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Last day of blog, first day of school.

Here are some first day pictures from out front. First from my point of view, then Heidi's.

Off to Bus 22. A new bus number this year for the 7:10AM pick up.

the line up

The bus was probably 5 minutes late, but that helped make sure everyone got there on time. Nrdib (Ardro) was there, so he knew him, and many others on the bus. They are the last ones on.

When we got to school, Bus 22 was already there. It must not take them very long to get there this year.

We were happy we could see them off to 3rd grade.

This year, if no winter cancelations, school goes through June 9, 2027.

1

Last day of summer vacation.

At lunch Kai tried some of Gammie's jam. He said it was good.

In mid-afternoon, Heidi and Kai got his backpack all assembled.

In the evening, we went to Jason's Deli for dinner.

Heidi's favorite memory is being at Malibu Lagoon State Beach Park.

Dan's favorite memory was the guide-led tour at Channel Islands and the boat ride back to Ventura.

Kai's favorite memory was "all of it" or "none of it" --- sometimes you get that from Kai. Overall, I think he had a good break.

Will have a few more pictures tomorrow morning as we get ready for Day 1 of the 2026-27 school year.

2

Today is the last day of the Good Neighbor Festival. We had grand plans to possibly watch the parade and go to the carnival. I got $60 to spend...but this happened for much of the afternoon.

 It was torrential thunderstorms, but just a steady rain from about 1PM to 5PM.

Around 6PM, I saw Ardro outside while I was putting garbage. I told him to come out front, and perhaps we would go out to play.

They went out back and played with bubbles and balls.

Ardro went inside to do math homework on his computer. Kai and I got a chance to play catch. I enjoy playing catch. Maybe we will do this tomorrow.

3

Today is our Chicago Museum Day. We normally do one of the museums each year, and this year it is the Shedd.

On the way down, I had AI generate a Bingo card for Kai and I to play in the car.

This is all new since the last time Heidi and I were here,...back in probably 2010-2013...somewhere in there.

Kai had my camera for much of the day. Here is the grand ceiling.

When you get inside, there are two large aquariums to look at.

And then the Amazon exhibit.

We all wore aquarium or fish related shirts.

We caught this really fun reflection off Kai's shirt in the Amazon area.

After about two hours or walking around, we had lunch in the quiet room. It was great to have lunch is such a peaceful spot.

At 1PM, we took the Shedd Aquarium "Must See Tour." It was a fun behind the scenes 75-minute tour given by Alejandro, the guy in front. It was fun walking through a noisy aquarium, but he was talking right into our ears the whole time, and was able to answer a lot of questions.

On the tour, we were able to see everything that happens behind the scenes, like the filtering of the water, the big frozen food area, the animals on exhibit and the ones in reserve. My favorite part was seeing the back side of the Amazon exhibit, and seeing each of the animals, the danger they pose (how they were most likely to injure you), and if you got injured, what to do, and more.

We also got to meet this armadillo. They can't see well, so they move about mostly by smell and sound.

the guy was a graduate of UW-Madison

the armadillo's name is "Rough"

The other highlight was that Kai and I touched some jellyfish. The jellyfish don't sting, so just an interesting experience.

We also got to feed the fish at the top of the shark tank.

After we got out of there around 3:30, we took for Gammie's for some pizza and Go Fish (Hawaiian Fish).

4

We spent a lot of the morning doing playing Lego and with Gravitrax and Marble Run. I don't have any pictures of that.

In the afternoon, Heidi and Kai made jewelry. We are going to the Shedd Aquarium tomorrow, so we are making fish-themed jewelry.

 In the evening we went to Allen Centennial Garden. Driving through campus, you can see so many students again. They start next Wednesday, September 2, but many are already moved in.

Then they had a photo contest ....I think the theme was something like "The Vibrance of Evening in the Garden"

the bunny was trapped in the fenced in area that was meant to keep it out!

5

No Little Red today. Our goal was to leave the same time as Heidi did, but we didn't quite meet the goal as playing at home got in the way.

In the afternoon, I told Kai I would take him to Smoothie King if it allowed me to grab the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. To my surprise, Kai came inside to grab the veggies with me.

Earlier this week (Tuesday), Kai was at the Madison Children's Museum for his summer camp. He was interested in doing more crafts there. 

We got there around 2PM, which was a good time since most of the crowd that was there for middle of the day and lunch, were already gone.

I could sit on my laptop and work while he was busily making all sorts of things.

Then we went over to this area and played with magnatiles and other playthings that are fun. Here is a puzzle he created.

Then you can use some paint on the window.

And then make me a pizza. He had fun in this spot making me pizzas and deep dish pizzas.

At the "Nice Age Trail" you can dress up as all kinds of different animals.

a bear

and a woodpecker

a ranger

a bee

a bee with a view

Then my favorite part. I had been bugging him to go over this booth to have this lady do a free drawing of him.

When he was in line (it only took about 4 minutes per child), he started drawing this hand drawing. I always tell him that drawing hands is tough, so I think he enjoys the challenge.

While she was drawing him, he was busy drawing the hand. She loved the gift at the end, and made sure he signed it and gave it to her as a gift.

I love that I caught the moment she said "Hands are the hardest thing to draw." I agree with her.

Lunar eclipse tonight - always tough get a good picture of.

6

We start the day with large blueberries from Costco.

 It is the last day of Little Red summer camp. It is pajama day. Kai wanted to wear this, even though it is long sleeves.

When I went to pick him up, I saw him packing up, so I took this picture through the door.

Tonight was the "Back to School" night. We got an Edukit this year, meaning all the school supplies were purchased and in this box (even the Kleenex). It made it easy to unpack and be ready for school. I think we're already fans.

I took a quick picture of the event. Mrs. Schelitzche is the teacher on the left who is facing us.

Kai knows a lot of kids in his class this year. We know a lot of the parents already as well.