Pool Water Bugs

The majority of our time in the summer is spent at the beach, but it is nice once in awhile to spend the day at family and friend's pools.  The kids love the water so much and while Colin has much confidence no matter if he is in the ocean or pool, Kailey still has some fears with the ocean and shows her confidence when in the pool.  We've had quite a few fun days recently in the pool, one of which was in Uncle Matt's pool.  

 

Colin has no fears in the water and loves the thrill of jumping in all by himself.   He especially loves copying what everyone else is doing!

While there are things that make him nervous, he is definitely our thrill seeker!

Kailey on the other hand is a little bit more hesitant, but still loves jumping in independently as well.

Like father...

Like son...

Last weekend, the kids spent some time in the pool at our friend's birthday party...

...and had a blast as always!

IMG 5426 from Kelli Tobin on Vimeo.

IMG 5428 from Kelli Tobin on Vimeo.

Getting to Know Colin

Yikes! I'm dusting off the computer to finally put up a post!  I can't believe this amount of time has gone by but we have been busy enjoying our summer and making memories!  We also have the countdown going until Tobin Baby #3 arrives (which in my countdown is hopefully sooner than later!) so we have been getting ready for his/her arrival.  However, we have had a LOT going on lately and I'm looking forward to updating you on our comings and goings!

 



 

Yesterday we had a meeting set up with the principal of Colin's new school so that she would have the opportunity to meet him and give him a tour prior to him actually attending in September.  We had emailed her after that last meeting at the end of the school year had gone so poorly to tell her that we thought this would be a good idea and we wanted her to get to know Colin and not what was written on paper.  She had been really open to the idea and had watched Colin's 5 year video that we had made.  When she had called us later this summer to set the actual date, she told us she was going to try and get Colin's teacher to attend as well.  To our pleasant surprise, the meeting yesterday included the principal, his Kindergarten teacher, and his in-class support special education teacher as well.  Prior to the meeting, I had worked on creating the booklet below because I wanted them to have as much information that we could share prior to him actually attending.  It helped to have something to work off of during the meeting yesterday and they asked a lot of productive questions about him. 



 

We were so proud of Colin because when he met all of the new people, he shook hands and said "nice to meet you" and answered a lot of their questions pretty independently (or at least until Kailey started answering for him).  He was extremely well behaved and was excited to see his new classroom and explore a little bit.  While he was exploring with Kailey, we were sitting at the table with the principal and teacher and going through the booklet.  At one point, the principal stopped reading to tell us that she was already impressed with his politeness and his interaction with them and I felt my insides do a little cheer.  We know that this year is definitely going to be a work in progress but I am happy that they now have a good taste of the child that Colin is and not the way he can be portrayed in IEP meetings.  We really like the principal and the way she interacted with Colin and felt more confident in the teacher at this meeting than we did at the previous one. 

 

We are really excited for Colin and for the opportunities he is going to have by being with his typical peers.  We are optimistic that we can have an open communication with everyone at his new school to make this work for him so that he can be successful.  Onward and upward Colin!

#CATkindergarten2014



Fantastic Weekend with Friends

This weekend we had our annual beach weekend with our good friends, the Gallagher family.  It's always fun to get all of the kids together for an extended period of time and although it wasn't exactly the beach weekend we were anticipating, we still had fun nonetheless.  Fortunately for the first day, the weather held out and we were able to get a good amount of time on the beach while it was still nice.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through a good part of the afternoon it rained and a little bit during dinner (we would have loved to have eaten out on the patio that overlooks the water) but we took that considering it cleared up for a visit to the boardwalk afterwards AND it kept a lot of the crowds away. 

 

At the boardwalk, the kids had a lot of fun on the rides and playing games and it was nice because our kids tried some rides that they don't typically go on. 

That night was Kailey's first time on the roller coaster.  She kept telling Jorie that she was a little scared but there were no tears!

She also attempted the crazy bus ride which goes up in the air and then stays up there at one point for a minute but as you can tell from the series of pictures, she was not really a fan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the rides, we got a treat and walked around for a little bit to tire them all out (which thankfully worked because bed time went pretty smoothly!).

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Saturday was pretty much a wash out day for the beach, but we did attempt to go bowling which was a new activity for my kids.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and it allowed the kids to play pretty independently which was really nice for both them and us. 

 

 

Seriously, there's not much cuter than kids in bowling shoes!

 

 

 



As it is evidenced by some of the pictures, the kids had a LOT of fun and it's nice to know we have something else to try and do in the future!

 

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, the kids watched a movie together and we spent some time at the playground before dinner.  Despite the lack of cooperation of the weather, we still had a lot of fun!

Thanks guys for another great weekend!!  And as always, thanks Jorie for the great pictures all weekend!