Greta’s First day of Preschool, year 2

Greta started preschool today!  We are delighted that she is again at our preschool, Bellevue Presbyterian Preschool, which is part of our church.  We are also lucky that she has Mrs. Sharon Elaine as her teacher; that was Andrew and Hailey’s teacher two years ago.   Greta is SO ready to be back in school, and so ready to start reading.  She is addicted to coloring, writing her name, and reading books these days.  

First Day of Kindergarten!

Well, we survived!!!  Andrew and Hailey had their FIRST day of kindergarten today!  They loved it!   We have been anxiously awaiting this day for a long time… and there were lots of emotions about it.  But thankfully, it was a good day for all of us!  (Mama had several tears upon saying goodbye, though!)

Andrew and Hailey are in the same class (YEA!) at Woodridge Elementary, which is only three blocks from our house.  They have a great teacher named Mrs. Christian, and only 20 kids in their class.  Andrew has been SO excited for kindergarten, at least since our orientation about three months ago.  He is super delighted about the selection of books in the classrooms, as he is such an avid reader.  Hailey has been excited, too, but a bit more shy.  So, we were all relieved when A&H came home describing their new friends and how much they enjoyed it.  They go to school from 9:00 to 3:25 each day, except on Wednesday, when they finish at 1pm. 

I had a lovely day with Greta alone.  It was a treat to have such good time with her all day… and she was just giddy with excitement over how much time we had together to take a walk, read books, etc.  You can see how happy she was to “lick the batter” all by herself when we decided to make muffins today.  No sharing required!  HA!

I laughed when I entered the school this afternoon to pick up the twins.  About five steps into school I ran into the “Lost and Found” table, which, of course, had Andrew’s blue lunchbox on it!!  Why did that not surprise me???

We are so blessed!  Thank you for the many ways that YOU have supported our family as we have moved toward this big new step!

Labor Day camping trip

We took another camping trip this summer, this time to Lake Wenatchee State Park.  Our friends, the Dalsegs, joined us again this time, so the kids had fun playing with their friends.  It was hot and sunny, so we swam in the lake and rode our bikes.  We enjoyed playing games by lantern at night, including teaching the kids the funny marshmallow game called “Chubby Bunnies.”   Our kids have the most hilarious time camping, so we love it!

Summer Activities 2013

At the beginning of the summer, I made this poster board for the kids.  It included a very long and ambitious list of things we wanted to do throughout the summer.  We had a fabulous time doing these activities and checking them off the list.  I am afraid we didn't do 100% of everything on the list, but we got darn close.  Below are some pics of the many good activities we did!

Mama successfully grew a veggie garden… with some help from Hailey!

We spent a hot rainy day at the Seattle Public Library, which is full of bright colors and cool designs!

A day at Pike Place Market:

We spent a lot of time on our bikes!  I love this pic of Hailey in purple swimsuit, purple helmet, purple shoes, and purple bike!

We spent a few hot days playing with the Slip-N-Slide on the side of our yard!  Much fun!

Of course, we had to do Horse Camp again!

We love spending hot days at the Bellevue Spray Park!

Picking blueberries… yum!

 

We absolutely love heading to the horse races at Emerald Downs!   Even Grandpa Kirby was in town to join us!

 

We spent a day at Remlinger Farms, which is a mini Disney around here.  Lots of fun riding the antique cars!

We got to spend a week with our new cousin Elliot in town.  Congrats to Aunt Christy and Uncle Adam!

We always love when cousin JJ is in town!

Biking party with our friends!

3D movie at the Imax Theater at the Pacific Science Center!  We recommend seeing “Flight of the Butterflies!”

Snoqualmie Falls!

And… of course… the place where we spend the most time each summer is….. the Woodridge Pool!!!  We love it there!