Quarantine

Dear Family and Friends,

We promise to post pictures and funny stories about the adventurous King Brothers as soon as humanly possible. Currently, we are experiencing health difficulties. Nate caught a cold (the first week of preschool) in which he had two days of a runny nose and a REALLY bad attitude. He then shared said cold with Eli who in true Eli fashion developed PNEUMONIA on day 6. Not to be left out, I contracted same said cold only mine hit me like the flu and on day 5 I still think I might not make it! Throw into the mix that Daddy was traveling for the last 5 days and well... you get the picture! Finally, Nate felt super-jealous of big brothers cool nebulizer and now has a grotesque cough as well! Ah well, welcome back to school everyone!

Our Big Boy

Laughing at momma's attempts to get a picture
Such a handsome big boy!

Nate started his 2.5 year old preschool on Tuesday. We are so lucky because it is the same wonderful program that Eli did last year with the same fantastic teachers! He goes to preschool Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11:45. He was so excited to be at "big boy school". He loves the whole process of washing his hands, hanging up his back pack and diving right in. His most favorite things are the kitchen, the play-do and the art. According to Nate he cried a bit when they left his classroom to go up to the gym(an indoor playground upstairs) but it was only for a minute because it was a new place! Our Nate is such a social guy and was in the mix with all the other kids. He is the youngest in the classroom but all of the kids are born between September and March 31st so it is a good range! He has a girlfriend already and her name is Lola! Whew, we need to keep a close eye on casanova the boy is a born flirt just like his brother! I will try to get a picture of Nate with his puppy backpack on because it will just melt your heart! I love this maniac!

Are you ready for this?

Yeah! I am a big boy now!!!
Fire-breathing dragon face! He made this face to every new person he met this morning.

Last spring we agonized over which preschool was the best fit for Eli. We narrowed it down to three 1) hippy preschool 2) nerd preschool 3) status-quo preschool. Being nerds, we of course chose nerd school. If you ever go with me to drop Eli off at school Parent-watching tells you a lot about the school (revenge of the nerds meets Simon and Garfunkel... we couldn't be a better fit). In truth, we absolutely love this school and it is completely geared for curious little kids with huge imaginations. Love it, love it, love it!

Eli and Nate and I went and visited his classroom yesterday (I went 3 times in the spring) to introduce Eli to his teachers and let him get a feel for it. Things that Eli was most impressed with: 1) a room totally dedicated to blocks (wooden, legos, cardboard, etc...) 2) computers 3) sand/water table, 4) a stage and musical instruments.

I was able to have one of my friends watch Nate this morning (Sam is in D.C. and our new babysitter is busy with grad school). Eli and I went into to his class and followed their routine (sign in, outside shoes off and inside shoes on, potty, wash hands and choose 3 activities for choice). Today for choice time Eli chose 1) building blocks 2) water table 3) read with an adult. Every day they will have different choices and it is entirely up to them (the first 30 minutes or so of the day).

Some highlights of the day 1) Eli standing on the stage with the guitar and singing twinkle-twinkle little star. 2) Eli telling one of 3 teacher aides that he only speaks spanish on Tuesday

3) Eli making a stinky face and huffing at people when he met them, telling them he was a fire-breathing dragon and 4) when I accidently pinched Eli's little skin (on his leg) between two wooden blocks and caused a blood blister (yep, that is just all around good parenting and definitely made him happy in his new environment).

Whew! What a day! Eli had a great time. He loved choice time, story time, group art time. He loved that they sang "zippity do da" while they cleaned up (clean up song). He loved it all. He loved it so much that he skipped snack (they eat when they want to for snack) and didn't go potty at all! One day at a time!

I love my preschooler! He is such a source of joy and wonder to us!

Dear Saugatuck, we love you!!!

Packed up and very sad about heading home!
The puppeteer's in the park! The boys were enthralled by this bird!
Eli cranking the chain Ferry boat across the Kalamazoo river! Such a strong boy!
My boys waiting for the ferry!
Nate and Daddy in Lake Michigan!
Construction guy Eli burying his digger in the sand!
Nate splashing in the high-tide runoff! He called it Seagull River!
Eli in mid-run! So fast!
Nate lounging in Seagull river!
Nate swimming in Seagull river! The boy did not love the big lake but loved the runoff!
My guys!
Welcome to Lake Michigan!

We just got back from an amazing vacation to Saugatuck, MI. It is a darling little town right on the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan (about 4 hours from here). We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite in a very interesting (1960's motel). But it was awesome with a full kitchen, living room, dining room, and 2 bedrooms. The first day we got to our hotel at 4, at snack and hit the beach. The boys were amazed and enthralled! The water was so warm (70 degrees and it was 85 outside... perfect) that we all loved being in the water! Nate preferred the runoff lake water that made a little stream. Not Eli, he was all about the big water and going deep!

The first night at the motel made us want to pack up and head home as the boys were insane! Sharing a room, opening and closing closet doors, locking brothers in closets, trying to sleep in each others bedrooms, driving mommy and daddy insane and finally falling asleep at 11 pm did not make for a great night (there was more drama but I blocked it out). Luckily, after a rough start the next day at the motel, once we started exploring down-town Saugatuck we had the perfect day. We spent the morning checking out the town, riding the chain-ferry across the river, eating snack, buying lfloaties for the lake and playing a down-town park! The boys took an amazing 2 hour nap (there is a god after all) and we went back for 2.5 hours to the beach.

We were all very sad to leave the next day. Being disconnected from the world for 60 hours or so was amazing. Michigan is so beautiful and we are already planning our trip back to Saugatuck next summer. Next year we are renting a cabin for 5 days... is it next summer yet?

P.S. All the pictures are from the first day as Nate chucked my camera into the sand when we had to leave the beach the first day... if you shake it, sand still falls out!

Blueberry picking with the King Brothers

Eli riding the "horse"
Gromma helping Nate with his pony riding techniques
Eli plowing the crops with his tractor
A feral animal crawling out of the berry bushes... terrifying!
My berry pickers!

We got to go blueberry picking at a darling farm outside of town. It is the end of blueberry season but there were a ton of berries to be found! The boys did a great job (you too Gromma) and we gathered 1.5 pounds of berries... yum! Nate had a particular fondness for the green berries, and Eli was a man on a mission! After we picked berries the boys played at the farm's play area! Such a treat to have fresh berries!

The Children's Museum: Gromma Edition

Nate giving mommy a ride in his tractor!
The ever-popular water table! Eli got to build a water spout with Gromma!
My water baby Nate!
Paging Dr. King! Eli loves to play doctor!

We had so much fun when Gromma visited! We got to go to Bloomington and have snack with Aunt Valmere and Uncle Wyn. We then headed over to the Children's Museum in Bloomington and had a blast! The boys love the building area, the recycling education center, the water table, and of course the tractors! They love it all! We then had to sprint to the car in the pouring down rain (which Gromma and Eli did 3 times because they had to go back to the museum to go potty... thanks Gromma!). I love watching my boys explore!

Brookfield Zoo

End of the day Ice Cream Cone...So delicious! Eli ate every bite!
Nate the beaver, was building his home in the children's play zoo.
Eli the bird-of-prey in his nest!
The boys got to pet a bunny in the children's zoo! They loved this so much... especially, our little bunny boy Nate.
Nate playing vet in the "animal hospital"
My dino-men!
Eli and a baby t-rex! This dino-boy was in absolute heaven!
Eli, daddy, and Nate hanging out next to the t-rex!
Eli following the dino foot-prints and telling me all about the dino robots!
Worn out king men! Hanging out with a sea lion.
The zoo boys outside of the dolphin exhibit! The dolphins were beautiful (but not as beautiful as my guys).

What a day we had today! We drove about 2.5 hours into Chicago to the Brookfield Zoo! It is such a treasure! We fell in love with the gorgeous animal habitats and the wonderful grounds. Our favorite animals were the dolphins, sea lions, and bears (polar and alaskan brown)! The boys also loved the children's play zoo where they got to pretend to be vets, birds, lizards, they "cleaned" the lemur exhibit and much more!

The clear highlight of the day: The Dinosaur Alive exhibit! When you walked into the exhibit there were chomped on and stomped on safari jeeps that Eli was convinced a t-rex had gotten too! There were at least 20 different robotic dinosaurs from a t-rex to a triceratops! Thats right, robotic dinosaurs. They looked so real! It absolutely blew the boys minds (especially Eli). The dinosaurs moved, roared, stomped when people walked by them. They were actually real-to life sized which made for some spectacular moments! We made a tactical error of going to the dino exhibit pretty early on. For Eli, all real animals paled in comparison to the robot dinosaurs... he is so his father's son!

We love these day trips and this one was the longest yet. We spent 4 hours at the zoo which was awesome! We can't wait for our vacation next week in Saugatuck, MI. We are already planning on taking a couple of one-nighter trips to chicago this winter to break up the winter blahs and see the great museums in the city!