Firsts and Lasts

Ryan has had some fun firsts and lasts during the past week. Last Friday night, he attended his first slumber party! His friend Zachary invited four friends to come for pizza, go swimming at the rec center, and then sleep over. I have not allowed sleepovers until now, but Zachary’s parents are good friends of mine, and I knew the boys would be well supervised. It sounds like they had a lot of fun, although, as expected, they didn’t get much sleep.

Friday was the last day of swimming lessons for the summer. The rec center has them throughout the year, so Ryan wants me to see when they are offered. We may pick up a few sessions between soccer and baseball. Ryan completed level four, but we think we’ll have him take it again just to develop the strokes a little more. He learned the front and back crawl, the breaststroke, the backstroke, and the butterfly. Look at that form!Ryan has a little bit of anxiety, especially when it concerns new and unfamiliar things. I guess we all do to some extent. Last Monday, August 25, was the first day of school. Papa came and gave Ryan his annual back-to-school blessing, which helped Ryan feel more calm and confident about things. Ryan’s school has a big welcome assembly outside on the first day of school, and most parents attend. I asked Ryan if he wanted me to go with him, and he said he did.

As we walked to the area where the 3rd graders were lining up, I started hearing all kinds of little-girl voices yelling “Ryan!” “Ryan!” We went over to Ryan’s class area, where he met all of his girl friends. (I must point out that I’m using TWO words to say girl friends. MUCH different from girlfriends!) He started talking with them, and I walked over to where the rest of the parents were standing. I could hear Ryan talking, and then a lot of giggling, then Ryan talking, then more giggling. He’s going to be just fine! Monday night we went to the last of this season’s World Stage Concerts at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. It was jazz night, and it was a lot of fun. Celina and Cecilia and Giovanni were able to come again, so the kids had fun playing while the moms talked and listened to great music. There was a fireworks show, but it was stopped after about six minutes. The wind was blowing, and some of the fireworks blew into a nearby field, starting a small fire. What an exciting evening!Tuesday was Ryan’s first soccer game of the season. The first game is always a little questionable, as everyone is getting back into the swing of things. The boys did great, and although Ryan didn’t score, he literally came within about a foot of scoring FOUR TIMES!!! Next time, for sure!