Baggage Limits

This is what happens when you try to limit a passenger's baggage.  Definitely time for a nap!  Poor girl.

Cooperation!

Gotta love when cooperation happens!  Alex helping Julia put one of his old puzzles together.

Little Bag Lady

You would think we were going on an overnight trip here, but no, just walking Bro Bro to school!  She loves her bags.

Siblings at the Zoo

Corn!

Julia couldn't wait for me to cook the corn on the cob yesterday.  She loved that it was so sweet and juicy, she ate it right after shucking it!

Crazy Nap Hair!

Sorting

 

Sorting straws is a lot of fun!

Manchester City Kinder Soccer Team

Alex started soccer when school started.  He is on the Manchester City team and is enjoying himself.  They practice once a week and then have a game every Saturday.  He really seemed to enjoy their first game on Saturday.  It was over 90 degrees, so it was super hot, but they all did a great job.  We stopped and got ice cream afterwards, as a treat was certainly in order!

Guacamole Girl!

Beading

This little girl sure loves to bead!  She happily will sit and work on necklaces and then take them apart and start over again.

Loving the Dental Office

Somehow I feel that I have hit the jackpot, having two kiddos who actually like going to the dentist.  Alex has always loved going and it has been so easy.  Julia was a bit hesitant the first time she went, but somehow this last time she was completely cool with it.  Not sure if it was the birthday card and sticker they sent to her, or us talking about the dentist a lot, or the bribing prior to the dental visit promising a treat (she picked out a plum), but whatever made her change her mind, I'm so happy!  She was perfect throughout her visit, following instructions, engaging in conversation and just generally being a perfect patient.  She was so happy to receive a purple toothbrush at the end of it all, in addition to a couple of tattoos and a new bracelet.

Alex was a trooper as always and cruised right through everything.  I was prepared for a not so good visit, but it turned out to be surprisingly relaxed.  Yay!

Star student

It is Alex's week to be Star Student, so he brought in his poster this morning and was all ready to tell his class all about himself.  He is the first Star Student of the year, so he doesn't know what to expect, but he seemed ready to tackle the task.

Phone Pictures

I just recently found a way to easily get pictures off of the phone which I got for Mother's Day, so I have a backlog of items which have not been posted before.  Here are some of the gems.

 This is the card and sticker which the Dr. Mendoza-Sobel, DDS sent for Julia's birthday.  As you can see, she LOVED it.  She wanted to carry it with her and even took it to bed a couple of nights.

 Who knew?  Sea Holly is stinky, like cat poo stinky!

 Cuties!

 Someone loves Mommy's purple purse.

 Camping in the backyard on June 1st.

 Hanging out with Jia Ying in the Marin Headlands.

 Big brother feeding little sister ramen at the Ferry Building.

 Helping make cupcakes for her birthday.

 Playing with her dollhouse, a birthday present.

 The pirates in Half Moon Bay.

 Having a yummy pizza lunch with Jia Ying at BUILD pizzeria in Berkeley.

 One day in June, while David was on business, I was feeling very much under the weather.  I told the kiddos that I would get up in a bit to make breakfast, but it took me awhile.  Alex and Julia had taken out all of the items to make breakfast and were making sandwiches and cutting up stone fruit.  So sweet!

At the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park with Great Grandma Grace and Grandma Elaine.

They Sure Love That Downslope!

Dress Up

Julia found my old prom/bridesmaids dresses in the closet downstairs and decided that we should play dress up!

First Day of Kindergarten!

 All ready to go to school!

 Walking up the hill with Daddy and Mei Mei

 Showing some Panther spirit

 Sporting the new big boy backpack

 A photo with Daddy and Mei Mei on the playground

 Doesn't look nervous at all!

 A photo with Mommy before the bell rings.

 Pickup on the first day.

He gives two thumbs up for the first day!

Alex started Kindergarten on Wednesday August 28th!  He goes to Los Perales Elementary School, which is less than a mile from our house.  All Kindergarteners go for 3 1/2 hours each morning.  We will find out this week whether he will be on the 8:30-12:00 schedule or the 9:30 to 1:00 schedule.  His teacher is Mrs. Rodriguez, who is very nice, young and energetic.  The classroom looks great and Alex shares a table with three other friends.  Alex seems to enjoy his time at school alot and is able to see some of his neighborhood friends on the playground at recess time, since all 60 Kindergarteners play at the same time.  Looks like it should be a fun year ahead!

Kindergarten Open House

On the day before school started, Alex's teacher had an Open House, so that everyone could come and explore the classroom and check out the new digs.  She had a "treasure hunt" set up so that everyone would learn about the location of a variety of things in the classroom, i.e. where the bathrooms are, where the job chart is located, where to put the backpacks, where to wash your hands etc.  Alex found his table where he sits with three other friends and met many of his classmates.  It is a nice classroom, all brightly and neatly put together and decorated for the new year.

Santa Barbara

 Captain America and Spiderman made an appearance.

 Celebrating David's 23rd birthday with some yummy giant chocolate chip pan cookies!

Visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo