More missing teeth!

Caroline finally lost a tooth!!!  

After weeks of wiggling her lower middle tooth, and a couple of nights of intense whining about how her tooth was bothering her and she wanted to get rid of it.  And then, one night, she "just felt something" on her tongue and it was her tooth!

She got it cleaned and under her pillow and then right before they went to sleep, her brothers reminded her she needed to make a video like they had for their first tooth.

And when she awoke, there was a shiny coin waiting for her under her pillow!

The tooth right next to her "gap" is wiggling too and her teacher, a self-proclaimed expert on losing teeth, tells her she has just a few days to wait.   

And then a few days later, Daniel bit down hard on something at dinner and screamed as his mouth filled with blood.  He freaked out and came running in to show me.  The front tooth next to the gap from his extraction earlier in the year had been wiggling for a while and it had gotten pulled out a bit more.  He decided he didn't want to eat anymore and he just wanted to have a popsicle to make it feel better.  And then he bit down on the popsicle and his tooth came out.  Of course.

The front teeth are his biggest teeth and they are well spread out to start with, so he now is nearly completely toothless in his smile.

As he put his tooth under his pillow, I told him his teacher might not recognize him at school with that big gap in his mouth and he reassured me, "It's ok, I'll have my name tag."  Practical to the last.

It's Time for Kindergarten...sob...

That's right - it's time for Kindergarten already.  Over the past six years I have watched conversations on the triplet mom forums detail different policies about keeping multiples together or splitting them up when it came time for elementary school, but it turned out not to be a negotiable item - the principal's policy is that they are placed in separate classes whenever possible.

The week before school started, we had a meeting with the teachers to discuss concerns about how their experiences will reflect their siblings' and how I should expect to get information.  Caroline got to practice how to pronounce her teacher's name, which is a little challenging; Max learned that his class meets in the room Uncle used to teach in; and Daniel got to meet his teacher, who he described as "the young one".  On Friday before school they had a new family orientation and the kids went with Uncle and Daddy (Mommy had to go to work) where they got to check out their classrooms and take a tour of the school.

Sunday night, I packed three lunches, complete with snacks and fruit and beverages.

Then on Monday morning, it was time to really go to school.  Uncle and Wendy came over to meet us and we set out together to walk the ten or so blocks to school (assuming parking might be tight in the vicinity).  

On the way there, Max complained that he was hungry (even though he'd had breakfast), so we stopped at a cafe and got an interesting assortment of yogurt, watermelon, and peach nectar to bolster them for their last few blocks.

And then we were in the yard at school, where we met Daddy and went looking for Boppy and Grandma.

Daniel grabbed Daddy's hand and headed off to the south side of the yard to find his line while Max and Caroline dragged the rest of us over to their side.  

Max was a little hesitant about school and was the most upset about having to split up from his siblings and he asked me to walk with him and hold his hand.  Luckily, his line is right next to Caroline's so we got to stay close together.

A little after the bell rang, the principal stepped up to the mic and made some welcome back announcements, then led the children in the Pledge of Allegiance and an additional self-esteem/good scholar pledge.  Then it was time to march in to class.  Max started tearing up at this point and gripped my hand a little more tightly.  So instead of waving good-bye as the line started to walk away, I walked with him to the door.  Just outside the door, he looked up at me and said, "It's OK Mommy, I'm ok.  It's just that my eyes are dripping a little and my throat kind of hurts.  But I'll be OK."

Awwww....

After school, they went to an on-site after school program run by the YMCA and I came and picked them up around 5:00.  Daniel saw me and ran to hug me, telling me excitedly that he gets to go to have recess with Max and Caroline.  Then Max told me very seriously that he had met a bully who looked right in his face and teased, "you're a BABY!"  I asked Max what he'd done in response and he said, "I told him, 'I'm not a baby, I'm in KINDERGARTEN!'"  Good answer!

They came home with folders bursting with homework in the form of official forms for me to complete and sign.  They also had a page on which they had to draw a picture of what happened in their first day.  Max and Caroline had done theirs in the after school program, but Daniel had to do his at home.

Caroline decided to draw a picture of the outside of the school, as seen from the yard.

When I looked at Max's drawing, I saw a little Batman separated from another Batman and a little girl by obstacles and I was very sad that he had seen his day this way.  But in the morning, he assured me that it was a white tiger and a bunny rabbit having a party with a kid. (I also love that he did his homework upside down.)

Daniel, by doing his at home, was able to use crayons.  On Monday night, he drew his teacher with her hand raised, pointing to the number "4".  (In the morning, he added himself to the picture, also raising his hand to get called on for number "4".)

And then it was time to get ready for Day 2 of school!  Just 179 more to go...

Baseball and Fireworks

The kids really wanted to see fireworks on July 4th and I really didn't want to deal with the traffic and crowds.

So, instead, we planned two baseball outings for baseball games that also featured fireworks shows.

The first was a Pacific Coast League game in Reno featuring the hometown Reno Aces and the visiting Oklahoma City Dodgers.  It was a night game but punishingly hot when we got there to pick up our tickets and get in line.  WE got the Weinerschnitzel Family Pack, which included a game ticket, a voucher for Weinerschnitzel (which we didn't end up using), and an official Aces cap.

As we walked in, we were greeted by a woman who was making balloon animals...for free.  As we turned the corner in search of our hats, we ran right into the Aces mascot who interacted with the kids (and their balloons) adorably.

Then we got our hats and proceeded around to the kiddy play area, which consisted of a tiny play structure, a free bouncy house, and a two-dollars for three pitches speed pitch.  Caroline blew her brothers away, but with each try they all got faster, topping out at about 13mph.

We went in search of our seats and then for food, filling up on traditional baseball junk.  It was Reno's traditional July Art Festival and so the player pictures on the screen were set up like famous paintings, which the kids thought was funny.  There was also a creepy inflatable ball who showed up above the centerfield fence (and even sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the seventh inning stretch).

After the game was done, we settled in for the fireworks.  As they prepared, they brought out a young girl and her parents (it seemed) to do a circus act in which the father lay down on a table and then flung the daughter around with his feet (kind of like the tricks we'd learned in Circus class) while the mom posed next to them.  I could handle that job.  And then the lights cut out and it was time for fireworks.

And then, as if all of that wasn't enough, it was time to RUN THE BASES!  Daniel was a little scared to go down on the field "alone" (meaning without an adult), but seeing Max and Caroline down on the field alone, he decided he was on board.

The next opportunity was at an A's game - which just so happened to also be STAR WARS NIGHT!