A Historical Visit

Anyone who has been to Duluth has probably seen the the "William Irvin" ship at Bayfront near Canal Park here in Duluth. Isaac sees the ship often and knows it by name, but we have never stepped foot onto the ship or toured inside it. With the last few weeks of the open touring season upon us, Joel decided to seize the opportunity and take Isaac for a tour this weekend. Here's some more info for those who are interested in the history:
http://www.decc.org/omnimax-irvin/william-a-irvin.html

And for those of you who just want to see the pictures, here you go!

The big ship:

Quite a view of Duluth Harbor and Aerial Lift Bridge in the background:
Hold onto your hats - look who's at the wheel!
And when the boys returned home and I asked how the big ship was, Isaac said, "mama, I saw a yellow FAST car!" Sure enough, they parked right behind this:
I think the car made more of an impression on Isaac than the William Irvin!

Transitions

These past couple of weeks we have experienced more "big boy" transitions with Isaac. He started a new preschool (Jefferson) in Duluth last week and is doing well so far. His group is small (6-8) and they do lots of fun things, including weekly themes, "circle time," projects, and of course free time to play/explore on their own at various stations in the classroom. The preschool does lots of fun things throughout the month like "bring a summer vegetable day" to share, bring your bike day, wear your favorite color/team jersey/PJ's day, etc. I like how the teacher assigns each of them a "job" for the day (i.e. weather watcher, snack helper, fish feeder, floor inspector, etc). Isaac is always proud to tell us about his "job" and what he did to help the teacher. Here are a couple of photos of his first week at Jefferson.

Here's the big boy on his first day:
Here's a couple of shots outside the building/entrance:
And the warm welcome we found by his locker:
And his favorite part of the classroom...the train table!!!
And also this past week Isaac had his first "play date" with his best buddy Keshaun, whom we know from Isaac's previous preschool/daycare setting. So happy together!

A Day Out With Thomas

When Joel and I saw that "Thomas the Tank Engine" was coming to Duluth as part of the 'Leader of the Track Tour' this weekend (and next), we didn't have to think twice before purchasing our tickets. Isaac is a huge Thomas fan and has been since he was over a year old. Everyone that knows Isaac and heard about the event made sure we knew about it (from teachers at preschool to family members in the Twin Cities!). Indeed, we wouldn't have missed it. Today was the day!

We arrived an hour early to explore the activities and "Imagination Station" that they advertised being part of the event. There was plenty to do and see. The ride on "Thomas" was a mere 25 minutes, but very exciting nonetheless. Other highlights of the event included a story-time/video viewing, meeting "Sir Topham Hatt" and exploring the Imagination Station and Thomas Gift Shop (can you believe we made it out of there with only a new Thomas book and a CD with Thomas theme songs?!).
You can see more pictures at our online gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/joeltjohnson/August2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNayw_6W-Jm0RQ

There are, of course, additional "bonus" photos of David! Enjoy!

Trucks, Trucks, Trucks

This week we received a preschool assessment for Isaac in which several areas are observed and assessed based upon his age, learning style and social adaptability. Joel and I both chuckled when we read the comment under the header "Mathematics and Scientific Inquiry" and the sub-topic of "Measurement." The teacher's comments were: Isaac likes to see how big things are in relation to trucks.

Anyone who knows Isaac knows that he loves trucks of all sorts. Apparently he loves them enough to make them his standard of measurement.

Weekend Project

In our backyard we have 2 large planters boxes that have been collecting yard waste since we moved in 2 years ago. We've talked about different ideas for this space, but nothing that we liked enough to act on. A while ago I was thinking about that space and the idea came to me for a big sandbox for the boy(s) to enjoy. This past week we began exploring the idea further and cleaned out the box in preparation for the conversion. This weekend, the idea became reality. Joel and Isaac made a trip to Menards on Saturday to pickup all of the sand and other items and today we finished the project:We're excited to have another alternative for Isaac (other than his beloved dump truck) when outdoors - one that keeps him within eyesight in our backyard! I've heard from others that I may regret the decision when I'm cleaning up sand all the time, but I say let it come! Every boy needs a sandbox!

And here's a photo that I had to share from earlier today. While staging the boys for a photo, Isaac leaned over and gave baby brother a "smooch" totally unprompted by me...so sweet!

Life with the Boy(s) after 1 Month

We're getting more adjusted to life with 2 boys in the house, and Isaac is equally adjusting to having a "little brother." It's been neat to see how he fits himself into the new routine with David. For instance, David's frequent feeding times are "story times" when Isaac joins me on the couch with a book and we read together. You can see how Isaac even sometimes continues the storytime with little brother:

Just recently, Isaac has joined diaper changing times, during which he sings a song to brother David...if you look carefully, you can see David's happy face in the background:We managed to catch at least one photo of "Big Brother" / "Little Brother" shirts. Really makes Isaac look all the "bigger" when he is next to his "little" brother:

And, there are lots of smiles in our house these days! Just for fun, here are some happy boys!
Happy 1 Month, David!

The Newest Addition

As you all probably know, we welcomed David Thomas into our family on June 21st. These past couple of weeks have been a time of adjustment for us all as we settle into our new "normal" and realize day-by-day what it means to be a family of 4. It has been neat to see Isaac's interest in Baby David and how he wants to include him in various activities (not all of which Baby David is able to participate in just yet). Already in these couple of weeks, we are starting to see David have more alert/awake time and display interest in his surroundings. We've even managed to get a few smiles out of him. Here's a few highlights that show what we've been up to the past couple of weeks...

Soothing/Swaddling (Baby David loves the Ultimate Wrap!)

Keeping 2 kids busy at once ...Sleeping and being cute (David, that is)...Crying (the boy needs to be swaddled!)And being happy! We look forward to sharing many more experiences with you all - stay tuned for more photos!