Wednesday, August 16, 2017

First Day of School

Excited for the start of school.

Almost there.

Hailey hates to be late.

Here's where Hailey's 2nd grade class is.


Poor James doesn't know he can't stay.


Hailey's class starts first.

Found Evan's seat.


Playing on the kinder yard before class starts.


James was having fun too.



Lined up and excited for school.  Bye Evan!

EDIT: Well, the first day of school went well for Evan.  The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days were pretty rough, however.

Day 2: The school called when Evan threw a fit at lunch and after 40 minutes of crying and every teacher, student aid, and the principal trying to calm him down they couldn't get through to him.  He got upset when he sat down at a table and the kid next to him told him he couldn't sit there and to go away.

Day 3: Another lunchtime breakdown when it came time to sit for lunch.  Too much anxiety over where the right place to sit was, due to what happened yesterday.  We had talked to a little boy who said he could be Evan's friend and sit with him at lunch, but I guess that didn't work that day.

Day 4: Climbing on a play house before school, Evan was told by a yard aid to come down and not to climb.  That sent him into a tantrum.  The picture above is him pouting at the door while the rest of the class were in their seats.  He was already out of sorts that day so lunchtime was another disaster.

Day 5: We doubled down this morning with Evan.  We showed him where to sit at lunch.  We talked to the same little boy in Evan's class who said he would be Evan's friend and sit with him at lunch.  We also talked to Evan's teacher who would help Evan out at lunch.  Finally he made it through the day okay!

Now he just keeps to himself at morning recess and lunch recess.  He doesn't play on the yard; just sits by himself.  He says he's fine, though.  Aunt Gillian made him some secret spy missions; things like "find someone with black shoes; ask them if they have a pet."  He gets a lollipop for completing his missions.


Monday, August 14, 2017

Portland Day 6

Rise and shine!  James is excited to start the day.

Our first stop this morning was to see the rose gardens.





Then it was time to run around.

Looks pretty content to be in the swing.


Evan just wanted to jump on the rocks.


We tried the famous food carts for lunch.



A little bit of chess.



This little bird was right outside the Nature Center.

A wild fox appears.


The kids ran ahead to hide and jump out at Steve.... and boy did they scare the pants off the old lady that walked in front of us. Surprise!


Making a seesaw.

James wasn't sure of what the others were up to.









We came across this fairy house.

So Hailey and Evan wanted to make their own.

Good job guys; now let's keep walking.


The kids were screaming and giggling when they saw these almost naked men running in the forest.