Ashtons swim card day!

Today ended another session for Ashton's swimming lessons. He has been counting down the days and looking forward to getting his swim card. He was worried yesterday that he wouldn't be able to come to swim because he was sick. Luckily he woke up fever free and running around everywhere. (unlucky for me that is was around 5am since he went to bed so early the night before.)

After he got the swim card we read it and it says he is moving up to level 2! He was so excited that he cleared level 1! (since he loves video games, he is associating it with clearing the levels on a game) he asked me how to clear level 2 and I told him he had to do everything teacher Hannah tells
Him to do, and then he could eventually clear it. What a funny kid

Ashton

It's almost time for vacation.  We have all been counting down the days, especially Ashton with his calendar fixation.  In his room he crosses off the day every night.  He likes to know what the next day brings and mentions Hawaii often.  He even told us last week that he was going to be sick on March 25th.   He was a few days off. His cold started around the 22nd, but it was really cute how he is trying to understand the concept of days.  He knows that preschool is every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  He knows that his swim class is every Monday and Wednesday; sport camp falls on Thursdays and Fridays change every week. We all love Saturday and Sunday because Daddy doesn't have to work! We have come to realize that we need to put some sort of flexibility into his schedule.  He seems to not understand that if something else comes up it is ok and that change happens. I think we are hoping he will not become as rigid as mommy when it comes to schedules.  (but I know he watches me too closely......)

Last week Ashton's preschool had a "Daddy and Me bowling" night. It was loads of fun! 5 of his friends from school were there and they all bowled with their dad.  I had to come to take pictures since He hadn't really bowled before, but stayed in the background.

At first daddy was helping him get the ball to the lane, but eventually Ashton did it on his own. I believe they were 6 lb. balls. 

Love the little bowling shoes the kids had!

They had bumpers up all night.  It was so cute to see the kids drop the bowling ball and it went so slowly down the lane.  There were quite a few times that the people that worked there had to shove their balls all the way down. It got a bit better as the night went on.  Mark started to take advantage of the bumpers and try crazy things to have the ball go back and forth and bounce of the bumpers. 

Goofy Ash......and one of Ashton's best buddies! They sure loved bowling with their dad!

Ashton is enjoying his sports camp on Thursdays!  Grandma and Grandpa took him last Thursday and he loved it!  The coach is trying to teach 4 boys the fundamentals of some sports. Last week was soccer. I didn't get to see it, but I heard he had a blast!

Coach Dan and Ashton

We noticed that he is able to listen to the coach and do what he is told, that we are thinking about putting him into the tennis camps on the weekends. They are for 4 year olds, but Ashton can hit the tennis ball well and we now know that he will be fine in a group setting. We think he might be ready so we will try it next month.

Yesterday we took him to the movies.  We were all excited to go see "The Lorax".  We didn't really know what it was about, but it was a Dr. Seuss movie, and a few of my friends took their 3 year old to see it.  We got there, found our seats, ate our treats and the movie began.  Unfortunately it had a few dark scenes and eventually Ashton had a melt down.  In one scene two huge burly men knocked a kid off of his motor bike.  Ashton started crying loudly and said he wanted to go.  It was really sad.  We had no clue he would react this way. He was pretty loud that we left so we wouldn't disturb the other families in there any longer. When we thought more about it later, we realized that most of his movies at home are cheerful or about animals and trains. It must have hit closer to home when the show is about a kid and then he sees the kid not treated nicely.  We didn't get a refund for leaving, but we were able to get 3 tickets to come back sometime.  He is excited to see Madagascar and Ice Age, so perhaps we will try again in the summer.

Less then a week left and we are off on our vacation!

The Past Few Weeks......

Once again the past few weeks flew by us. Since then Ashton has learned to actually swim under the water. It is only for a few seconds but he is proud of himself and really likes his swim lessons.  He used to be hesitant into going twice a week, and now he can't wait to get in there and swim some more. I think a lot of it is his teacher Hannah. She is wonderful with him and a great swim teacher. We got really lucky to have her.

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch me swim! (My camera lens was fogging up in the beginning with all the warm moisture in the air.)

He used to borrow his swim goggles, but we bought some that he seems to be getting used to. 

On Thursdays Ashton started a new Sports camp at Mark's work.  When I first signed up he was the only one on the list.  I posted it on my FaceBook page, and I had 3 other friends come join us for the class.  He had a blast.  It was fun to watch too. At first they started with Duck Duck Goose and stretching. Then it was dribbling, catching and kicking balls.  They then moved to Baseball.  Ashton was amazing with hitting the ball when Coach Dan pitched to him.

Coach Dan trying to explain Duck-Duck Goose.

Getting some stretching in before starting.

Trying to Dribble

"Home run!"  It was so fun to watch the boys try and run to the bases.  They felt like they had to go get the ball they just hit and then go to first base.  It was so cute!

Running around the bases for fun!

Isn't this Painting beautiful.....

Hannah painted this in her art class.  She has such talent. The pieces of art that she comes home with is truly amazing!

She even won an award. For the month of February the theme was Creative. Hannah's science teacher actually nominated her for this. She truly deserves it!

Hannah has decided to take a break from tennis.  She is doing Jazz Dance on Monday's and still loving her indoor soccer team on the weekends.  She is one of their star players.  The don't get to ever practice because they would have to rent out time in the indoor facility, but she goes once a week to have fun with her friends and try to win the game.

Ben's Tennis season with his team just came to an end last weekend.

We are missing one boy in the photo, but this is Ben's Jr. USTA tennis team.  They are all wonderful kids and we enjoy spending time with their families as we all sit and watch the kids play.  They had a great season. Won all but one of their matches.  I captained their team and Mark helped coach when necessary.  I hope we have enough players to do this again in the Summer.

The reflection on the windows at the club made it tough to get great photos, but he still looks great.  His match was a tough one. He was down 1-4 and came back to win in a tie-break against an older kid from Mercer Island. It was fun to watch.

Watching Ben play tennis.  Ashton has really gotten into watching and looking at the score cards. 

Ashton and Daddy

Fun in Seattle

Ashton had a Preschool Field trip in Seattle today. They went to the Seattle Bug Safari! It is near the Pike Place Market.  He had a great time with all his friends from school. He enjoyed looking at the bugs.  He always tells us he doesn't like bugs, but he sure looked like he enjoyed them today. Perhaps it was because he didn't have to touch them, they were in secure aquariums.

  Then we walked along the waterfront with a couple of his friends and had lunch. It was very cold, but a pretty day.

 We found a carousel in a building with fun arcade things.

They took turns playing air hockey

On our way back to find our car, he saw this water sculpture and he insisted that I take a photo of him in front of it. He loves to have silly poses! 

Our little comedian

It was a fun exhausting morning, that he actually took a nap in the car on the way home.

First weeks of February

Ben got braces! 

 He doesn't like them, but he is thankful he is getting it over with now.  

SPORTS

Ashton can't get enough of his sports. His new thing around the house is Basketball.  "One to One" he calls it, because he likes to shoot and have you shoot and see who gets to a certain number first.  You have to play defense at times and get the rebound!

Hannah loves playing soccer.  Just today she scored 2 goals for her team!

 

Hannah's #9

Ashton cheering her on!  "Go Hannah!"

Ashton played golf again today at the golf range. 

Check out that swing.... The next Tiger Woods?  hmmm....

Lefty Ash vs. Righty Tiger.  Looking good to me!

His favorite place to put the golf ball was right up to the hole so he could just tap it in.  Funny!  It always went in. ;)

DAD TURNS 69!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ashton has learned his ABC's and what sounds the letters make. He is starting to learn how to read some words too.  It is amazing how much he soaks up in a conversation or from a book.  Recently he likes to know if a letter is a consonant or a vowel.  He thinks it is funny that a vowel starts with a "V", but the letter "V" is a consonant. 

Maybe you think he reads a lot or watches real educational shows, but I really should be posting that he loves video gaming already. I am going to blame that on having older siblings that like to play.  He loves to play the Wii sports resort, Wii Fit Plus, Active 2, Mario Dance Dance Revolution and Mario Tennis. He has been watching Madagascar and the Penguin movies and he thinks Kung Fu Panda is AWESOME.  His punching skills are improving and I have been trying to tell him that we don't hit other kids because they would be sad and tell their mommies.  The couch gets a beating from time to time. 

But putting too much of those non-educational things on this blog just doesn't seem right. ;)