First Day of School... A month later

My darling little people started school almost a month ago, but their mom has had little time, or maybe energy to sit and blog about them. So here I am, September 13th and they started school on August 17th. But that is okay. They both love school. And are openly willing and ready to admit it. E's first grade class is great. He is enjoying all aspects of it and shares with us his progress everyday. I am really impressed with how he has responded to the teacher and his desire to do well. It is fantastic. M started pre-K and she such a tiny, little thing there. She loves the art, the songs and that she can do such a good job listening. Everyday she brings home something she has created and she walks around singing songs that she has learned. Other people have commented on how she has become much more social. It is wonderful to see.

Tahoe 2009..the beginning

Since we are still in Tahoe I cannot really comment on the entire trip. So far the kids (and myself) have been worn out. We have done a lot of poolside swimming and have not yet (GASP) made it to the lake. But I am alone in this as Mike is moving us all to our new house while we vacation. We rode the gondola to the top of Heavenly and hiked to the bottom of Emerald Bay to see Vikingsholm. These are things that I have not done before in the 23 years that we have been coming up here. Since I have been horrible taking photos this year, I am relying on everyone else to share. And by everyone else I mean my brother and sister in law (who always takes the cutest pictures of my kids), my aunt and uncle, three cousins, their wives and families and my dad and his wife. As tradition goes, each couple makes a dinner, lunch or breakfast for the rest of the group. It gives us all a chance to see each other, visit and let the kids get to know one another. Normally we all stay in the same house but this year we changed things up and are all staying at the same resort but in different suites. It is new and different. The meals are a lot of fun and can be loud, but in a good way. Last night my kids were busting a move to some good old hip hop that they would NEVER hear from their stuffy old mom. They loved it.

August 1, 2009

We packed up and left our house on July 31st to head up to my dad's wedding. The plan was to drive up to his wedding and then down to Tahoe for a family vacation and then to our new house. It was an emotional goodbye to the old house but the distraction of the wedding and family trip was a good one.

The weather was beautiful for the wedding and the kids really did a great job through pictures and dinner. It was a very nice day. All of them helped clean up the chairs. M just knocked them down and let someone else do the hard work. We had a great time visiting with old and new family and friends. The kids did some dancing with their aunties and ate more cake than I would care to know.

The next morning we all packed up and caravaned down to Tahoe to join the rest of the family for year 23 of our annual trip.

Silver Lake

It was absolutely a must that we take the kids camping at least once this summer. Despite our crazy schedule and the move we want them to know that this is something we do every summer. We were lucky enough to get a trip together with our good friends and pack up the kids to a dusty and slightly dangerous (okay, just the roots and small rocks that made my baby fall all the time) campsite. The kids had a great time swimming, eating s'mores and bouldering. They made boats that they raced down the river, we all kayaked and we went through many, many bandages.

And I cannot stress the disgust I had with the dirt. As you can see from the scary picture of M the dirt was everywhere all the time. She got blisters from her shoes and ended up wearing her flip flops for the weekend. It was disgusting. And the pictures just don't do it justice.

The POD

The POD was a seriously cool concept that we took advantage of to its full capacity. We loved the first one so much that we ordered a second. The kids (okay, and myself) thought the delivery and switching out of the pods was really amazing. We watched the entire process. Now this did happen about three weeks ago and our first pod has been delivered to our new home- it is being unloaded as I write. Tomorrow pod number two is being delivered and unloaded. Hopefully it will eliminate most of the hassles of moving. Although I am not sure that that is possible.

July Fourth

We have the BEST neighborhood in the world!!! (yes, ask why, oh why, we are leaving it?!) For the fifth year in a row our Fourth of July parade has grown and grown. This year the cul-de-sac was full of moms, dads and little ones all dressed in red, white and blue and ready for the parade with decorated bikes, trikes and wagons. Everyone brought snacks to share. Two bounce houses were ready for play. And even live music- just for the kids- was brought in. What an amazing event. Engine 30 led the way around the circle and then stuck around for kids to climb and explore. Later on the ladder truck arrived and stretched itself to the sky for everyone to admire. It was quite a site - and I am sure that they don't really get the chance to do that very often here in suburbia. It was a great way to spend the morning.

Our afternoon was spent in the pool with our cousins and then back in the cul-de-sac to watch some fire works. The kids had a long and busy day. But they loved it!!! (These are our San Diego cousins and M).

89 and Counting

It was nine forty in the morning and the kids wandered outside to check things out. It was so hot that they asked to turn the sprinkler on. They then stripped down to their skivvies since they were still in their pajamas (oh, not E because modesty starts in at 6 evidently). But that did not last long at all and they all wanted to get into the pool. So by ten o'clock we were swimming away. It is a good thing that we did too because it got so hot that afternoon that when we tried to swim after dinner the pool was as warm as a bathtub. I think it reached 108 that day. ( I left out pictures of baby because he is buck naked).