sk8er girl

She wears a dress and a hairclip in her hair -- all while sporting a tattoo on her arm and riding a skateboard. Loooove this little girl!

Kindergarten: a great first week

"Today we did something really special at Kindergarten. Do you want to know what we did? What day is it today? Okay. So every Thursday the big kids come in. They are much bigger and there are a lot of them. I think it's the whole class. They are FOURTH graders! They come to help us with special projects. Today the boy asked me questions and wrote down my answers. He asked me what my address is and I told him 1584... Yes, I know the name of our street. I told him ******. He also asked what my favorite food is and I told him pizza! I drew a crocodile on the back of the paper and the fourth grader told me he doesn't even draw crocodiles that good. He said I did a really good job. And you know what, mom? When I'm a fourth grader, I'll probably draw like I'm a SIXTH grader!"

the kids at 7pm

Thomas starts Kindergarten!

outside his new school

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giving goodbye hugs

"Can I take my price tag off now?"

At a birthday party this afternoon, the host asked everyone to wear a nametag. The party was held at a gymnastics facility and the nametags enabled the staff leading the exercises to address the party-goers by their first names. Over the course of two hours Meredith asked me several times if she could take her price tag off.

pirates & princesses

Pirate Thomas

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The kids went to their friends' birthday party today. Thomas and Gage became friends last year in preschool and this year their little sisters will be in preschool together. For this particular family, the kids have birthdays just 2 years and 5 days apart. So this year their parents threw a shared party that would have made any pirate-loving boy or princess-loving girl absolutely ecstatic. Lucky for them -- and lucky for us to have been invited to share in the celebration!

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(Princess) Meredith chose Snow White

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pirate training ~ girls and makeup
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cute birthday party tables!

from Frosting Face to Sand Face

Oregon highlights

Mt. St. Helens -- someday they'll climb this together

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w/Rachel at Voodoo Doughnuts

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w/Emily at Portland's Saturday Market

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w/Grandma Lesley at Oregon City's DQ

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doing girl stuff w/Franny

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the W Family cousins

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w/Great Grandma Margie and Grandpa George
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cooling off at Portland's Jamison Square

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...and keeping cool w/Grandma!

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Such a quick and busy visit to Oregon this month! We enjoyed several BBQs with family and friends, park playdates, day trips to Mt. St. Helens and Seattle, and lots of special moments with everyone we were able to see!

his first (loose) tooth!

top center tooth on the right (gumline is a little red)

swim school

The kids have started swim lessons again and just completed their first session. We'll take a break while we are in Oregon but will resume lessons again when we return. They are really enjoying them!

super readers

hard-earned t-shirts

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Every summer we participate in the library's summer reading program. This was Thomas' 5th summer reporting! You would think that with our previous 5 years' experience we'd learn by now that the smaller shirts go quickly and to get on the ball when the program begins. Maybe next year we'll get it figured out.

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reporting on the books they've recently read

ZOO

long jumps

The kids love when I mark their long jumps. Thomas learned this week that he can jump the same distance as the soles of his feet to the top of his ears.

the joy of jumping

last days of blogging

almost 4 hours into a birthday party on a 95* day

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Postings to this blog have slowed down, way down. With Thomas heading into Kindergarten next month, I think this blog will soon come to an end. It's been a great way to let everyone know what we're up to and how we're doing but I think the time has come. Originally I thought I would end it when Meredith was born -- and that was over three years ago! There will be a few more posts as we enjoy the rest of our carefree summer days, but we'll shut it down in the early Fall...

Legoland Water Park

Today was our first visit to Legoland's new Water Park. It was so much fun, we may have to go every day! Meredith stayed close to me and preferred to play in the shallow end with her friend, Rebecca. She also really enjoyed the lazy river. Thomas and his pal Allison had a fantastic time playing all over in the pool and esp. enjoyed the open and closed water slides. It was his first experience with those and he loved them!

SeaWorld

Today we headed south in search of sunshine and some fun at SeaWorld. We met up with a friend and her two kids and enjoyed 5 hours at the park. It was a long afternoon but very fun! Today we caught the Cirque de la Mer show, the new show Blue Horizons, fed the sea lions, met Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street, played games and rode rides, and watched the tortoises sunbathe. It was a fun day and esp. nice for us to see the sun again!

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the secret birthday party invite

Thomas received this cool birthday party invitation today from a preschool pal. He was given a vial of decoder solution along with this invitation and bookmark. We waited until after dinner to reveal the hidden message. Can't wait to see what this birthday party will be all about!

head to head

Today we enjoyed a birthday party for one of Thomas' preschool pals at Pump It Up. Unlike at his own birthday party, this time we had a camera with a charged battery. The kids had a great time jumping, sliding, running the obstacle course and Thomas even tried his hand at boxing -- the gloves were nearly as big as he is! The obstacle course is always a favorite and I think we all raced each other at some point. In the photo above, Thomas was the winner but Meredith was definitely close behind. I have a feeling she'll be passing him someday. The girl always impresses me with her coordination, skills and athleticism -- she's a pretty amazing three year old!

Discovery Science Center

Today we headed up to the Discovery Science Center in Irvine, Calif. There was so much to do for both the parents and the kids -- we all had a great time! What did we do today?

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1. Stood in a wind tunnel and experienced what nearly 80mph feels like on our faces, hair, clothes...

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2. Created macaroni dinosaurs.

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3. Picked up a hockey stick and slapped some pucks, trying to score against the projected goalie (on the screen).

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4. Wore some ice hockey gear and blocked flying pucks from the projected hockey player on the screen.

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5. Enjoyed time in the Dino Quest exhibit. There, we met a baby T-Rex, went on a scavenger hunt, and had a great time with all the interactive exhibits.

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6. Laid on a "bed of nails". Okay, so maybe just Mike and myself did this, but the kids watched and were full of questions afterwards.

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7. Saw this really cool baby T-Rex.
8. Experienced earthquakes ranging from 4.7 to 6.4 magnitudes.
9. Learned about our amazing human bodies in the Grossology exhibit.
10. Had our heights measured with a laser. We are 6'-0", 5'-5", 3'-10" and 3'-1" tall.
11. Tried rock climbing.
12. Listened to a good presentation about the Solar System... and so much more.
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We ended our day at Newport Beach for a few hours. The kids love to go to the candy shoppe on Balboa Island and pick out a few special treats -- and we do, too!

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