Time Flies!

Last week Clifford brought home a letter from the person in charge of putting together the 5th Grade Graduation Celebration. They were requesting kindergarten pics of any students who may have transferred to the school after their kindergarten year to use for a slide show that will be shown during the celebration. Yesterday I finally got around to digging out a copy of Clifford's kindergarten pic to send off to the parent. Look how little he looks!!! It's fun to see how much he's grown and compare to his 5th grade photo. Gotta say, he is definitely one good looking boy!

Kindergarten, 5 years old!

 5th Grade, 10 years old (time of pic taken)!

Middle School Registration

Well, Clifford is officially registered for middle school!! Everyone (teacher, Clifford, Peter and I) agreed that he should complete the basic English and Math courses. And Clifford decided on his two electives: Art and Technology. It was explained that every student will get at least one elective of their choosing. School counselors were in Clifford's class recently to talk about what it's like as a Middle Schooler (lockers, traveling between classes, changing into gym clothes, sports....the need to start wearing deodorant!). Peter and I attended a parent info meeting last week for a quick run down on what to expect, and then May 9th there will be a family event in the evening to bring students in to tour the school and meet teachers. In June, the 5th graders will then have a simple graduation ceremony. How exciting!

Heather Lake

Peter and Clifford went out on their first backpacking trip of the year, with their destination being Heather Lake. Peter had some testing he needed to do on some gear he's creating for his side job with Cascade Designs. Other than a morning soccer game, our schedule was free for the weekend, so off they went. They had a good hike and the testing went well. They said there were 3 avalanches at the lake (one during the day that they witnessed and two at night, which Peter said was really loud and woke him up in the middle of the night). Luckily, they were on a side of the lake that wasn't any concern for them.

As for Kristjan and I, we had an amazing lazy weekend. We stayed in our pj's all day Saturday. I didn't even get out of bed until 1 pm, though I did complete many tasks that I've had on the back burner for a while. I just made sure it was stuff I could do while sitting under the covers. Once up and about, I did manage to get every single piece of dirty laundry washed, folded and put away (go me!!). Per Kristjan's request, dinner was junk food. We shared a bag of salt & vinegar chips (our favorite!), corn dogs, pizza rolls, and toaster strudels for dessert.

No More Headgear!

 We just got done today with a check-up at the orthodontics. He no longer has to wear his headgear! Clifford is super excited to hear this!!! And I'm happy because the doctor said we're not looking at braces for another year or two (much to the delight of my bank account! lol). 

Emerald City Comic Con

Friday the boys and I made our first-ever trip to the Emerald City Comic Con.....and it was AMAZING!!!! We had so much fun! It was awesome to see everyone dressed up. Kristjan, who is a big fan of anime, recognized all his favorite characters and would run up to them asking for pictures. Both boys dressed up: Clifford as Daryl from The Walking Dead and Kristjan as the Marionette from Five Nights At Freddy's. Clifford got a few compliments on his costume, but it was Kristjan who got a lot of attention. There were people who didn't know who he was, but complimented on how creepy he looked. For those familiar with the video game, they gave him lots of compliments. We even ran across a few other kids dressed just like him, so we made a point of getting pics of them together. The show itself was huge! In fact, we didn't even see all of it. There was a kids room, video game room, meet ups, panels, interviews, etc. We spent most of our time looking around at all the comics and booths. We took advantage of anything that was free at the show because everything costs...a lot. The boys had a little bit of money from their allowance to spend, plus I chipped in for a book here or a poster there. The big thing at ECCC that we waited all day for was to get our picture taken with Norman Reedus (aka Daryl from The Walking Dead). I have the biggest crush on the guy, long before he became popular on the show. I was so excited to be able to get up close to the man and put my arm around him!!! As for Clifford, he was just as excited. Not only did he get to meet a famous actor, but he met his idol!! The picture itself lasted only 20 seconds, and because there are so many people who paid for a pic, you're rushed through very quickly. But before we exited I looked at Clifford and said "say hi!! this is your chance!". He looked at Norman Reedus and said "hi". Norman said "hey little dude" and gave him a high-five! Clifford had the biggest smile! I'm so excited not only for myself to be able to meet the guy, but for Clifford to have this amazing experience! Everything about our trip was great. I really hope we can go again next year, and for this time to have Peter join us!

Quick family pic before the show opened

Funny poster we saw while walking around. 

Us walking around to the various booths BEFORE it started getting crowded

Misc characters we ran into while walking around

Pics posing with characters

(Kristjan was definitely more into this than Clifford)

Us moms needed a coffee pick me up, so kiddos got a treat too

The Dark Horse booth offered free pics in their photo booth!

Boys each getting a free sketch of their choice 

(I picked Donald Duck for mine!)

Clifford holding a Daryl crossbow toy

Jelly Belly had a booth, offering spin on the beanboozle wheel. Boys participated, while I admired the artwork made of jelly beans.

Group pic with their friends

Our pic with Norman Reedus!!!!  A lady ahead of us gave him a toy gun that shoots confetti, so he used it in our pic. Just gotta say, BEST MOMENT EVER!

The hand that got high-fived by Norman Reedus! Clifford kept his arm up like that for a solid 20 minutes, stating he was never going to wash it!

After the show we intended to grab dinner right there in Seattle. Foolish us, we didn't even think about the wait time for a table (2 hrs!). So we drove closer to home and hit up a Red Robin. Boys had fun goofing around with their friends.