Visions of .....

What started like this, ended up like this:

Mackenzie got glasses! 

 For all we knew,Mack was seeing perfectly fine. She breezed through the eye exams at her preschool last year and her well child exam this spring  but, because Mike and I have been long time wearers of glasses, her pediatrician thought she should have a quick baseline exam before school started. I scheduled both Mack and myself an appointment at the office I've visited since my first pair of glasses in 4th grade. Mack had to be super brave because they my exam with the doctor while she did part of her exam with the techs. The doctor and I giggled as we could hear her chattering away through all the preliminary tests. She even handled " The Puff of Air" ( which receives capitals in our house for all it's awfulness) like a champ! Dr. Simonson finished with my exam and started Mackenzie's. First of all, an eye exam for a 5 year old is really tough. It's tough for ME  at times. Mack handled it all so well. Between her patience ,the patience of the doctor and eye dilating drops, we figured out that Mack is far sighted with a pronounced astigmatism in her right eye. Glasses were prescribed, a dance of joy was done ( by Mack) and frames were picked! They came in the day before school was to start  and Mack has been in love with them ever since, taking them off  when she ballet leaps or plays rough. 

One last hurrah

 Off we go again! We wanted to celebrate the last weekend of summer vacation in a special way . Mack and Mike had both mentioned missing Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. After searching a bit, we found something smaller but similar  and we spent the afternoon strolling through Centennial Village in Greeley . 

Grams and Mackenzie aboard the trolley

The goats had Mason captivated.

Mackenzie learning how to throw a tomahawk.

Mike's turn

This merry-go-round was so much fun! Can we have one?

We finished off the day with pizza and a trip to Murdochs, our favorite farm store where we ran into Papa! Mason hardly knew what to think , seeing Papa away from the farm. Once he recognized him, he could be heard throughout the store calling " Papa! Paaapaa! " to which Papa answered " Hey Muscles!" . It's a good thing the store wasn't busy; we might have cleared the place out.

Autonomy continues

Mackenzie with our tree, Rapunzel's, hair

Mack grows up a little more every day. Yesterday, she put her hair in pigtails. Not just any pigtails but REAL pig tails! She often emerges from her room dressed for the day, in outfits that usually make sense. As school approaches, I said to her how much I would miss her but that I am happy that she's excited for school. She replied " Don't worry, Mom. I'll be fine and you have Mason to keep you company." She is 5 going on 25 and it breaks this mama's heart!

Hair:Done!

I happened to have my camera pointed at her when the fire truck's sirens went off

Being silly

Anatomy of a tantrum

Oh yes. We are definitely in that phase. And in true Mason form, he puts his whole heart into whatever he's doing, including tantrums. Don't get me wrong, 95% of the time, he is one jolly little guy. But it doesn't take much to push him into tantrum mode and once he's there, you have to see the process through. Sometimes a tantrum consists of banging his head on the offending object /nearest object . That usually escalates into full out crying and then leads to the infamous flat on the belly, crying into the floor pose.  And before we know it, the storm clouds pass and the sun comes out again!

Click collage to enlarge

Pretty toes, stinky toes

Mackenzie is looking forward to her second week of ballet! Last week, she had so much fun, declaring that she was going to be a marine biologist, swim teacher AND ballet teacher.  The class is 35 minutes and there are 6 other girls that dance along with Mack. She think it's so funny that ballerinas always have " pretty toes" but likes to do the " pretty toes, stinky toes" stretches ( bringing the toes upward and then stretching them downward). I'm so excited to see Mack learn and watch the recital at the end of the 5 week class. Don't worry, I will record it and post it here!

First position

Pool party and other happenings

Mack and the guys had fun playing together in the pool one afternoon.

And later, Duncan-Mack came out to play

Mike gets the best greetings every morning . Mason
is so excited , he just bursts into giggle fits and follows him saying " DAD! DAD!"

Mack has been wearing her shark tooth lots lately
as she's back into marine biology

The reading corner

Mack was quiet after she got out of the tub and I found her
crouched under her bath towel, reading a book.

Colorful days

Mason isn't quite ready for finger painting but there isn't much that he doesn't want to be apart of.  He is a lot let tempted to eat the paint these days , so that's progress!

Painting pals