party in the park

miles and i took the kids to a birthday party in the park by our house today. it was crazy hot. over 100 degrees. we really didn't want to go but it was super close and for two of our kid's good friends.

it has been a rough week. both dahlia and mason were sick this week with the flu. that on top of the insane heat has made things unbearable around here. we have been hiding out in the air conditioned part of the house.

anyway we went to the park and stayed for three hours. the kids were being antisocial and wanted to play at the playground instead of participating in the games so i took them over there. i did manage to get them back to the party when it was time to break the pinata. nobody can resist a pinata. we didn't stay for cake. it was too hot to eat cake and we were all super tired. i was happy we went though.

discovery science center

we wanted to go swimming yesterday and drove to orange county to use my sisters pool. when we got there we found out that the pool heater was broken and the pool was freezing cold so we decided to go to the discovery science center instead. i was actually a little happy to not go swimming. it was cloudy and not a great day for the pool. jen, bodhi, and kira were also with us.

the discovery science center has this really fun exhibit going on right now featuring lego castles. mason was loving it. they had little lego stations set up where you could build whatever you wanted. they also had a large castle to play in and a giant dragon and knight made out of legos.

upstairs they had our usual favorites including the recycling sorting game where the kids learn how to sort the trash into different recycling bins. there is also the eco friendly grocery shoppping exhibit where the kids get to learn what food packages are earth friendly by scanning items in a pretend grocery store with a computer telling you what to look for. it is fun and of course educational.

it had been quite a while since we had been there and there was a lot of new things to look at. the thing i like the best about this museum is that almost everything is interactive. they do have another exhibit going on now about da vinci but there were a lot of objects that were not supposed to be touched and the kids didn't really like that section.

we had a great time and stayed until it was closing. after we left we went back to my sisters house to eat dinner and give the kids bathes.

swimming lessons

the first official day of summer. we started the day off right with swimming lessons. yay! i made the kids pose for a photo before they got into the pool. this was their second lesson but miles took them last week so i didn't get a picture.

their teachers seem nice. i am so happy to see mason and dahlia learning to swim. now i just need to get connor in a class.

anniversary

miles and i got married ten years ago today. wow. ten years. it is just crazy to me that it has been ten years already. i am so glad i don't have to plan another wedding. that was super stressful. i would like to take another honeymoon though. we really wanted to take a family vacation this year to celebrate but i guess it wasn't meant to be. maybe next year we will be able to go.

we are not going to do anything today to celebrate because miles is working late but we do plan to go to the movies on sunday. jen and ray are going to watch the kids for us. it will be fun to have a date night.

enjoying the sun

what a fun day we had. jen, bodhi, and kira came over yesterday and the kids went to the little gym for a summer camp day. they love the summer camp days because mason, dahlia, and bodhi get to be in the same class. kira took a separate class with jen and connor stayed with me. i was hoping to enroll connor in the camp days but we are not quite done potty training so he can't go just yet. maybe before the end of summer i can put him in.

after class jen and the kids came to our house for a sleepover. it was so fun. we love having them over. we set up the little pool in the backyard and they all had a great time swimming.

later the boys played super mario bros. on the wii and the girls played with their dolls. jen and i cooked a delicious salmon dinner with couscous and carrots.

after the kids went to sleep jen and i wanted to watch jaws. this is my favorite movie. we didn't get too far into it before jen was falling asleep though. figures. man, one of these days we are going to get through a movie without falling asleep.

this morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast of homemade waffles before saying goodbye and rushing off to swimming lessons. i am so excited it is summer and can't wait to have another sleepover.

swimming in pajamas

the kids were so funny today. dahlia wanted to swim so i set up the big backyard pool for her. mason and connor said they did not want to so they never put their swim suits on.

while i was fixing lunch somehow mason and connor ended up in the pool having a splashing/wrestling match with dahlia. all while wearing their pajamas. they were cracking me up. they were completely soaked.

it was so nice to see them all playing together. lately dahlia has been feeling left out because the boys always want to play video games and she doesn't want to.

of course swimming in your pajamas is not the most comfortable thing in the world so it soon ended up that they abandoned the pajamas and were just swimming and running around the yard in the nude. these silly kids. it totally reminded me of when we were potty training dahlia and i would just let her run around naked in the yard. so funny. we are really enjoying the warm weather. it is so nice to be outside all day. yay for summer.

the yogurt shop

we went to santa monica today to visit jen, ray, bodhi, and kira. it is so nice to be on summer break. we can do whatever we want most days. today the kids wanted to visit their cousins.

after taking out all of bodhi and kira's toys to play with at their house we decided to go for a walk. we ended up walking to the local frozen yogurt shop for a treat. the kids sat at one table and jen and i sat at another. it was cute to watch them at their own table. they are so independent now. i could just picture them when they are old enough to go out without us. they are going to have so much fun.

we couldn't stay long. we would have liked to stay all day but jen had plans so we will just have to come back next week. i love getting to spend more time with them.

fathers day

we had a great fathers day this year. we went to my sister christina's house. it was so fun. the men grilled burgers outside and the girls got to prepare food and chat inside.

miles was disappointed to find out we were having burgers for dinner. he was hoping for a steak. i should really cook some meat for him once in a while but i just don't know how. poor guy. anyway we had a nice dinner and i baked a homemade carrot cake for dessert. it is my dad's favorite and it was his birthday yesterday.

dahlia insisted on making cards for all her uncles even if they were not fathers. she wanted to show them how much they are loved. so sweet. i didn't make barbecue sauce this year because i don't want to be that predictable but i did buy some gifts for the dads instead. books and movies. my favorite things.

happy fathers day to all you dads out there.

first day of summer

so what do you do on the first day of summer? you swim of course. we had a great idea of setting up the little pool under the playset slide so we could make our own water slide. the kids thought this was so much fun. they had a blast going down the slide. even mason joined in.

their granny is visiting so she sat outside with us and watched them swim. later we went in and made salmon for dinner. we had a movie night and all watched life of pi. dahlia wanted to show granny the movie that daddy worked on. miles did the special effects for some of the water shots including the whale shot. dahlia loves to watch "daddy's movie." it was a fun visit and a great start to our summer.

last day of preschool

today was dahlia's last day of preschool. i was so sad to have her school end. she will be starting kindergarten at mason's school next year. luckily connor is starting school at the preschool next year so i don't have to be too sad. i really hope he gets the same teachers that she had. i loved her teachers.

they had a party for their last day and i had signed up to organize it with three other moms. we did kind of a beach/luau theme. i made these delicious fruit kabobs with watermelon, pineapple, and strawberries. i also put together a goody bag to take home that was a sand bucket filled with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a water gun, and fruit chews. the other moms made sandwiches and cupcakes so there was lots for them to eat.

it was really sweet and fun for the kids. they played a shark game where they got to toss bean bags into a cardboard shark mouth. later they took a picture with their head in the shark mouth. it was so funny.

i was so happy to get to be there for the last day. this was the first time i got to watch her in her classroom. miles was nice enough to watch mason and connor for me.

when we got home we did another run through the paper sign to start summer. the three kids held hands and ran through.

now our summer can really start.

party at the gym

miles and i took the kids to their friends birthday party today. the party was at the little gym. not our little gym but a newer and larger one. it was super nice. our little gym is much smaller.

dahlia and mason felt right at home there in the gym and got to show off all of their skills. dahlia was hula hooping and doing cartwheels. mason did a handstand when they "slammed the cheese." they had a great time. the best part was that connor got to join in the fun. he has not taken a gym class yet and i can tell that he is really ready for it. he had a blast hanging on the bars, walking on the balance beam, and jumping on the blow up mat. i really need to sign him up for some classes this coming year.

after we got home dahlia wanted to go out to eat so we took the kids to a soup plantation near our house. it was the very first time that all five of us were at a restaurant together. it was so fun. i wish we would eat out more often. i am tired of cooking all the time.

dahlia kitty

this was a big day for us. dahlia had her end of the year dance recital. she did a tap routine to the song stray cat strut. her costume is crazy cute. she looked like a little cat. she was just beautiful.

she was worried about being backstage without me so i signed up to be a backstage mom. it was kind of stressful for me. there were fourteen little girls to look after and i had to make sure that their costume stayed nice and help them to use the bathroom. of course every little girl had to go to the bathroom at least once. i was lucky though. there were three other backstage moms for our group. our group was a combination of two classes so it was a large one.

dahlia did great. she was not nervous at all. she did look off to the side to watch her teacher do the routine but she did it right along. i was so proud. i can't wait to get the dvd and see it from the audience perspective. miles came with mason and connor and watched from the audience. they gave her flowers when she was done. dahlia was sad that her other relatives couldn't make it. next year they will come for sure.

whew! i am so happy we are done. all the end of the year performances are exhausting.

basketball hoop

we got a new toy today. we got a basketball hoop. miles and i are going to sign mason up for basketball next year instead of soccer and miles wanted him to practice over the summer. mason didn't end up liking soccer very much. bummer.

miles loves basketball and plays every week with his friends so it will be nice for him to be able to practice also. miles brought it home and spent the afternoon building it. it is huge. i didn't realize how big it was going to be. we still haven't found the perfect place to put it. right now it is at the top of the driveway where i usually park my car during the day.

the kids were having fun playing in the box it came in while miles was putting it together. what is it about kids and a large box?

they were so excited when it was done and they could play. we don't have a kid size basketball yet so they were using our soccer ball. lets hope they don't get bored with it too soon.

show week

what a crazy busy week this is for us. yesterday and today we had show week for mason and dahlia at the little gym. show week is where the kids perform all the skills they have learned throughout the year during gym class. the parents get to come inside the gym and watch.

dahlia had her performance yesterday and she did great. she was the best one in her class. they move from each section of the gym and show the vault, floor exercise, balance beam, and the uneven bars. dahlia is really into it. she practices her cartwheels and hand stands everyday at home.

for mason's class it is a lot like the men's gymnastics they have the vault, parallel bars, and the horizontal high bar. they also did a floor exercise. they don't do the pommel horse or still rings yet. i have seen them practice on the still rings but they didn't show it today.

at the end of the performance the kids get called up on the mat and get a metal. dahlia and mason were so excited to get another metal to match the one they got last year.

it is a really basic gymnastic class. they just focus on having fun. i would love to move dahlia to a different gym that is a bit more serious about teaching gymnastics but she loves it here so i guess we will stay for at least another year. mason doesn't seem to be that interested but he told me he wants to take the class again and i think it is good for building your muscles so i signed him up. now i just have to find a time slot that works for connor.

more gardens

we went back to the huntington gardens today. it was their free day of course. mason was in school last time so it was nice for him to get to go with us today. we didn't have much time to spend there. dahlia had a dress rehearsal for her dance class at three so we only had about three hours to walk around.

we spent most of the time at the children's garden again. our favorite place. jen, ray, bodhi, and kira met us there. we then walked over to the japanese gardens to see the teahouse and the moon bridge. it is really beautiful.

before it was time to go the kids wanted to run around the funny swirled x in the grass near the lily pond and then go see the koi fish. we were so lucky to get to see seven baby ducks with their mom swimming in the pond. what a nice ending to our visit.

last day of school

mason had his last day of school today. it was a short day so i picked him up at 12:30. while he was in class dahlia, miles, connor, and i painted a big sign that said welcome summer. this has become our little tradition to start our summer. of course this year dahlia doesn't get out of school until june 12 so we don't really start summer until then.

the kids were so excited to run through and rip the sign. we actually had to tape it back together and let connor run through again because he said he didn't get to rip it.

today was also the last day of soccer and the last dance class. it was a day of finishing things up. the last day of school is always a little sad for me. i actually ended up really liking mason's teacher and will be sad to have a new one next year.

party in the park

mason's teacher had their end of the school year party in the park today. they actually spent the whole day in the park. it was so fun.

i volunteered to help with the party so i went to the park after i dropped mason off and helped another mom set up. we set the tables with checked table cloths and the goody bags i made for them. they had pancakes and strawberries with orange juice for breakfast. so cute to have breakfast in the park.

after their breakfast we went on a nature walk and then they received a memory book made by their room mom to sign for each other. it was such a nice thing for her to do. they really had fun trading books and signing them. they all had lunch and then it was time to go to the playground.

when they were done at the playground they all got to have ice cream sundaes while listening to their teacher read the end of charlotte's web. it was such a beautiful day. i am so sad to have the school year end. i feel like i just got to feel comfortable with everyone and now it is going to all change.

time for cherries

we went cherry picking today. yay. i am so happy we got to go. we usually wait until the end of june so it was nice to go early. the only drag was that they didn't have any rainier cherries that were ripe yet. bummer. i think we brought home brooks and bing cherries. they are delicious though.

mason, dahlia, and connor were so excited when they heard we were picking cherries. mason said it is more fun than playing on the ipad. they did almost all the picking and we went home with over seven pounds of cherries. mason didn't want to stop. he was loving it. miles and ray came with us this year. it was nice to have the men along to help keep track of all the kids. it is easy to get lost in the orchard.

it is a long drive out there and it was crazy hot. at one point i was thinking that going to whole foods would be so much easier. of course it is totally worth it and has now become a summer tradition for us.