kindergarten starts

mason had his first day of school today. he is taking kindergarten again this year. i am really happy that we decided to have him repeat kindergarten. he was only four years old when he started last year and i really didn't think he was ready. i would not feel comfortable sending him to first grade this year.

another good thing about having kindergarten again is that he has the same teacher he had last year. he is also in class with his best friend from last year whom is also repeating kindergarten. he is very excited to get to hang out with andrew everyday.

miles had to work so i ended up taking mason to his first day. i had to drag dahlia and connor with me. i was so worried we would be late. luckily we made it there on time and it was nice to have the teacher greet me. it was good to see familiar faces. yes. i think we are finally ready for kindergarten.

tie dye and granola

so what did we do on the last day of summer vacation? after eating homemade granola for breakfast we made tie dye t-shirts of course. yes, we are hippies. we had a great weekend. christina, zena, jen, ray, bodhi, and kira all came over for a sleepover. we were going to do our traditional camping in the backyard but decided against setting up the tent. nobody really wanted to sleep outside in it. last night we grilled dinner and all hung out. i was bummed that i fell asleep putting the kids to bed. i didn't even get time to hang out with the grown ups. figures.

we spent today outside swimming and painting t-shirts. we had a stencil set that the kids used to make robot, roller skate, and flower patterns. most of us used rubber bands and the spray bottles filled with fabric dye to make traditional tie dye t-shirts. this was so fun. i haven't done this since i went to camp as a kid. there was a bit of a learning curve. we were not sure how they would turn out. you really need to have the shirt wet first to create the pretty color combinations. miles was really good at this. i think his shirts turned out the best.

everyone went home at five. i am sad. tomorrow is the first day of school and i am so not ready.

hot hot hot

it was crazy hot today. over 100 degrees and our air conditioner does not work. thank goodness the kids had swimming class. we were outside for most of the day. it was their last class today and i am so sad. summer is ending. mason starts school on monday. why does summer always seem to go by so quickly?

the kids were really cute today in swimming class. the instructors pulled out a huge floating island that they got to jump off of. they loved it. i am so happy that i found this place for swimming lessons. we will definitely do it again next year.

playdate

we had a great day today. we went swimming at mason's friends house. it was lots of fun. i really like his friend's mom so i enjoy our playdates as much as mason does. they live very close and have a have access to a large community pool. there were three pools they could swim in so of course they all wanted to be in a different one. luckily we were the only people there so it was easy to keep track of them. i also made them wear their floaties so they were safe.

we swam for a couple of hours and then went back to their house for lunch. she served a delicious lunch of salad, homemade pizza, and bruschetta. mmmm. we ended up staying so late. the boys were having just too much fun playing legos and the girls playing dress up. poor connor was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we drove away.

i can't believe school is starting in two weeks. i am getting sad. summer is going by too fast.

the orange county fair

i dragged miles to the orange county fair with me and the kids this weekend. he did not want to go. i have to say i don't really blame him. it was the last weekend for the fair and we both knew it was going to be crazy crowded. i had no idea how crowded though. whew. what a mess to park the car. it took us almost an hour to get from the freeway exit into a parking spot. crazy. my sisters and their families were meeting us there. they were smart and took the bus. we decided against the bus because of all our gear including a double stroller. too much stuff.

once we got inside everything was great. we visited the animals and let the kids go on some rides. they loved the bumper cars. we also saw a cool ice sculpture display. there was kind of a long line for this but so worth it because the sculptures were very detailed and it was so hot out that walking through a large freezer felt great.

i am happy that we went but i really happy to be home and relaxing now.

learning to swim

dahlia and mason are doing so great at their swimming lessons. they have had eight lessons now. the instructor has now bumped them both up to the preschool 2 class. they had to swim five feet unassisted, hold their breath underwater, and dive down to pick up a diving wand from the bottom of the pool. it is so exciting to watch them learn to swim. the best part is how confident they feel in the water now. i plan to keep them in swimming class until the end of summer.

unpacking

so today while i spent the day unpacking and repairing broken toys from our river trip. miles played outside with the kids. how did i get stuck with the yucky job?

they put together our new kid size picnic table, and flew a kite. i bought this cute picnic table from land of nod. i have been looking for one for a while now and miles and i thought this one looked pretty sturdy. it also happened to be on sale so it was a win win. i think it will get lots of use.

the kids were so so happy to spend the day with daddy and i was happy when i could finally see my kitchen floor. seriously, how do we manage to bring so much stuff on vacation?

the river

i survived! i am so happy to say that i took all the kids to the river without miles for six nights and they did not drown or get severely injured. whew! i was really worried about being the only parent responsible for three little kids while camping next to a running river. luckily i had lots of help from all my family members.

this had to be the most exhausting vacation i have ever had. i still have not fully recovered. i am so glad i went though. the kids really love it there. so do i.

of course the river trip would not be complete without something breaking and a little drama. this year our boat almost sank! my dad took the kids, christina, jon, the dog, and me on a boat ride down river and the boat started to overheat. luckily my dad decided to quickly get us to shore. the rubber cover for the exhaust had melted off and the boat was quickly filling up with water. it was super lucky that we happened to be right next to a boat ramp. my brother, dad and i pushed the boat to the boat ramp and then we flagged down my brothers friends passing by on their sea-doo's to rescue us. i was so shocked at how quickly the boat filled up with water. we had to bail out the water with buckets to keep it from going under. i just never thought a boat could sink so easily. thank goodness everything worked out and everyone was safe. the kids thought this was all such a great adventure. they got a ride on a sea-doo back to camp. so exciting.

the rest of the week was spent riding sea-doo's, digging in the sand, fishing, swimming, and lots of relaxing. my dad and brothers fixed the boat by friday, just in time to take everyone across the river to the pizza place. the kids really loved going on a boat ride.

i was so ready to go home yesterday. it was a long week without miles. we all missed him and the kids were super excited to be home.