A Busy Thursday

Zach had a busy Thursday this week. We started off the morning by going to visit his new preschool. He's going to the University preschool four days a week. The whole family made the trip to go check out the school and meet his teachers. It's an interesting preschool because it's the lab school for the students studying Early Childhood Education. Zach will have a lot of different teachers and one lead teacher all year. They have a nice facility and the teachers were very welcoming. Zach was excited to see that his "friend" Grant was there too. He had only seen a picture of Grant and been in a two week swim class with him. That's all he needed to say Hi and follow Grant around the entire time we were there. His first official day will be on Monday. I can hardly believe that my "baby" is going to preschool already.Craig, Dylan and Zach @ Zach's new preschool

Zach and Grant on the tire swing

Later in the afternoon Zach got to go to his new session of Gymnastics at the YMCA. It's amazing the difference a year makes. This year Zach jumped into class (without Craig or me) and participated readily. He seems to like his class. What's not to like about climbing and jumping around for an hour?
Finally, I had to put in a little blurb about Zach's newest request. I was in the other room, but from what I can gather, he was tired of Dylan trying to get a little ball that he had gotten at the grocery store that afternoon. He came searching for some paper and his pen. Zach wanted to write a note to set the record straight. He dictated to me what was to be on the note.

Is this smile a sign he's enjoying this a little too much? :)

Summer Trip to Indiana

The Indiana Crew

Three quarters of the Ward family just got back from our annual summer trip to Indiana to visit family and friends. Zach and Dylan did great. My brother was nice enough to drive the three of us (his family wasn't able to go because they were starting school on Monday so needed their rest). Off we went on a 10 hour drive each way. The ride wasn't as bad as I had imagined it could be. Zach was happy as could be to sit and watch movies the whole way. Thank goodness they had Bolt in the car and we don't own Bolt so it was a new movie to watch. Not to mention Alvin and the Chipmunks that he must have watched 4 times in a row....why? I'm not sure. He was pretty funny on the ride up. The headphones to watch the movie made him sound like your older relatives at Christmas, talking way louder than everyone else or any reasonable person needs to talk! I think my brother was reminiscing about the "old" days when his kids were that little. Probably the first hour he kind of missed the young age, but by hour 2 we had him thankful he could ride in peace with his children now that they are old enough to play video games and listen to Ipods!

Zach and PJ - Fast Friends

We arrived in Indiana and went to dinner with the Chambers. Then after Zach "drove" the table in honor of Paul, the "adults" went to the Chambers house and dropped the kids off at the hotel with the grandparents. The story was that while my Mom put Dylan to sleep in one of the adjoining rooms, Granddad was entertaining Zach in the other room. My Mom reported that she went in to find Granddad sound asleep and Zach wide awake watching TV. No one was too surprised. Meanwhile the "adults" were learning the rules of the Chamber household and enjoying an adult beverage or two.Zach showing his bottom after he sat in the Lightning McQueen bubbles

After a late night at the Chambers and a 5:00am "wake up call" from Dylan, I started Saturday a little groggy. Zach, Dylan and I swam in the hotel pool, then we all played at Aunt Betty's for awhile. We got to visit with Aunt Betty for a bit before heading out to Uncle Terry and Aunt Stephanie's for a fabulous cookout and lots of playtime for Zach. He had a great time playing with PJ in the pool. Lightning McQueen bubbles were a hit as well as the bubble airplane!

Grammy, Dylan and Zach
Swim time for Dylan

After a long two days, we woke up on Sunday and headed back out on the road to come back to Kansas. The trip home was longer, because it always is for some reason. The last half hour, Dylan decided he had had enough of sitting backwards staring at nothing for 20 hours and was going to cry until someone did something about it. The someone was Dylan and the something was falling asleep. Of course, it was about 5 mins from our exit where we switched cars and he woke up. Zach refused to sleep even though he was working on about 6 hours of sleep each night. He finally gave in when Craig picked us up in Joplin and he slept in our van and then continued to sleep for another 17 hours. He only woke up to have Craig change him into his pj's and get a drink of water. We were all beat, but had such a fun time seeing all our friends. We miss you all and are so happy that we still get to see you, even if it is only once or twice a year!

Granddad entertaining Dylan or maybe the other way around?

Summer Activities 2009

Zach has had a fun summer this year, since his Mom has not been growing a baby in her tummy all summer like last year. Last year, that seemed to be about all I could manage (oh, and moving houses). This year however, we managed to do two sessions of swim lessons, make it to the library about every other week and some times every week. We have had a weekly swim play date with our friends at the Davis' house. And managed to fit in two weeks of day camp at the YMCA. It's all about keeping a little 3 year old busy and wearing him out. We even managed to make it to family swim night at the Aquatic Center last night. Zach and I got to take a ride around the Lazy River while Daddy and Dylan watched from the "shore". I hadn't been able to take Zach before because there was no one to hold Dylan and I couldn't manage both of them in the river itself. I brought my camera to the pool to take pics and was bummed to find out I left the memory card in the computer. No fun pics at the Froggie pool (as Zach likes to call it).Swim Lesson Certificate - 2009

The library has a summer reading program like most libraries and we have taken full advantage of it. We missed the end of the season program they do, but Miss Gayle was nice enough to let Zach pick out a book when we were at the library yesterday and he got some crayons and a certificate for reading so well. He really was excited to go every week and get his weekly prizes for reading 10 picture books. This summer Zach has really gotten into reading books about insects, beetles, fish and sharks. I think this is a fun new area to explore in the library. I like watching Zach get excited about discovering the world around him through books and of course, the internet and the best part "hands-on discovery" (i.e. digging in the dirt in the backyard and catching all kinds of bugs). Little boys really are so much fun to watch!

Fun Little Monster Craft from Library Story time

Certificate for Summer Reading program

On that same note, I've included some fun pics of our day with capes and the inflatable pickle. Dylan (Dill) got the pickle from Grammy. And the cape was for Zach. The cape was from a Jaycee convention back in the day, that my mom and dad attended and for some reason needed to have costumes for everyone. Anyway, of course, Gaynell kept the capes and sent them to Zach when she was cleaning out the storage unit. (Special note: there were pockets sewn in the cape for cigarettes (gotta love the 70's/80's). Also there were velcro closures so you could play volleyball, so versatile.) Zach ran around for days with the cape and really wanted to take it to swim lessons and his "school".

Zach w/cape and the pickle
At least he can wrestle with the pickle without getting hurt.

Super Zach
Caught this pic mid-run around the living room...what a ham!

Dylan has enjoyed watching Daddy mow the grass and Zach "help" by driving his car around. He has literally stood/sat by the front window watching them go back and forth for 20 minutes. You just know he can't wait to get out there next year!
Here's the fabulous Mater that Aunt Shannon got Zach for Christmas and now Dylan is using it to ride on too. Too bad Mater is "broken" and you can't hear all the great sound effects he makes. :)
Zach's first year of preschool will start at the end of the month, so just a couple weeks left of summer for us!

RIP Sprinkles

Sprinkles
October 2008-July 2009

Sprinkles Ward was found dead today in his vase/aquarium in the Ward household. The Ward family was shocked to find Sprinkles in such a state at such a young age of 10 months. Due to his young age, the coroner was called in to investigate the cause of death. Mourners on hand said that Ward was acting his normal swimming self and they had no cause for concern. They were as shocked as everyone else when they realized he was, in fact, dead.
There may be reason to suspect the family in the case and foul play has not been ruled out. It seems some shells were added to Sprinkles home in May 2009 and are currently being held as evidence. The shells which seem to have originated in Mexico may have contained a foreign substance which may have affected the young Beta fish's health. Authorities are questioning the mother, Mrs. Jill Ward. Police seem to think that Ward put in the shells without sterilizing them thoroughly. If charged, Ward would be facing charges of fishslaughter and possibly neglect. Mrs. Ward's attorney could not be contacted for comment. However, we have left messages with Ward's former college roommates who may know more about her past with caring for small animals. There have been rumors of foul play in the 1998 death of her first beta fish and of course, the famous case of her hermit crab in 1995. The final results of the autopsy will take about 14 weeks to be released and we ask that the press give the family space and time to grieve the loss of their beloved fish.

Sprinkles, you will be missed.