Our big boy started second grade today! He was so excited to start his day, I didn't even need to coax him into the bath at bath time or into bed at his bed time! He was up early and dressed before leaving his room and he hauled his brand new Harry Potter backpack stuffed full of supplies all around this morning.

He grew like a weed over the summer and is probably one of the tallest second graders in his class. His teacher and classroom will be the same this year, but there have been other transitions within the school, so he'll have some surprises today. I just hope it all lives up to his expectations.

Yesterday we had a bit of an adventure in downtown Rochester. After lunch the kids played around in Peace Fountain (getting completely soaked) and ran around the plaza. Having two children has really helped us be a bit more relaxed about situations where they're given the chance to just act like kids. On our Oregon trip we let them run about getting sandy and wet on the shore of the ocean - something I would probably have been hesitant to do when just Benjamin was little. People do look at us a little strangely when our daughter's shorts are hanging off of her water-logged diaper or when our son is being knocked over by ocean waves in his bluejeans. However, all I see are the enormous smiles on their faces and all I hear is their squeals of delight and laughter. And it is so worth it when I am able to capture photos like these:



We visited the park a while ago and as always I took the opportunity to snap some shots of the kids having fun: