The Countdown Begins

For weeks now Cody has been waking up asking, "is it time for Kindergarten yet Mom?" In order to help him with the elusive concept of time, we sat down this morning and made a paper chain to aid in his countdown. He has already counted the links multiple times, and can hardly wait until bedtime so he can take one off. In case you're wondering - 19 days ... and counting!

Stranger Danger

It has become increasingly clear to me as these summer days pass that Cody sees Emma and I as sub par replacements for the busy, friend and fun filled preschool days to which he has become accustomed. So, this week we decided to send Cody to day camp through our local park and recreation department. He loved it! Each day held some new exciting game, activity, or field trip, as well as a large group of kids to play and interact with. He came home each day full of stories to tell about songs and games that he had learned, friends he had met, and once, "some really bad news"...

Tuesday 9:00 AM

Tuesday was the day that all of the campers got to go to the big pool for a swim party all afternoon. Cody was very excited! He double and triple checked his backpack to make sure that I had put in his lunch, his water bottle, his towel, and his sunblock. When I dropped him off he was practically giddy with anticipation. I couldn't help but smile as he kissed me goodbye and raced inside to talk to his friends about the days' events.

Tuesday 4:00 PM

When I returned to pick Cody up after camp, he again was excited to tell me about the days' activities. We talked about the pool, about the games he and the other boys played, and about how he, "touched the bottom" all by himself. Throughout the conversation he was animated and happy. It seemed to have been another fantastic, carefree day at camp.

Tuesday 7:30 PM

After brushing teeth, getting ready for bed, and picking out books to read, Cody looked at me with sad face and said, "Mom, you are going to be really sad about this." Then he continued, "Today when we went to the pool, my camp teachers made me ride in a big car, I mean a big bus, with a STRANGER! I told them I wasn't supposed to do that, but they said I had to if I wanted to go to the pool. Then they said that you wouldn't be mad, but I knew you really would, so I didn't tell you for a while. Sorry mom." As I looked at his sweet face all scrunched up with both sadness and shame, I did what any parent in my place would do. I grabbed my sweet boy in a huge hug and laughed until I couldn't catch my breath. When I'd finally pulled myself together I attempted to explain "stranger danger" a little bit more clearly, as I had obviously left out some important things in my first attempt.

Almost a Super Hero

It has been extremely hot here this week! Since it's too hot to play outside, we have been arranging afternoon play dates in comfortably air conditioned venues as often as possible. Unfortunately this afternoon we found ourselves with nothing to do so we decided to make a big bowl of popcorn and watch one of Cody's favorite movies - The Incredibles. The Incredibles is about of family of superheros all of whom have awesome powers. The son can run faster than the wind, the daughter can become invisible, the father has superhuman strength, and the mother is super stretchy and can take the shape of pretty much any object. At some point during the movie my adorable son looked at me and said, "Mom, you're kind of like the mommy Incredible. You can do A LOT of cool stuff-except you can't really fly, and you're not really bendy-but you're still really cool." If that's not an awesome compliment from a 4 year old boy, then I don't know what is.

Happy Birthday America!

The Rowan family loves the 4th of July. For us it means playing in the pool, BBQing, making s'mores, and doing fireworks with all the neighbors and their kids. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Emma in her cute 4th of July outfit.

Swimming with Daddy.

PLaying with sparklers.

The grand finally.

Magic!

While at his cousin Jake's house, Cody was introduced to boxer shorts. No big deal right? Wrong! Apparently boxer shorts are magic...I know, who knew. But apparently they enable four year old boys to sleep through the night without wetting the bed or wearing a pull-up. Amazing!!! Thank you cousin Jake for enlightening us. We are now enjoying our second week of pull-up free sleeping!