lisa, Tom (kneeling), Joe, Andrew, Sylvia, and Bryan.

The Wisconsin River was so high this summer that it had gone well over its banks in many places.  The photos below Bryan took of the kids swimming in what is normally a small grassy field next to the river.  The slightly submerged vegetation is at the edge of the banks, and usually the river is 2-3 feet below the banks.  This year, the grassy spot became a good splashing/swimming hole for the kids!

We enjoyed our dinners out on the patio.  The bugs were out, but they weren’t terribly hungry.  What pretty sunset light.

Here’s Jack’s home as seen from the street at night.  I just love knowing that the warm light coming from those windows is illuminating my family as we all enjoy a slow summer evening together.

Now a few people pictures.  Here are the kids being themselves.  Sylvie in our suitcase with paci.

And here’s Andrew following in his mother and uncles’ & aunt’s footsteps, swinging himself around the pole.

Kyle is doing the dishes.  We were so glad that he made the trip down even though Maretta wasn’t able to come because of her (awesome) play.

Here’s Sylvie acting a little cooky.

Andrew explores the world of reading books on Uncle Bubba’s iPad.

Jack’s prairie is stunning.  Really amazing.  It’s come so far in the last 5 years!  Here’s a few images I took while swatting mosquitoes.

Jack’s parents both passed away in the last couple years, and a group of friends commissioned this bench for his land.  It’s a really beautiful piece…and so fitting.  There are also a variety of saplings planted in their memory.

Here’s the view from the bench.  We’re looking down toward the Wisconsin River and the bluffs on the other side.

The river at sunset.

Melanie and Sylvia on the front steps of Jack’s home.  It was so fun to have Melanie come out to Jack’s with us this year!  Out trips to Jack’s are such a happily anticipated aspect of my family’s history.  It was great to share it with her:)

Pretty balloon flowers.

Dad came out to join us on Saturday.

Flowers and a view of the river beyond.

Our nightly traditions include Trivial Pursuit and (new in the last five years) poker.

Jack took us in the pack of his pick-up for a tour of the prairie on Saturday night.

Here Dad is enjoying Jack’s beautiful property.

Andrew and Sylvie loved getting to ride in the back of the pick-up truck.  EXCITING!

My sisters!

Sunset between big bluestem and yellow coneflowers.  Ahhh, summer!

It all went great until my girl didn’t want to put on her seatbelt for the bike back home.  Thus began a half-hour tantrum.  Here I am photographing the start of it.  Somehow, she calmed down and was convinced to ride nicely.  Patience paid off!

Bryan’s parents came to town for a quick visit on their way to the PGA tour in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  We really enjoyed seeing them.  Here Sylvia is sitting on Grandad’s lap at Red Robin.

We had a lot of big storms this summer.  Here we’re driving with Terry and his cousin’s daughter, Brittany, in Columbia County just northwest of Madison.  The storm clouds were just amazing.  And we drove through some major downpours.  The kids loved driving through the flash floods that filled the roads!

Another morning at the farmer’s market.  Sylvia has worn a swimming suit about 85% of the time this summer.  Here she is (again) sporting the Kitty Cat suit, backwards.

We stopped to run around and to sample our purchases.  Andrew’s cheeks are filled with delicious sungold tomatoes.

Sylvia is (finally!) wearing the adorable dress that Granny made for her!

Such a cute kid she is!

Ahh summer…you’re fading into a warm, happy, active, delicious memory.  I’m so glad to have been home with the kids to enjoy it so thoroughly!

Here are a few images from the end of his first day.

Here’s the scene outside the school, awaiting his dismissal.

So many cute kids!

I shot this one from the hip.  So nice to see his sweet face running to greet me!

It’s official!  He’s a full Kindergartener!

(Reluctantly) posting with Alivia before heading home.

This photo puts a lump in my throat.  My little guy holding my hand.

He’s feeling good!

And the backpack is dumped by the door…  So it begins!

Last night, after I tucked him in bed, he came out to the living room and curled up next to me.  “I’m so excited!!” he declared.  “I can’t wait until tomorrow!”  Around 9:15, I was reading in bed, and he climbed in bed with me, confessing that he couldn’t sleep because his body wouldn’t settle down.  “I can’t take deep breaths to quiet my body,” he said.  “But snuggling here in bed with you helps.”  Soon after, he went back to his own bed and found his way into the land of dreams.

Sylvia is at daycare at Donna’s house on Wednesdays, so this morning, Andrew got me and Bryan all to himself.  Alivia came to the door to pick us up, and after taking a few first-day-of-Kindergarten pictures, we headed out.

Here’s a slide show of pictures from our morning.

And here are some of my favorites.

Andrew’s first day of Kindergarten!

Andrew with his buddy Alivia.  She’s starting first grade at Nuestro Mundo this year!

Walking off to school.

Oh, so cute!

Gotta love Miss Alivia’s red, red shoes.  Oh, how much they’ve grown!

There’s my handsome husband helping walk his little guy to school for the first time.

We’re here!

Andrew’s looking for his classroom.

Taking it all in…

Here are a couple of the tables where the kids will sit.

Here’s where the kids sit and plan out their day.

There’s the calendar and class chart.

After taking a peek at the classroom, we headed out to the playground where the teachers were gathering up their students.  Here’s Maestra Laura with a few of her students.

What a bustling, slightly chaotic, exciting environment!

While the class assembled, Andrew talked to some of his new classmates (including one who was feeling pretty sad), waved and grinned, and generally looked pretty happy and confident.  Here’s a few faces he gave me just before heading inside.

Toodles kiddos!

Here’s some of the happy and proud parents photographing their kid’s departure.

And here is the sign on the door.  Have fun, Andrew!!!

I’ll try to do a follow-up post this afternoon to report on how the day went!

• Andrew starts Kindergarten tomorrow
• Three years ago today my mom died.  After watching and helping her for three weeks, this was the the first day she was gone.  And while this day and this time of year feels a lot less bad than it did one or two years ago, there’s still a gaping void in my life where my mom should be.  For me, time does heal, but the reality of her absence still just pretty much sucks.
• This morning we took Andrew in to the UW Children’s Hospital for a consult about Andrew’s belly button.  He’s had a herniated umbilicus since he was born, and at his 5-year appointment last week, his doctor suggested that we talk to a surgeon.  Sounds like herniated belly buttons heal themselves in about 70% of cases, but if it hasn’t healed by the time a child is 4 or 5, it probably won’t heal.  I’d planned to hold-off on surgery until Andrew was 10 or 15 or so (there’s no big hurry), but the doctors indicated that young kids often recover faster and worry less.  So we decided to go ahead and do it now.  His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 22.  It’s a pretty minor surgery, but I kinda feel like throwing up nonetheless.  It’s a bit of a mind-numbing experience to explain to your skipping happy-go-lucky son what a surgery is…first in general terms and then as the questions become increasingly specific in more challenging terms (knife??  cut????  whimper).
• Sylvia has had a rough time these last days.  There’s been multiple humongous public tantrums.  Fortunately, when she’s not exploding, she’s delightful.

Yup, that pretty much sums up the emotions puttering around in my gut today.

We’re off to attempt a school supply shopping trip.  Then Tom is watching the kids this afternoon for a few hours.  Sweet relief!

Here’s a photo for you.  Andrew got to meet his teacher – Maestra Laura – yesterday afternoon.  She seems like she’ll be a lot of fun, and I think my guy is going to love his new school.

Hugs,

Althea

Here’s Andrew and Aunt Mel at the airport.  We were really excited to have Melanie able to visit us for a long weekend!

The next morning, Andrew was soooo happy to see Sylvia.  And Sylvia was so happy to see Andrew.  Here’s a photo (snapped off my phone) of their happy reunion.

And a couple other random images.  Here’s Sylvie.  A little girl with a a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.

We moved their car seats to the back of the minivan.  So exciting!  They can touch each other while driving!

Andrew and Melanie flew in on Thursday night (Sylvia and I got back from St. Paul earlier that day), and on Friday morning, we packed up and drove out to Jack’s house for our semi-annual pilgrimage.  This time, we were excited to bring Melanie!

So instead, I’ll thank you for commenting.  In addition to the 1,000 posts, my dashboard tells me that I have received over 1,500 comments.  And each one of those comments makes me happy.

Being a parent, I have often felt adrift at what to do next <or> amazed and wanting to share my miraculous kids.  While Mom was struggling and not struggling and then struggling with cancer, this blog was a great tool for sharing and connecting and feeling supported.

I wonder what 1,000 will grow to?  Stay tuned.

Here’s Maretta and Sylvia (check out the pose she’s striking!) standing in front of Maretta’s home.  Maretta, Kyle, and two friends live on the second story of this beautiful home.  In this beautiful neighborhood.  In this lovely city.  It all just makes me smile.

Here’s a photo of us out together for dinner.  Sylvie was enjoying herself quite a bit:)  The weather had been up past 100 degrees, but while we were eating dinner, a front blew through, and it was a coolish walk home.

Maretta took us to Como park where we rode on the carousel before going to the zoo.  Sylvia was excited but as you can tell from the death-grip she has on Maretta’s neck, she was a little nervous too.

We went to Kowalski’s grocery store and bought ourselves an extravagant picnic lunch.  They had a display of summer clogs for 50% off. As you can tell from Sylvia’s footwear, I had to indulge.  So cute!!!

I’ve been thinking about getting Sylvia a doll carrier for some time, and when I found this kid-sized Ergo at Peapods, I got too excited.

Here’s my beautiful, delightful girl.

We wandered around Minihaha Park. It was a lovely park with lots of water.  Sylvia had fun splashing around!   (photo by Maretta)

I’ll leave you with a view of my girl’s toes.  Maretta (who took this picture) likes bare tootsies as much as I do:)

It was so nice to spend a full day with my sister.  I really enjoyed seeing Maretta and Kyle’s apartment, visiting with their kitties, seeing their roommates, and – the icing on the cake – watching Maretta give a great performance on stage.  Thanks for a really lovely visit, guys!  Maretta, one of these years you’ll have to make it back to Jack’s!

Here’s me and my handsome sweetie before the wedding.

I neglected to bring my camera (“How did this happen!?” you ask?  “How could you let this happen????”). So the only pictures I got are taken with my phone.  And for some reason, I took no (zip, zero, zilch) of the bride and groom.  I think Bryan was enjoying being with me at a wedding where I wasn’t zipping away every few moments to get a few more pictures:)

So here, compliments of my phone, is Bryan at the beach at sunset.

And here are the bride’s shoes.  She made her dress herself.  The wedding was held on the beach, and the clouds sprinkled rain down on the personalized umbrellas off and on.  Family members made lovely toasts and one friend recited pi as far as he could.  A young boy said that when he heard that Adam was a scientist, he thought that he must be a mad scientist.  It was great!

Cupcakes were so lovely and were made by a friend of the bride’s.

Here’s the bride’s pretty wildflower bouquet.

Such a beautiful sunset!  Such bring and brilliant stars!

The bride and groom met at the Burning Man festival.  And because they are quirky, independent thinkers, they decided to create a bride and groom (modeled on themselves) whom they burned in effigy at the end of the reception.

There they go…up in smoke and lots and lots of fireworks.  What a great party!  And how fun to get away for a couple days with my husband!  Thanks to Michael and Lisa for taking the kiddo!

We took the kids to the Dane County Fair.  It’s always so fun to see all the animals and get a cream puff.  Sylvia loved feeding the goats.

And for a special treat this year, the kids got to do a pony ride!  Here’s Andrew (with his face all self-painted) looking at his pony with some skepticism.

Sylvia was really excited (and a little worried).  She wanted me to stand right next to her.  But as soon as her pony (Blue) started to walk, she tipped back her head and laughed with delight.  I have not-so-secret hopes that my girl will come to love horses so we can ride together:)

Here the kids are eating a cream puff. Or rather using their fingers to scrape all the cream off the puff.  It’s nice that one cream puff can feed a family of four!

Here are my fierce and adorable children.

Andrew asked me for several weeks to give him a short haircut like his daddy.  So finally I gave in and agreed to lop off some of his beautiful curls.

Here’s the curly carnage.  Fortunately his hair is cute short or long (so says his mom), and it grows back!

Here’s a note Andrew gave me asking (I guess it’s pretty self-explanatory) to have a sleep-over with Alivia.

In late July, Andrew headed to Texas for a nine-day visit.  Granny flew up for a quick visit, and then she flew back home with her very-excited grandson.

I don’t think it is possible for Andrew to be more happy and content than he is when he gets to spend time with his relatives.  He absolutely relishes his visits to Texas, and I think I talked to him once or twice the whole time he was gone.  From all reports, it was a great vacation.  For me too!  One kid is much easier than two!