Hullabaloo

I got a free pass to a play place called Hullabaloo and thought I would take Brad there to play today. At first he was scared of everything:

The karaoke stage (which Sky would have LOVED) with flashing lights

The jump house and slide

The high tree house which I had to climb up with him

He finally warmed up to the motorcycle riding toy

And he eventually went into the bounce house when I went with him

He never did warm up to the slide although I went down once with him but he did end up having fun.

The First Day of First Grade

Sky had a fabulous first day of first grade. She is in Mrs. Wright's class (last year she had Mrs. White). Mrs. Wright is also a strong Christian and was even awarded the teacher of the year award for the district last year! When I picked Sky up from her class today and asked her how her day was, she said that first grade is even better than kindergarten! And Sky loved kindergarten.

The new classes were posted outside the school at 3pm yesterday. So, we drove over to see who Sky's new teacher would be. Sky was excited to get Mrs. Wright as a teacher, but even more than that, she was ecstatic when she saw that her best friend Victoria was going to be in her class again. Above is a picture of the 2 of them outside their classroom.

Below is Sky with Victoria and her first grade teacher, Mrs. Wright. One down side of the day was her class size (all the classes are bigger than usual due to California's financial crisis): 29 students! And, yes, her teacher wears a microphone set so that everyone can hear her better (she's a bit soft spoken). With Ken's research leave this semester, I'm hoping to volunteer in Sky's class for a few hours a week.

Lila is Crawling!

Look out world, Lila is crawling! The cat isn't liking this one bit. She is definitely having fun exploring her world and now we need to childproof our home (like remove the wheel barrow in the picture, for instance).
I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that she is finally crawling though. I think it's a really important developmental milestone and I really didn't want her skipping it. So, she's still very delayed in her motor skills but she is improving steadily.

This is Lila's rebellious face. I had just told her not to pick the flowers and she was trying to do it again anyway.

Birthday Blog Post

Have I ever mentioned that I have the best husband in the world? Seriously, he planned a whole beach birthday party surprise for me today. He ordered a cake and had catered Mexican food and arranged for some of my friends to meet us there.

Sky was finding carnations washed up on the shore and was arranging them in bouquets for me for my birthday. They were probably from some ash scattering ceremony out at sea but I'm trying not to think about that!

Lila had fun crawling around and looking through the sand toys bag.

Brad and Alyce played in the sand together almost the entire time.

Lila enjoyed lounging in the miniature beach chair.

Here's Brad eating his second piece of cake.

Lila hung out with daddy under the canopy for much of the time.

Sky had fun with a boogy board. She never really got the hang of it but she had fun anyway.

The kids dug themselves a beach bathtub and then soaked in it.

Sky and her friend Savannah.

A picture of me with the friends who came to the party (Amy and Christine were there too but aren't in the picture). It was such a fun day! I guess you only turn 28 once, right?

Another great part of my day was an awesome card from my long time friend Jessica (it had a picture of us when we were 14 years old!). Thanks Jess! And my friend Christine wrote a really sweet note to me. Plus I had the chance to chat with 4 friends from Cincinnati who I haven't spoken to in a long time.

Ken's gift to me was a bound copy of this blog (and a gift card to a local day spa!). That was such an awesome surprise.

And I had the chance to talk to some family members who I haven't talked to in a long time.
All in all, it was a really fun day!

Sky's Promotion at Church

This past Sunday at church, the kindergarten class was promoted to the 1st-5th grade class. Now Sky will be in a different class and even a different area of the church.

They sang a few of their favorite songs for us.

Each student was given a certificate and had their name written on a star on the background display.

It was a really nice ceremony with cupcakes and juice afterward. Sky's getting to be such a big girl!

Great Park Helium Balloon Ride

Yesterday we spent 7 hours at Wild Rivers Water Park. It was awesome! The kids had so much fun. They had great water slides for younger kids like Sky and many great play areas for Brad and Lila. 2 wave pools, a lazy river, and even a few hot tubs were also there. And the best part of all is that we got in free as part of our Splash passes. The fun was increased even further because we met 3 other families from church there and hung out with them all day. As a rule, I don't bring my camera to water parks so, sorry, no pictures.
Today we went to Great Park in Irvine and rode a helium balloon.

It fits 25 people and goes up about 400 feet.

It is not a hot air balloon but a helium balloon and it is tethered to the ground. A winch lets it out to go up and pulls it back in to go down.

They offer daily free rides at this park!

The landing is a little rocky as the wheels roll around a bit until it is balanced. Nothing we couldn't handle though.

There was also a kids' play area with some fun tunnels, slides, etc.

Children's Museum Fun

Today we went to the Children's Museum and had so much fun. We met 3 other moms and their kids there and everyone had a great time together. They have a new exhibit on outer space. It's very hands-on and creative. Sky dressed up as an alien. Behind her is a moon jumper (trampoline) that she really enjoys too but the pictures come out too blurry.

In 12 years this driving scenario could be a reality and a much scarier picture!

The kids had fun playing house and fixing themselves some food. What did they eat? VEGETABLES! I guess that's why they call it "pretend play".

Zachary and Lila enjoy a pony ride. Well, Lila likes it anyway. Zachary was enjoying it until Lila came along and started grabbing his neck.

Ok, so this looks like urinals in a bathroom but it's actully a spot where kids can build with legos. Brad always likes this area and here he is joined by his friend Alyce.

Lila is milking a cow! And, it actually looks like she's made some cheese too. She's just amazing! Big news! Lila is weaned. It's bittersweet but mostly I'm really glad, especially with the heat wave we're having.

Brad and Elizabeth, the musical duo. Future worship band members?

The dress up room is always Sky's favorite room. She just loves having access to high heels (there are no high heels at our house!) and a microphone.

Brad in some pink boots. He choose these himself. He's secure in his boyhood.

The other day we were going to a friend's house. She has all older boys and Brad said, "I'm going to bring my fairy wings!". I suggested he go with some trucks or dinosaurs which, thankfully, he did.

We went outside for a picnic lunch. This was the crew of kids minus Lila and Zachary. Not much lunch was eaten. I wonder why...

Brad, Elizabeth and Lila exploring the planets.

Space, the final frontier...Boldly going where no man has gone before.