Jack & Spencer's World

On Saturday, September 21, we all headed up to Yankee Stadium for the game. This was my birthday present to Justin - pretty good seats for one of the last home games of the season. Even though the Yankees were almost out of post-season contention, it was still exciting. As prep, the boys got special gifts - matching Derek Jeter #2 t-shirts. They were so excited! (Thank you Grandma for the great gift). We then headed out to take the train to the Bronx. Yankee Stadium is pretty impressive. It's this big ballpark in the middle of the Bronx. It's imposing. It's all Yankees. It's pretty everything you'd expect it to be...and then probably more. Walking from the train station, Jack and Spence started to get even more excited. As we entered the stadium, Jack comments "this is awesome" and he's right. The lower level is adorned with larger than life banners of former players. There is Yankee stuff everywhere. We got to our seats, which I had to adm...

A friend created a blog for her daughter where every entry is a letter. It is such a tender way to share stories, so I'm borrowing the format for this post. Dear Jack, Today you started Kindergarten. I am so excited for you - all the new things you'll learn, new experiences you'll have, and especially the new friends you'll make. The first few days may feel weird and scary because everything will be new. But just like camp and preschool, you'll quickly know the routine and things will feel comfortable. I can't wait for you to experience a real classroom. I hope you'll love the books, activities, games, and variety of supplies for arts, crafts, and experiments. It is so much neat stuff to learn with and about. You will love it. You have so much to offer to your new teachers and classmates. You are bright and love to learn. You love to be a part of a group. You have fun doing all sorts of things. Mostly importantly, you have a big heart. I hope...

Not a shallow gene pool...a shallow swimming pool. Last week, we were in Clearwater Beach, FL with Mimi and Poppie (aka Linda and Billy) for an end of summer, last week before school starts vacation. The resort that we stayed at had a great pool. One end had a zero entry, entry. At least, I think that's what it is called when the pool slowly slants into the water instead of having steps. Regardless of what it is called, it was fantastic for the boys. They both had lots of pool space to swim, float and play. It worked wonders on their swimming skills and their comfort levels in water. We'll start with Spence. He has a floaty that fits on both arms and goes around his chest. It keeps his head and shoulders fully above water allowing him some independence in the pool. At the beginning of our trip, he still wanted to be held in the water and was very hesitant to jump in off the side. Within a day, he was fully jumping off and swimming toward us. By the end of the week, he wa...

Yesterday, Jack stated that he knew where we should go on our next vacation: Germany. He's been enthralled with Germany (mainly the German flag) since the World Cup (when he was actually devastated that Germany beat Argentina, but who's counting...) Justin and I mentioned the few places we've been: Dusseldorf, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt. Jack then said that he knows another Frankfurt. We're stumped so we asked where and he said Kentucky. That Frankfort is the capital of Kentucky. Now, I'm good with trivia but I've always been terrible at state capitals. This one blew me away. We quizzed him a bit and discovered that he doesn't know all of them but to know even a few at the beginning of Kindergarten seems like a pretty good start. Now to start planning that trip to Germany...