Shuttle Endeavor lands at LAX!!!!!!!

10:30am: Surprised Jeremy at school and then jumped and headed towards LAX!

Our camp!

About 11:45: Got first sight of shuttle

12:10ish: First close fly by

Jeremy was so excited.  We had the perfect spot.  We got to see the shuttle so many times.  One somewhat close fly by, a second fly by (see above and below) and we even got to see it circle around a few times.  

This kid was in heaven!  So was his mom :)

Then the third fly by was right over our heads.  I thought that was the landing but it didn't touch down and went back up.

I guess I should have figured it out because the wheels weren't down!  Silly me!

 Off it goes for another round!

And then....IT LANDED!!!! UNREAL! AMAZING! LOUD! ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE!!!!

Precious Moments

Jbird's #1 fan.  Probably one of the cutest things I've seen as a mom

And Amelia scored her first goal!!!!!  Good job Amelia!

We spent 6 hours at the beach again today because we're having amazing weather!!!!!  No pictures because we were having too much fun!  The girls and I collected a ton of shells to make some sort of craft!!!!!  Pictures to come.....

Back to studying

Jbird and the Serpents

(Post game picture...sweaty and dirty from a well played game)

Jeremy had his first game today and he did great!  He was counting down the days until today and it showed. He worked his little tush off and was such a good player.  Not just on the field but he listened to what his coach said, he was the only player not to get subbed out and no complaints came out of his mouth.  I know I mentioned it last season but it's even more obvious now...this kid is a defender.  He just gets it.  He naturally moves into defensive positions without being told (I will spare you those details) and even cleared the ball off the goal line preventing the other team from scoring.  I wonder where he gets that from.  In case you didn't know, I had a knack for that while I played.  The coach told me after the game that he told him he did a really good job saving that ball off the line and he said, "my mom taught me that."  I haven't verbally told him to do that so maybe he just got that info while in my belly :)  His coach even mentioned to me that he is a good defender.  On the flip side, he got an assist as well.  It's hard to get those at this age because it's still a pretty big "bee hive" but the ball came to him and he kicked it down the field and this other little guy dribbled it down the field and scored.  Well done J!  He still didn't do the fun tunnel run that the parents set up post game but he LOVED that the snack was oranges, apples and blood oranges!  While the other kids complained that there were no "treats", Jbird was loving his own kind of treats :)  Good job buddy!  Oh yeah, we won 4-2!  

 ps...I think this kid (as well as his parents) were annoyed with J.  He kept stopping him the whole game.

Mabel's turn for the back pack!!!!!

ps....all but the pictures of Mabel were taken by Amelia.  She got some really good ones don't you think!

Amelia started AYSO!

Wow, talk about full circle.  I started playing soccer at 4 in AYSO and now my daughter is 4 and playing.  

I'm not sure what I was like the first season I played but I know I didn't have the same format that Amelia had today.  I have to say I was a bit disappointed.  The new format for U-5 this year is that there is a "master team" of coaches from the UK that lead ALL (time slots based on last name so Amelia is 1:45-2:45) kids in a skill session and then move into small sided games.  The coaches didn't keep the kids moving during the practice section.  Tears were shed by a few little girls and Amelia was one of them.  She was in and out of tears during this part and would play as long as I was with her.  I asked her to sit on the blanket with me because she was getting more upset.  I told her it was normal to be scared, nervous, etc but that she NEEDED to get out there and play during the game. She did and she listened to the coach.  She's the little one pointing. :)

And she's off!!!  She almost scored on the very first play.

All was going well until this godzilla player (the one in blue chasing her down) stepped on Amelia's foot, show popped off and big girl landed on little girl.  Game over.

I had moments of frustration because she's SO good playing in the front yard but gets sad when she's on her own.  I was proud of the way she dried her tears and played hard.  Good job Amelia!!!  Mommy loves you like crazy!

I think J liked being the one watching this time!  It's been his turn for 2 years and he was really excited for Amelia.  He even yelled, "she's really good mom"!  

Headed home.  Since Amelia was bummed out she didn't get a team, I let her have/use my soccer bag.  She was BEYOND excited and I love this picture because she looks like a little pro.

Mabel's 1st day at Johnny's Preschool!!!

Mabel and Amelia have been looking forward to this day since summer began and thank god this day is here.  I'm a little tired of them asking how many more days until school :)  I also didn't get a picture of J on his first day of 1st grade (more to come on that later) so here is a group shot!

Two happy girls heading into school

I took this picture as I was leaving to show just exactly how much she didn't care that I was leaving.  She's been waiting for this moment since she was old enough (probably by 1 year) to realize that she didn't get to go.

Amelia couldn't wait to play helpful, caring, veteran big sister.  She was showing and telling Mabel about the school....as if she hadn't been there almost every day since she was born. :)

Labor Day 2012

Well, summer is officially over (the weather is still in summer mode) and life has resumed to busy schedules, carpools, play dates, gym classes, etc.  First thing to do...get Jeremy and Amelia their soccer cleats.  Watch out kids, these Meinhardt kids are ready.  I never thought I would let them get cleats like this but they loved them so I gave in.  Games start this weekend so I will blog about that later.  

 On Friday we headed to Farmer's Market in Hermosa Beach to get some fresh fruit, lunch and of course, snow cones with umbrellas.  The kids LOVED them!  I also had to buy lots of fruit because they sampled so much I felt guilty and bought fruit.  Luckily, all was consumed :)

On Sunday, we hit the beach for about 7 hours.  Uncle Christian, Aunt "Dindy" and Kira met us there for awhile and we went with a bunch of friends so it was a blast.  

On Monday we got invited to swim at the California Yacht Club and jumped at that because it was another warm day.  We ended the weekend BBQ'ing with our good friends the Margallos at their house.  Good weekend.  Back to school and back to life.