Boo's First Day of Preschool

What a difference a year makes! Today was Boo's first day of preschool and he was so excited. He woke up this morning talking about going to school. He wanted to ride the bus and wanted to go see his friend Alex from school last year. So, I had to gently break it to him that he wouldn't be riding a bus and Alex didn't go this school. I almost lost him after that. He started saying that he didn't want to school and that he had already learned something new. But, we quickly got back on track and he was ready to go.

He had a great day! I don't know what all he did because he keeps telling me that I already know. And I keep telling him that I wasn't there...so, I don't know. Ha!


It takes me 3 minutes to drive there! Woohoo! So, Bit and I will have 2 hours and 54 minutes to ourselves twice/week. Ha!

B-man had the day off after being in LA, so it was really nice for us to both play on the floor with Bit. I think that's the first time we've been able to do that with her.

Here are his pics from his first day.

So handsome!

New, bigger backpack is on the way.
I didn't order it in time, so he had to go with his one from last year, which I still love.
But, it's not big enough for all of his stuff.

We were early, so he played on the train outside of school for a few minutes.

And when I dropped him off he said, "Ok, bye Mom. I'll be at my new house later."

And that was it! He didn't roll around on the floor and cry like he did last year. He never looked back.

He had a great day!

Daddy's Home!!!!

One More BeBe Adventure to Share

I really wanted to show BeBe the Matanuska Glacier. I really was amazed by it when we went earlier this summer. Time was running out and it looked like the weather might not cooperate. But, on a day we planned on doing nothing, we ended up going on up to the glacier because the sun was out. 

It's a good thing BeBe got her camera out to take a pic of Boo with his shades on in the driveway because...

...WE SAW A BEAR right after going through the gate to leave post.
It ran right across the street in front of us. It was beautiful (never thought I'd say that about a bear)!
Shiny, black hair and was healthy looking too. By the time we got it together to get the picture, it was just about to enter the woods. Woohoo!! Bear sighting...check! From the truck...check, check!!

All packed up and ready to hike!
I don't think she was really unhappy here, just stuffed in the pack.

Now, I kept telling Boo to follow BeBe and stay on the bridges!
But, I see him slowly starting to go off course, here...

And this is what happened! He fell right in the mud!

Nothing a little glacier pond can't take care of...

...a mother's work is never done...

...hang on Bit, we're going down...

Ahh! On with our trek.
By the way, the orange cones aren't danger cones per se, they're just marking the most desired path to get out on the glacier.
It's not like you're going to fall in to a black hole of glacier silt if you don't stay on the path. Just FYI.

I wanted to take this pic with the couple walking ahead of us so that you can really see how big this thing is!

For the more adventurous (and more experienced) you can go ice climbing.

Crevice!
Don't worry, it was tiny.

:) :) :) :)

Afterwards, we went to Long Rifle Lodge and ate supper.
It was DELICIOUS!!
We all cleaned our plates! This is really a picture of the glacier in the background.
Sorry to cut off your head Lil Bit.

Another bear! Grizzly, this time.
The lodge was FULL of animals like this. It was really neat.


It was another GREAT day! The drive North to the glacier was so different the drive South to Seward. To the North, there are a lot of deciduous trees and the fall is already showing itself with the changing of the leaves. To the South, it's mostly evergreens. Both are beautiful though!


The last week of BeBe's trip, we kind of stayed around home and she took good care of me! She cooked supper, she washed dishes, and unloaded the dishwasher (swoon) and vacuumed, too!  She watched both children so that I could get my haircut (early in the trip) and so that I could do a little shopping on my own, get a pedicure and allowed me to escape for a massage!!!
She also watched each child individually so that I could have some precious one on one time with each of them. That really was an unexpected blessing...to be able to focus and enjoy just being with one of them at a time. I think it was equally a blessing to her as well.  Boo and I went on a date. We went to lunch (McD's) and to the movies. It was raining out, so going to the movies was a great choice. We saw The Smurfs movie...in 3D!! I didn't realize I had chosen the 3D movie, and was kind of 'bleh' when I discovered it. But, I was really amazed at the technology...and it didn't make me motion sick!  I loved it!
We held hands (he wouldn't let my hand go) and ate popcorn! It was awesome.

He looks sad, but he wasn't.
I think he looked out over the top of the glasses the whole movie. Hehehe!

Thank you so much BeBe for coming out to see us and taking care of us all while B-man was away. Oh! And thank you waking up with Boo and letting me nap!
We miss you!
And to PawPaw, thank you for taking care of Murray and Sandy while BeBe was away! Sandy had an upset stomach for several days that kept PawPaw on clean up duty. He even had to get the steam cleaner from Aunt R!

As I type, B-man is flying home! Should be here for the babes to see him when they wake up in the morning!
Yay!!

9 Months!

When I look at the blog and see Lil Bit's one year ticker getting closer to the one year mark, I must admit, it makes me a little sad. Her first year is going by so quickly! Soon, she'll be a snarky three year old! Lol! But, in the mean time, I'm going to cherish her happy personality. She's a party animal and a sweetheart. She loves an audience and doesn't want to miss anything. She's easy going and determined all at the same time. She's our girl and in case you were wondering, we are still head over heels! I even think Boo is starting to like her more. He doesn't like her playing with his toys, but overall, I think he's enjoying her more lately.

Her 9 month photo session was crazy! She won't stay still! Nevertheless, we got a bunch of good ones that really show off her personality.





Now, for the many faces of our Lil Bit:

Serious Bit

Coy Bit

 

Yoga Bit

Crazy Bit

Silly Bit

Joyful Bit

Sweet Baby Girl Bit

All of these pics were taken in about 4 minutes time and 15 minutes later she was sound asleep. God bless her!

Milestones to note:

• She can pull up to standing
• She has 4 teeth (two upper and two lowers) and is working on two more
• She can clap her hands
• Says Ma-Ma!
• Her crawling is still of the Army variety, but she uses it to get where she's going very effectively.
• She's working on some more finger foods (cheerios, itty bits of carrots and bananas)

Poor girl is definitely a second child. Days actually go by when I don't take her picture. That never happened with Boo. But, today I'm making up for it a little with all of those pics and now some videos, too...

She doesn't love getting in her car seat, but she definitely loves playing with it!

 

Working on pulling up!

Success!

XOXOXOX

The End.

P.S. Carrie, you're right...us human mamas sure do go some major transformations too. I didn't even think of that when looking at the salmon. Duh! And, of course those are zulily purchases on the kiddos! Thank goodness we're using them! Justifies the purchase, right?

BeBe called and left a message that she was safely home. It was windy and rainy and they had a rough approach and landing, but they made it home. For those of you in Irene's path, please prepare!! In the Fulmer family, we like to stock up on Little Debbie Cakes. They're great hurricane food! Seriously though, please prepare and we'll be praying that she loses strength and causes minimal damage.

Oh, one more thing...the animal that Boo was petting in the trapper's cabin was a wolverine!! Did you know that they spray yucky stuff like skunks do??  Yuck!

B-man should be home before the weekend is over!! We're so excited!!!! We love you, Hon!

Our Blustery Seward Adventure

After taking a day off from sight seeing to recover and refresh ourselves, we headed south to Seward. We were in search of salmon and bears and moose! We wanted to see the salmon running up the rivers. The run (as they call it) was pretty much over for the sockeye (red) salmon, but we were determined to find some.  The weather was not good. It was windy and rainy and windy and rainy...but that didn't keep us down. Everyone in AK says you can't let the weather keep you inside. So, we donned our raingear and headed south.



Brrrr!



Duckies!

We just kept pulling off the road to run down to the rivers to see if we could see any salmon.
This was a successful stop!



Can you see the red spot in the water?
That's a salmon!




We see one, too!!
Maggie is confused. She's looking at her socks, not the sockeyes. harharhar!




At this point in the run, they're just kind of rolling around vs. running upstream.
They're just about to spawn.




Puddle jumping!
He loves a puddle!
But, when we got back in the car he wanted to know why his pants where wet.
Well, son, when you jump in puddles...your pants get wet!




The rain won't dampen our smiles today!
We finally saw some salmon.




We stayed overnight at the Army's lodging in Seward. It was really nice.
We had an awesome seafood supper at Ray's restaurant on the harbor.
And thanks to Groupon, we had a nice morning at the SeaLife Center.





This is the transformation that salmon go through as they are preparing to spawn.
Isn't it amazing that their bodies change so much?
I can't get over this.



On our way back to Anchorage, we stopped to check out this hot fishing spot.
The water was too cloudy for us to see the fish.



Are we home yet?


Despite the rain, we really had a great time!

I have one more big adventure to share from BeBe's visit that I'll save for another day.  I'm sad to say that she's leaving tonight to go back to the lower 48. We've had a grand time with her and will miss her dearly. That being said, her departure marks the end of the month which means B-man will be back soon (we can't wait to see him), that preschool will start next week (hallelujer), and lil bit will be another month older. Check back tomorrow for her monthly update.