Brian's Final Year of Preschool

We are well into Summer, but I wanted to record a little bit about Brian's year in preschool.  Brain loved preschool.  This last year he went Monday-Thursday in the morning.  He always enjoyed going and he was a great student.

Everyone in his class loved him.  I am just recording what I observed when I went to help in his class and what I heard from other parents.  I know it sounds a little braggy, but I can't help it, it's just too cute.  Brian seemed to be the favorite with both the boys and the girls.  The boys thought he was funny and they would always want to sit next to him when they went to the gym etc.  There were a few girls that adored him completely, two in particular.  Both these girls vied for his attention and said that they were going to marry him.  These girls' moms told me quite a few times during the year about their girls swooning over Brian.  When they played at home they would pretend to be engaged or married to him and they would pretend their last name was Hsiao.  I find it really funny, especially because Brian had no clue what was going on.  That kind of thing was and is the farthest thing from Brian's mind.  He was just going about his business, but his business just happens to include whit, charm, kindness to everyone around him, and a ready smile that seems to make other kids feel comfortable.  One thing I love about Brian and that I hope I can learn from him is to not be a respecter of persons.  He is kind to everyone and loves everyone no matter what.

Brian made a lot of progress throughout the year.  One of the most observable areas in which he progressed was drawing.  Before he started the school year he really couldn't draw very much at all.  I think he could do a stick figure person and some shapes.  Often in class they would do directed drawings, which gave Brian the confidence he needed to branch out and try drawing new things.  Here are just a few pictures from the year.

At school they had what they called the writing center.  It was a table full of markers, pencils, paper, glue, scissors etc. in which the kids could spend the rotation time doing self directed projects.  Each day they had a choice of different centers to go to and Brian always chose the writing center when it was available.  He came home almost everyday with strange little projects he would create.  The following is my favorite of all his writing center self directed projects.

 It is a heart with a picture of our family camping on the beach on the inside.  Our tent is the triangle.  I don't know why, but this picture will always make me smile.

This new found idea of drawing that he acquired at school has transferred over to what he does at home.  The following is a piece of art he produced all by himself early one morning.  It is a pretty detailed depiction of the Solar System.  He included all eight planets, the sun, rockets carrying our whole family, satellites, galaxies, and even meteorites.  Super cool in my book.

Brian was sad when school was over and he was very sad saying goodbye to his teachers.  He grew to love them as they loved him.

This is Brian with Miss Samar.

Here he is with Miss Angie.

On the last day of school they put on a little program for the parents.  He was excited to sing some of their favorite songs from the year.  Brian started out the program like this, happy and excited.

 Miss Angie asked them to use the shakers that were under their chairs for the first song.  The song started and somehow one of his shakers had rolled too far back for Brian to reach.  I watched from the audience as he struggled to reach it from a sitting position (I don't know why he didn't just get off his seat to reach under there).  He tried and tried and the other kids already started singing and shaking their shakers and then he sat up and burst into a flood of embarrassed tears because he couldn't reach his shaker.  I went up there to help him.  I just couldn't leave him up there wailing like he was.  He sat with me to calm down and there was no convincing him to get back up there to sing the other songs.  Finally, after nine songs he agreed to stand up in the front for the last song.  While the other kids sang and did the silly actions, this is was Brian did.  He glared at me and his teacher through the whole song.  I got several surprised comments from his teachers and other parents after.  Luckily for them this was the first and only time all year that they witnessed Brian's super stubborn side.

We did finally coax a smile out of him after his teacher gave him his diploma for graduating preschool.  He was relieved that there was no more singing to do and cookies were on their way.  I do love this kid!  Good work kiddo on a great year of preschool!

Brian Rides A Bike

For two months Brian has been practicing and working hard to ride his two wheel pedal bike.  It wasn't an easy thing for him to learn and we had a lot of talks about putting forth the effort now and then he will experience the fun and satisfaction later.  He worked hard and now he is a pro.  He can ride fast and he's even going off of curbs and trying new things.  Way to go Brian!  I told you it would be fun once you got it down!

Antelope Island Trip

We went to Antelope Island this weekend for a two night camping trip.  Neither Mark nor I had visited the island since we were kids, so we felt it was high time we got out there with the boys.  We were a little skeptical to stay there because of all the rumors of bugs and smells, but it ended up being an experience I am so glad we have in our memories.  We got lucky with the weather and mostly lucky with the amount of bugs.

Friday afternoon we arrived and set up camp.  Oh how I love that tent trailer.  It is perfect perfect perfect for us.

 We hung out around camp for a bit.  There were tons of little white butterflies all around and Brian was trying so hard to catch them in his butterfly net.  Lucky for him, Mark stepped in to help out.  This is Mark with Brian on his heels chasing down the butterflies. 


They caught one and put it in the bug holder for awhile and then let it go.  Throughout the trip Mark caught quite a few more butterflies for the boys.  I tried several times to help catch one to no avail.  Thank goodness for spry daddy!



After setting up camp, we headed up to the Visitor Center to check things out and learn more about the island.  The whole trip I just kept thinking what a strange lake we have here.  The lake and the island are certainly unique.

That evening we took a long and beautiful bike ride.  Since my last bike post, Mark has acquired another Trail-a-Bike, so when he is with me we each can pull a child.  It is perfect.

We saw some wildlife on our ride.  We saw several bison, a deer, all kinds of birds, and this snake on the road.  Oh and plenty of bugs too, but if we just kept riding they weren't a problem.

My favorite discovery of the whole trip was when we decided to try riding our bikes on the beach and found out that it actually works!  The sand was hard enough that it allowed for the perfect sunset ride on the beach.  What more could we ask for?

 Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful breezy day.  I am so grateful for that breeze, because it kept the heat and the bugs at bay.  

After breakfast, we headed over to Fielding Garr Ranch, initially established in 1848, and still a working ranch.  We tried our hand at a little steer roping.  

 Then we checked out the homestead and the spring.

Of course the favorite attraction was the tractors.

On our way back to camp, this is what we found.

Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam
Where the Deer and the Antelope play;

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,

And the sky is not cloudy all day.

The buffalo herd was on the move and Mark anticipated where they would cross the road.  He positioned our car in the perfect spot and we ended up surrounded by the herd.

 We opened the sun roof and enjoyed the up close and personal experience from the safety of the car roof.  It was seriously cool.

After that incredible morning, we went back to camp for lunch and naps.




While we were quietly talking with Brian waiting for Timmy to finish his nap, this huge bison came lumbering through camp.  It was fun to watch him from the comfort of our beds.





Saturday afternoon, we packed up our beach stuff on the bikes and rode over to the beach and down to the water.  The water is actually quite a distance from the parking lot, and we thoroughly enjoyed reaching the water by bike rather than trudging down there hauling all our stuff on foot.


At first the boys could not stand the sting of the salty water on their bodies and we had them on our shoulders. 

Mark and I had actually never swam in the Great Salt Lake, and we wanted to experience it fully, so while Mark played with the boys in the sand, I rode all the way back to camp to get the floaty boat thing I left in the trailer.

Now they are happy to be in the water and we could really experience that weird salty water.

It is so shallow you can walk out so so far before it gets too deep.

 The floating part was the strangest of all.  Both my feet and my hands are sticking out of the water and I'm just sitting there on top of the water.

Then Brian decided to experience it and thought it was pretty cool too.

Timmy stayed in the boat and wanted to just float around forever.

 Finally we went back to camp and rinsed off as best we could.  Here is where the pictures stop, because the attack of the bugs began.  We ate dinner in the tent trailer and stayed inside for the rest of the night.  Swarms of itty bitty biting gnats were out in force.  We thought we would see how it was in the morning and maybe take another bike ride.  We woke up Sunday morning to even more than the night before, so we decided to join the other campers who were abandoning camp.  We packed up that place as fast as we ever will and drove out!  It made me so grateful for the beautiful time we had on Friday and Saturday!  It all ended up working in our favor and we had quite the experience!  I am glad we got to experience such fun family time as well as Utah's unique geography.