Columbia Zoo

My cousin Kristin Bayles Batchlor lives in Columbia about an hour north of us.  There is an AWESOME zoo there so my friend Jennyanne and I made the trip up to spend the day with Kristin and enjoy the zoo.

 We didn't really have an agenda just let the kids run the show.  We saw what they wanted to see and mostly just let them play and run together.

 These koala's are AWESOME...so dang cute!

  Jalen was the brave one of the kids to actually ride an animal on the carrousel.

 Nash was pretty content on his peacock.

 Jenny however I think enjoyed the rides more then the kids!

 I adore giraffes.  Always have, I think they are so fun.  These giraffes sealed the deal.  We got to feed them and they had the LONGEST tongues ever!

 It was a bit intimidating at first for Nash and Addy.  But Jalen showed them the ropes and they became pros.  Although, I did have Asa little too close to those tongues and he went into a frenzy.

 Asa's stroller was the toy of the day.  The kids got into a brawl over who was going to push him.  I one the battle. :)

The zoo was so great, and I am glad it is close so we can go often.  AND it was a plus to see Kristin and her cute kids.

First day of Pre-k

Oh Nash was excited for his first day of school.  He could hardly contain himself during our picture session.

 I am glad that Darin had the day off and could see him off.  He was good at calming mine and Nash's nerves.  He and Nash read the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe to keep us calm.

 Asa did his own research to figure out who his mother is! :)

 Then the bus came!  I started crying at this point as I watched my big boy march himself up to the doors.

 My anxiety was through the roof and I was so mad at the bus driver for not even saying good morning, smiling or waving at us or Nash.

 But then again, Nash didn't even look back.

 We made Nash cookies to celebrate his first day of school.

He didn't have much to say about school but he was one happy boy!

He rode the bus for 2 weeks and then he told me the bus driver was mean on the first bus, and the afternoon bus was too hot and he was getting car sick.  So I started dropping him off and picking him up. 

We became less then thrilled with Belevedere as the months went on.  I offered to volunteer in the classroom each week but the teacher told me each time that they did not need my help because they just were not busy enough.  Nash started to hate to go to school.  He asked every morning if he could stay home.  That was my first and second alarm.  The third came when our neighbor boy Emmanuel said he could see Nash's class from his and they were always watching Dora the Explorer.  Darin inquired about this and the aide was quite huffy with a reply.  I got a note home that day from the teacher saying that they were so busy getting kids transitioned that they turned on the TV to help with the process.  I was IRRATE!   So I asked again to volunteer and was told the same thing.  Nash did not go back.  He now attends a private preschool at Grace Methodist Church.  We are beyond happy with this change and Nash is so excited to go to school again.

Pre-K meet the teacher at Belvedere Elementary

We had decided with Nash's IEP team in Pennsylvania that he would do another year of pre-school.  We worried about his speech and maturity.  We felt good about this decision until we got to South Carolina and they put up a stink about us wanting him to attend their 4k class when he was 5.  They said he should be going to Kindergarten.  I had them test him so we could be on the same page because he does of an IEP.  He tested low for Kindergarten but high for Pre-school.  The teacher felt okay about letting him into the 4k class.  

 Nash was pretty excited about his new school.  We went to meet the teacher to learn about the classroom routine and tour the school.  Well that was a joke.  6 of the students were scheduled per day and so the children played while the parents sat around and shot the breeze with the teacher.  What a waste of a day.  So I spent the next week writing notes to the teacher to figure out different schedules.  This could have been reviewed at meet the teacher....SO FRUSTRATING!!

 Nash is in the stage of smiling too hard. haha

Bikes...

For my Birthday I got a bike with a baby seat for Asa.  For some reason I can't find any pictures of my new bike or my cute little passenger.  But in true Darin fashion when I get something fun so does he. :)  Nash has been so afraid of his bike and will not ride it very often.  So we decided to get a co-pilot that attaches to Darin's bike.  Nash was a little afraid of it at first but he has become a pro and we have gone on some really LONG bike rides as a family.  Truly one of my favorite things about this summer.

 The boys are always so helpful.  Darin was tuning up his bike and he had some great helpers.

After I would drop Nash off at school, Asa and I would go on a bike ride.  He didn't like it at first either but I learned that if I gave him an apple to chew on he would be the best little co-pilot!

Happy 32nd to me!

I turned 32 on August 23rd! YIKES that is OLD!  I didn't really want to do anything but then decided last minute for a cookout with friends.  I made dutch oven potatoes and Darin grilled the hot dogs and burgers.  It turned out to be a fun night.

 It was blazing hot!  If you look at Nash he is so sweaty from playing then being by the fire.

 We had to build a barricade around the fire to keep this guy out...

 This is the wonderful Welch Family.  They just moved here as well and only live about a mile down the road.  Megan is a lawyer who teaches via satellite for BYU.  She also went to law school and is best friends with Jackie Christiansen Pilling a girl I grew up next door to.  As many of us always say all roads lead back to Blanding!  Garrett is a dentist studying at GRU to be a mouth surgeon or something like that.

 Asa and Nash were not too sure of Tucker their dog.  He has since become our friend.

 The Anderton Family also joined us.  Toby is a 4th year Orthopedic Surgeon at GRU.  Jennyanne is our Relief Society President.  She has been a great friend to me since we moved here.  We exercise almost daily and hang out a lot.  (They had friends staying with them, that joined us for the cookout).

Natalie and Drew Robison also came later.  I serve in the Primary with Natalie.

It was a fun night getting to know everyone better, and enjoying the heat and the bugs of our backyard! lol.