First Day of School, Aquarium, and Turning Four

September 6, 2016: First Day of Preschool

Our dapper young scholar:

Making nametags with his buds

Circle Time (Parents stay on the first day of school)

Random insertion: Anna's foot puppet show.

September 7: The Baltimore Aquarium

 

Lunch Break

Practicing her acrobatic swing to catch the water taxi below

Watching the scuba guy clean the tank amidst the fish and turtles. The most intrigued Peter was all day.

Leaving; li'l pouter hanging back

When the girls finally caught up with the boys, Anna joined the fray.

Finished off the trip with some cookies looking out on the Inner Harbor. How I love these three. 

Besides being our Aquarium Day, September 7 was also the 7 year anniversary of my first date with this guy, Tom Martin. Oh man, what if someone had shown me this snapshot of life 7 years later?! How could I imagine all that has been added to my life since that day. 

And one more anniversary to celebrate in the 10th. This one with a long-requested "Frank Cake."

(This scene is a reenactment of Peter's favorite scene from the movie Cars when Mater and Lightning McQueen go "tractor tipping" and are then chased by the fearsome Frank the Harvester.)

He finally gets to open the presents in those Amazon boxes that had been arriving from distant lands.

Opening a couple presents from Daddy and Mommy. With a little bit if opening-envy going on.

Later that day, a few playmates came over to share some lunch and cake and ice cream. I wish I'd taken better pics of our guests and the chaos. 

But here's where I found Peter a lot of the time. Sometimes a man needs his space. 

Lunch!

The cake was a surprise, and several of the characters on it were his final, yet-unrevealed presents. Here's the denouement.

Here's the Martin family on September 10, 2016. 

(Peter was unswerving in holding this face, despite the pleas and antics of the photographer.)

..that is, until he let his guard down and/or maybe got tickled.