changes at Legoland

Three year olds get to experience a little more at Legoland and today Meredith and her friend, Grace, got to do some of these things together for the first time. The most exciting "new" ride for Meredith is the Volvo Junior Driving School. She's been watching Thomas drive these cars for over two years and has recently been asking when she can drive a car. Today was her day! She did great and managed to do one full loop. Go Meredith!
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On our last ride of the day, Thomas saw his preschool pal in line behind us. He stood in line with them while we waited and talked to Calla and her mom. When it was our turn to ride, he wanted to ride with her. The two had such a good time screaming and holding their hands up together. Afterwards he asked me to take a photo of them. Go Thomas!
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Legoland opens their new WaterPark tomorrow! We're so excited and can't wait to see what this new addition brings to the park!! Go Legoland!

Bela's birthday!

Bela is 11 years old today!! I considered making her an actual (dog friendly) birthday cake but decided against it given her sensitive tummy. I think she preferred her steamed rice with grilled chicken anyway. She polished it off tonight in no time at all. Happy Birthday, sweet Bela.

second stripe

Red Light, Green Light

Meredith loves when we host her Monday playgroup. Nothing is more fun for her than having her good friends over to play. Today we made fruit smoothies with a secret "superfood" ingredient (we're having fun with kale this week), made a pizza to share, painted and played two classic games -- Duck Duck Goose and Red Light, Green Light. Meredith loves Red Light, Green Light. Playing this fun game with her little friends running down the hall to her gave this little girl lots to smile and laugh about. So fun!

Little Italy

Today was the Sicilian Festival in Little Italy (a neighborhood in San Diego). There are so many little districts in San Diego that we have yet to explore and this is one of them so we thought today would be a fun day to go. The main street through Little Italy smells delicious. Pizzerias, Italian restaurants, markets, etc. line the street alongside small boutiques and some larger establishments that we're familiar with (a Burger Lounge is there!). Unfortunately, we didn't time our visit very well today. It would have been nice to stay for a bit longer and see the colorful parade, a traditional wedding, etc., but we were freezing! Yes, freezing in San Diego. The temperature was probably a pleasant 65* but there were very cool, very gusty winds blowing off the bay and straight up the downtown streets. Brrr.

baked kale chips: thumbs up!

I'm looking for new ways to get more vegetables into these two children. Today we're trying a couple of new recipes with kale. First up are the baked kale chips. This recipe was too salty for me but I can easily adjust that next time. Meredith gave them a thumbs down but Thomas really liked them! He said, "I like these salad chips. They are really yummy and salty. I want these on my plate for dinner. Thank you!" I'll definitely be making this easy snack again.

Star of the Week

This week Thomas was "Star of the Week" at preschool. This involved making a presentation about yourself, bringing in snacks all week and taking Rover home for the week. At the end of the week, the student returns Rover with a journal entry describing something they did together that week.

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Monday Thomas brought in a posterboard that was all about him - family photos, cutouts of some favorite things, photos of him doing things he enjoys, etc. He presented his board to his class and Meredith and I got to stay and watch. I was impressed with Thomas' confidence and easy nature in front of his classmates. I hope that ability always remains with him.

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The second presentation involved Rover. Yesterday Thomas wanted to take him to tennis with him. I knew it would be risky to take him out (what if we lost him??), but everything went smoothly. However, once we got home Rover disappeared. We were unable to locate the stuffed dog all evening, all morning today and even up until minutes of needing to leave for preschool. I eventually found Rover lying in a hole Greta had dug in the yard. Fortunately, the bark chips brushed off and the stuffed dog was otherwise unscathed.

lunch with the chicks

A friend from Thomas' old preschool invited us over for lunch and play today. She prepared lunch for us that included fresh baked bread (yum!), the kids freely roamed all over her 1/2 acre playground (an in-ground trampoline!), and we took her 8 three week old chicks out to the garden to pet and watch wander around. We all had such a nice morning!

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birthday presents

Both kids received so many presents from friends and family for their birthdays. It can be a bit overwhelming so we've been pacing ourselves on opening them. They've opened the wrapping but the boxes for most remain unopened. Every few days we'll open another one so they don't go through them too quickly. One of Thomas' preschool friends gave him a great trio of presents that included a chemistry set, a dinosaur egg (above) and a geode. He's been very excited about these gifts so last night we let him break open the geode and excavate the dinosaur bones inside the egg above.

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Thomas didn't open presents until the morning after his birthday party. He was so tired by the time the festivities were over that we thought it best to wait until the next morning so he'd be fresh and excited about opening them. First thing that morning he and his dad made a quick run to Starbucks. While out, he told his dad that he wanted to get something for Meredith so she wouldn't feel left out when he opened his presents. Such a sweet gesture and, as you can see below, she was thrilled with what he picked out for her.

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sparring

Halfway through karate class today the instructors brought out the sparring gear. This was a first and Thomas was clearly confused initially. You could read on his face: "It's okay for me to hit this guy??" One can see how this might be strange when you've always been told to not hit or kick another person. However, he quickly got over it and jumped right in with punching his opponent. He did great!

party pics

Thomas and most of his party crew

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obstacle course finish ~ Thomas is sliding & smiling
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sliding w/Meredith ~ pizza & lemonade for all the kids

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king for a day ~ making a wish

Pump It Up

Thomas' super fun birthday celebration was this afternoon at Pump It Up. Thank goodness this business has disposable cameras for sale because the battery in ours was competely drained. Yes, our digital camera was not available during Thomas' 5th birthday party with his friends. Talk about a huge disappointment! We'll have to develop our 27 exposures soon and get them put on a cd so I can post them (and I will). Until then, imagine over 25 friends -- 21 of which were boys! -- jumping, bouncing, climbing, sliding and having a total blast. Thomas' sweet little face was grinning from ear to ear the entire 1.5 hours of playtime. The last half hour was spent in the party room having pizza, lemonade and a fantastically delicious birthday cake. Talk about a great birthday for this special boy!

soccer girl

Meredith started soccer today! It's a program I really love called Little Rascalz. Thomas took a session with them two years ago and I was really impressed with how much fun they make it for the kids. Several months ago Meredith watched some girls play soccer at the park and told me, "I want to be a soccer girl." I had to wait until the next session but it began today which was perfect timing since dance class ended earlier this week. With the exception of the "grab the other puppies' tails game" (she didn't want to take anyone's tail and didn't want hers stolen either), she had a great time today!

Thomas is FIVE!

Today, Thomas is five years old. Five! Last week I was cleaning out some boxes and found various things saved from around the time of Thomas' birth -- my pregnancy journal, photos, baby shower stuff, etc. The kids and I read a few of the journal entries, including the play-by-play of May 12 and May 13, 2005. It seems like just yesterday but here we are five years later. He's such an amazing little guy. Intelligent, has a great sense of humor, is friendly, easy going, and just an all around good kid. No, a fantastic kid! We celebrated today at Disneyland with his cousins. The boy who never sleeps in the car was sound asleep within 10 minutes of hitting the highway home. I think you could say he had a great birthday!

Way Byond (but just 20 minutes away in La Jolla!)

Just as Meredith has a few friends with birthdays close to hers, so does Thomas. This week feels like birthday party week as we celebrate three birthdays in four days -- one today and two this Saturday! Thomas' preschool friend Bailey celebrated his 5th birthday at a new party place called Way Beyond in La Jolla. It was a pretty awesome place with futuristic looking things to climb on and activities to do. The business's motto is The Most Outrageously Fun Way to be Healthy and they do just that. There was a little free play initially as guests arrived but then the staff (a 2:1 ratio!) broke the kids into groups and led them through some activities. The kids were all having such a great time and when pizza and cake time came around, they were all ready to sit and eat. They offer Date Nights and Holiday Shopping Drop-Offs (since it's located near the major shopping in La Jolla). Not sure how much we'll use those, but it's always good to know where a safe, clean and fun place is for the kids should we need one in that area.

ice cream by sunset

Is there a better way to end the day?

recital

Our digital camera will only take videos up to 1 minute in length. If you were to put these three together, you'd get the full dance...

dance - 1 from c on Vimeo.

dance - 2 from c on Vimeo.

dance-3 from c on Vimeo.

first dance recital

Meredith and her pals Grace and Lacey

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This afternoon was Meredith's first dance recital! She's been dancing with this same group of girls for months. There are only five girls in the class and two of them are special friends from playgroup. Grace and Lacey are part of the weekly playgroup Meredith does every Monday. It's been really great to have these girls see each other regularly. They are all the same age -- less than 3 weeks separate their birthdays! Today's dance recital marks the end of this dance session and we're all a little sad to see it end. We may sign up together again in the fall if their preschool schedules allow for it, but until then the girls will start soccer later this week.

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Thomas gave these to Meredith after the recital

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** Videos to come soon! **

Coronado

San Diego County is filled with wonderful places and one of our favorites is Coronado. We always enjoy taking visitors there because it's such a beautiful part of San Diego. The beaches are beautiful, the shops along Orange Avenue fun and cute, the main park has a great play structure, the views of San Diego are breathtaking, the Hotel del Coronado is magical and the entire "island" has a relaxed, wonderful feel. We absolutely love it and love that we could spend some time there with our visiting family. Next time we'll definitely take the ferry between Coronado and the Embarcadero (waterfront area of San Diego)!

my silly guys

cousins

The kids' cousins are visiting! Thomas and Meredith love all their cousins, but hold a special place in their hearts for these three who are visiting this week. The kids are all very close in age (Franny is 6 weeks older than Thomas, Meredith is 5 weeks older than Cole and their youngest is just 10 months old) which makes for lots of great fun for all five kids.

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During this particular visit, Meredith really enjoyed her time with Franny. I've often thought they share some personality traits and I still do. It was fun to watch the two play together and I kept finding myself thinking about what they'll be like in the future. I have a feeling there will be a special bond between them, even if there is considerable distance physically. And during those teen years both will be causing their parents many sleepless nights, esp. when the boys start to notice these fun-loving cuties!

Thomas' sandcastle

Mother's Day Tea

This afternoon I was invited to a Mother's Day Tea at preschool. Thomas and his classmates made invitations earlier in the week and invited all their mothers to join them this afternoon. It was simple but lovely. Each student had made a placemat and a tissue paper flower corsage for their mom. There was a variety of food and a couple of drink selections -- all were yummy! The kids were all so proud of themselves as they showed their moms where to sit and later as they sang songs to us. It broke my heart to see one boy's mother not attend the event... and also very thankful that I was able to go (Meredith played at Grace's house)!

teacher appreciation

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. Since Thomas attends preschool three days a week, we were asked to bring in something each of those three days to go along with that day's theme. Monday was "drink" so we bagged a selection of teas, tied them with cute ribbon and added a little note simply stating: You Are Appreciated. Today's theme was "fruit or flower". I had some apple-shaped chipboard in my stash and decided to do something with that. Thomas chose the papers and ribbon and wrote a note to attach to the back. Above is the final product: pretty apples with a chocolate caterpillar. Friday is a classroom contribution to the staff lunch so there isn't anything we'll have to do for that day.
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We've been very lucky to have such great teachers for Thomas. He has two for his class of 14 preschoolers and both are really wonderful ladies. They're very different and co-teach the class, alternating weeks as the lead teacher. One is very crafty and the other loves science. It's the perfect combination for Thomas!

a weekend of fun

one of many viewpoints in Encinitas during our walk
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steam engine ready to go during a railway celebration

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Thomas tests an old Carlsbad fire engine at the street fair

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swinging always makes her smile
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first look at her new bicycle
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"It's beautiful!" she says of her new bicycle
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Last weekend was the big birthday weekend and though it was great fun, it left us all exhausted. This weekend we had absolutely nothing on our calendar. We sent regrets to a friend's birthday bash and intentionally left the weekend wide open. With a busy one last week and a busy one next weekend (family visiting), we took this one easy. Long walks, strolling through the Carlsbad street fair, playing at the park, riding Meredith's new bike, long runs for both Mike and myself, lots of sidewalk chalk play, and a (relatively) quiet weekend at home. It was nice.