Kendall's first day of preschool!

Kendall & Ms. Stefanie

Her first preschool craft!

Kendall started at Creative Castle Preschool on August 16th. She attends school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 to 12:00. There were no tears her first morning but I could tell she was a little nervous. I stayed for about 5 minutes til I knew she was comfortable and we said our goodbyes. I think I got a little misty eyed and she was dry eyed! When I came to pick her up she had huge smiles and lots of excitement! She couldn't wait to show me her "kissing hand" craft and tell me all about school!

First Day of 2011-2012 school year!

Evan (8) ~ third grade

Blake (10) ~ 5th grade

Blake and Mrs. Beeman

Evan and Mrs. Rosenbaum

Monday, August 15th was the first day of the school year for 2011-2012! Both boys seemed to be excited to start school. Our summer flew by! We went on a lot of fun trips (Las Vegas, Durango, and California) and spent many days at Wet N Wild water park, Makutu's Island, summer movies, Jump Street, Chuck E Cheese and more. The last week before school started the boys helped me stuff back to school folders at the school. I joined the PTA last Spring and I'm on the board as the VP of Volunteers. They got to meet their teachers and see their classrooms a few days before school started. We are happy with both of their teachers and feel confident that they'll have an excellent school year!

Kendall's Preschool Orientation

Next to Kendall's name on the tree they placed our family photo!

dress up fun!

exploring the classroom 

painting a craft

We went to Kendall's preschool orientation on August 11th. We saw her classroom, met her teacher (Ms. Stefanie) and aide (Ms. Diane), and toured the preschool. The preschool is Creative Castle and they have a big castle with slides and other gadgets in the middle of the school. She sat down at the table and painted her picture and then played with the classroom toys. It was a fun experience for her. And we were happy to meet her teachers and spend some time with them and her classroom.

Day 6 & 7 ~ San Diego vacation

Mission Beach, San Diego

Blake's new skimboard

Evan taking credit for someone else's hard work

feeding fish at our resort

Blake feeding the Koi fish

lots of Koi fish

Evan loved the table tennis!

Blake and Gary's checker game

We stayed the last weekend of our trip in San Diego. Gary finished work and was able to enjoy some beach time with us. Blake got a new skimboard and spent hours in the ocean. Evan and Kendall liked to build and play in the sand. We stayed at the Hilton Resort in Mission Bay where we normally stay and enjoyed their pool, table tennis and checker boards. We left San Diego on Sunday afternoon and drove home and had a 40 degree temperature change!

August 5 ~ San Diego with the Mortons!

Blake and Breckin

Evan and Breckin walking out to boogie board

Evan, Kaiden, Breckin

Blake skimboarding

Evan warming up

Kendall & Breckin building a huge hole

Breckin, Kaiden, Blake, Evan, Kendall

@ Belmont Park

All 5 kids in the hurricane simulator (Kendall is below Evan being hugged by him)

Breckin & Blake

Evan & Kaiden

Kendall & Evan on submarine ride

On Friday we drove south to San Diego and spent the afternoon/evening with our friends the Mortons. Breckin is Blake's friend from school and we enjoyed spending time with his brother Kaiden, parents Dorothy and Iain and Dorothy's parents Phyllis and Jerry. We spent the afternoon at the beach near the beach house that they rented then we went to dinner and Belmont Park. Belmont Park is an amusement center with a rollercoaster (the old wooden rickety kind) and lots of games and attractions. Kendall enjoyed the carousel and then submarine ride with Evan. Gary took the boys on the roller coaster minus Evan. They all had a blast! It was a very fun day spent with great friends!

Day 2 and 3 ~ California Vacation!

swinging @ San Clemente Beach

sand crabs

 Alina Beach near Laguna

playground @ the beach!

Alina Beach

sand crab in Blake's hand

sunset @ Laguna Beach

bucket full of sand crabs

digging for sand crabs

Day 2 and 3 we spent at San Clemente Beach and Alina Beach which is near Laguna. Alina Beach is stunning. It's such a pretty beach. San Clemente had swings on the beach which Kendall and Evan loved. The boys loved digging for sand crabs at Alina Beach. We watched the sunset there and it was beautiful. Gary didn't get to enjoy the beach days with us. He was busy working while we played!