Sweet Jbird

 "Mommy, if you were younger, I'd marry you"! 

1st Day of Kindergarten at Goethe

We sent him off to school with a full belly of oatmeal and strawberries.  Don't forget the glass of OJ he drinks every morning.  He was excited to show everyone his uniform (he ran next door to show the Georges) and showed Amelia his back pack and lunch box when she woke up.  On the way to school, he asked, "what is recess for again" and wanted to hold both our hands on the way in.

I snuck into his German class to get a picture.

Can you imagine how yummy all these crayons smelled?!?! My favorite thing - school supplies!

We found his class line and we got into line on the black top and listened to our new principal.  It was time to head into the class and he was SO brave and not a tear was shed.  Mommy did. :(

The girls and I made Jeremy a schultuete, a German tradition that had been around since the early

1800′s!  It's a cone given to a child on their first day of 

school filled with sweets, trinkets and back to school supplies!

Finished product!

Pick up was chaotic and it took awhile but it was so good to see his little face!  You have to wait in line and then they call his name.  When he came down the stairs, Mabel started to cry because she didn't get a hug.  He gave me and both girls a HUGE hug and Amelia gave him his cone.  He then said she could have the cone he made at school.  It's like they haven't seen each other in days.  They're talking about the funniest things and he is telling us all about his day.  He said he learned one German word but I don't know what it means, his new friend is Jett, he forgot to eat his chips with his hummus, he got to play for "8 minutes", he only "gets to use pencils", he played with Simone at recess only and he likes both teachers.  When he's in the immersion week, he will swap to the English class for 30 minutes in the afternoon and he said that was the last thing he did before I came.  So funny!  

Congrats Simone and J!  According to Ryan/Daddy, you've made it through the "first day of the rest of your lives"!  

Last Days of Summer

They had their dentist appts and all looked great!  The dentist was VERY impressed with their teeth and no cavities for anyone!

Mabel's 1st dentist appt!  Waiting very patiently!

The powder trick from the beach literally spilled over to the home.  They were awfully quiet and when I found them they were GUILTY!  Thank you J for getting the powder off the changing table!

 Even though he's starting kindergarten tomorrow, he's still a baby and will get into the pack n play and fall asleep :(

We've been getting in school "spirit" and I made German pancakes and got cold cuts from the German deli!  They've never been quieter while they ate!

Jeremy and I went to his school on Friday and he met his teachers and got to see his classrooms.  He'll be starting in the German classroom so I'll let you know how that goes.  Yikes. I love his teachers!

We had the Goethe annual picnic on Saturday and met some new families.  There are some really cool people!

We spent today getting organized, hair cut, laundry, BBQ at our neighbors and baths for all.  I'm feeling sad, excited, anxious (just like J) and unmotivated.  Yup, you read that right, unmotivated.  I always feel like I need all 3 to go on adventures.  When I just have the girls, I feel like I should stay home and get stuff done around the house.  I have to remember that it's now Amelia and Mabel's time to bond, play together and get to do fun things with mom.  I will probably be a bit sad tomorrow (I almost cried meeting his teachers) but I couldn't be happier with where he is going to school.  Pics from tomorrow coming soon!

Fun weekend!

We played hide n seek!  Well, kind of. 

We had a play date at Jess and Dani's house Thursday and swim lessons Friday!  The kids LOVE their house and they love their dog Sam and are pretty obsessed with Dani! Jeremy is a fish!  He now dives to the bottom to get toys and jumps into the deep end.  Good job J!

Ryan and I decided it would be fun to start a little tradition so we took J out to lunch and to the mall to get his school supplies and new school shoes! We will hopefully keep the tradition going and get one on one time with each kid before school starts.  He had fun and was very grateful.  We went to Soup plantation and he had tofu, edamame, raisins, olives and oranges!  Not normal :)

Ryan's quote to J at lunch, "this is just the beginning of your road to Stanford"!  He starts kindergarten in one week :(

We went to a birthday party while daddy worked and Mabel was Miss Independent!  I took them to Paco's Tacos afterwards for dinner and they all behaved amazingly well.  Even the people around me commented on it.  Thanks guys!

We spent ALL day today at the beach with the George family and some friends we've met through them.  We got there at 9 am and didn't leave until 4:30!  No naps!  Actually, mommy left for an hour and a half to go to J's new school and help clean it up and get it ready for the new year.  What a beautiful day with great friends!  

Did I say no naps?  Well, daddy zoned out for a few minutes!

One more week of summer vacation and then we start a new adventure.  I am going to soak up every minute with my little man. Love you J monkey!

UCLA

I took the kids (and that means Jack and Annie as well) to UCLA today to see the old stomping grounds!  It started a bit rough with 2 crying little girls but after a little while, they pepped up and had a blast!

We stopped and played around the water fountain, climbed trees and visited the sculpture gardens.  One of my favorite places when I was there.

They went up and down the most beautiful stair case I've ever seen (well, I am a little bias) and peeked in at the men's soccer practice!

I love Royce Hall and the view towards the library so I made everyone take a picture! :)

Jack took one of my favorite pictures EVER!

We went to Kerkof (the coffee hang out on campus) for some coffee and ice cream and met Auntie Lou Lou there.  She was one of my bridesmaids, fellow teammate at UCLA and Freedom and now coaches the Women's team!  I love this girl like crazy and so did the kids.  Lou got to meet Mabel and Mabel warmed right up to her.  I knew she would.  

We are now off to Mabel's 1st dentist appt and Amelia's 1st cleaning.  Jbird is a pro so he should be easy!  I'll let you know how that goes.