Good-bye 2012

As the year draws to an end, I would like to recount our top 10 family memories:

10. In March, Anny began working at Pike Place Market for a cheese maker called Mt. Townsend Creamery.

9. In July, we visited San Francisco for David’s company picnic. The boys loved the city, and wish to go back.

8. David started taking karate lessons for fun, and decided to pursue a black belt. Now he’s training twice a week towards this goal.

7. Tyler started preschool at Washington International School, which focuses on Mandarin immersion.

6. In July, Anny went to Boston, MA, for a week to visit Lucy & Bob, and help out with their new baby boy, Quinn. David’s parents came to stay with David and the boys to help out.

5. In August, we flew to Chicago, IL, for Matt & Marisa’s wedding. PopPop, Nana, and Tiffany drove from Cleveland to meet us. They stayed with the boys for a day while David and Anny drove a couple hours out to the wedding at a camp ground.

4. In February, we took a family trip to Austin to visit PopPop and Nana in their new home. Both of David’s siblings joined us, and we met our niece/the boys’ cousin, Miriam, for the first time. It was an awesome trip having us all together as a big family.

3. For Thanksgiving, we went to L.A. for a week. While there, we visited Legoland for a day, and Disneyland & California Adventure another day. We spent 2.5 hours in line waiting for the new Radiator Springs ride in Cars Land. The boys did decently well during the whole time, which made it totally worth the wait – iPhones and lots of snacks was the key. We had a fabulous birthday/Thanksgiving gathering with the family, keeping the kids up until 11pm.

2. After 3 years of attending The Secret Garden, Vincent “graduated” from preschool. He started kindergarten in September, and is loving school!

1. We’re having another baby! We found out late July that Anny is expecting Baby Hunt #3, due in April 2013.

**Other highlights that weren’t quite top 10, but still get honorable mention status:

-       In October, Anny & David got to see Madonna perform in concert. Most amazing show either have seen. She’s truly a spectacle.

-       During a whirlwind trip to Austin, TX, for a recruiting event, David had a cab driver run him around town to 3 different H.E.B. grocery stores to locate a specific salsa. He came home with 10 jars of the stuff!

 

As the last day of the year, I started my day really sick, so it's been low key all day. We sent the kids to soccer camp for the morning, which they loved. David had the day off, so he dropped them off. I slept a bit, then David and I had a lunch date at Boom Noodle. It was okay, but at least I had some hot soup. We went to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for tonight and tomorrow, then picked up the boys. I was supposed to have a massage at 1pm, but cancelled that due to my sickness.

 

For dinner, we went to Gourmet Noodle Bowl for Taiwanese food. So good. The kids loved it, too. See how happy this one was!

David and I started in on a puzzle we received last year as a Christmas gift, and finally opened it. We had been having a hard time figuring out where to put the puzzle together, but I figured since we didn't have dinner at home, might as well use the dinner table. 

And, that's pretty much how we rang in the new year. We counted down to midnight with Ryan Seacrest, and went off to bed. (yes, this post is after the fact with the date and time fudged)

Happy Trails

We were planning on taking the kids sledding this weekend, when our friends, the Brastads, happen to go to this place called, Happy Trails, and were heading up again today. They invited us to join them. We were happy to go, since it sounded like a great place.

 

First, there was the horse-drawn sleigh ride to the sledding hilll...

 

Once there, they had wood-burning stove heated tents with picnic tables inside. The floor of the tent was even covered, so we weren't getting snow on us or slipping and sliding. And, the sledding was awesome!

I was simply amazed by how brave both boys were, and how much excited they were. Tyler's favorite way to go down the hill was on his belly, backwards. I couldn't watch the whole thing. Too much for Mama.

 

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas! And, what a day we had. Even though it was just the 4 of us, we stayed pretty busy, and it was still a little intense. We tried to keep the presents to a minimum, but with all the family and friends gifts, it adds up. Nonetheless, we are so thankful for how thoughtful and giving our loved ones are. We are very lucky and blessed as a family.

The kids woke up right at 7am. I think Vincent must've been staring at his clock. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my camera to capture their reactions. Seriously, it's priceless.

We tried to keep them calm through the presents opening, but there were just so excited and thrilled. Overall, they did a nice job, and patiently waiting as we took turns opening. After a while, we stopped and let them play with the first round of gifts while David and I got breakfast ready. 

 Leapsters from PopPop and Nana. Last week, David pre-programed them and charged the batteries for each boy. Smart Daddy.

We had homemade pancakes and sausages. When breakfast was over, we finished the opening of gifts, then let the kids enjoy their new loot.

I actually cooked 3 meals today. None were huge and extravagant, but they were actual hot meals. Not just oatmeal or sandwiches, etc. Our Christmas dinner was a roasted chicken with stuffing and cauliflower on the side. Lunch was pasta, that Tyler ate 3, or was it 4, helpings of. Ah, white noodles. I don't make them often, but when I do, the kids flip over it. Especially, plain with olive oil, peas and Parmesan cheese.

It was a wonderful day. I do wish that we had more family to celebrate with, but it's also nice that we've built some of our own traditions here in Seattle.

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Eve

 David helped the boys decorate cookies for Santa.

 Vincent received a volcano making kit for his birthday. David and the boys have been working on it for a few days now, and they finally made it erupt.

 Plating up cookies and pouring a glass of milk for Santa Claus.

Look at these happy boys. They're no longer babies. I can't believe how big they look. And, so excited for Christmas morning.

Happy 6th Birthday, Vincent

 

Our big boy turned 6 years old today. He started the morning off with opening presents, something he's been looking forward to all week. One present was a Ninjago Kai clock, from A-ma & A-gong, that came with this little plastic sword. He LOVES it. He loves the clock, too, taking it around the house as if it's a toy doll. Seriously, someone needs to make Ninjago character dolls. It would be a major money maker. His biggest toy of all was from us, the Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle. We waffled on it for a while, but seeing that it's been selling out everywhere, and I found it at Target, along with a coupon & 5% savings with my Target card, I got it. PopPop & Nana helped pitch in for it. We explained to him that it's such a big gift that 4 people had to go in on it together, and that he may not always get something so large. I'm telling you, this set is intense. Something like 900+ pieces. That should keep him (and David) busy for a while.

We let Vincent pick what he wanted to have for breakfast. He chose McDonald's. Heck, why not? We bundled the kids up and headed out. We told them there would be no asking for toys, which I don't think they even do at breakfast. But, once there, Tyler blurted out to the cashier that it's Vincent's birthday, and lo and behold, she gave them each a toy. Nice gal.

Vincent almost finished his entire breakfast of 3 pancakes, sausage patty and hash brown. I was amazed as I watched him eat, and eat. Finally, he just stopped, and said, "Uh, I'm full!"

After breakfast, David and Tyler dropped Vincent and I off at the hair salon for him to get a haircut. David took Tyler to drop of stuff to be donated. It took much convincing to get Vincent to cut his hair, as he's grown more and more attached to it. He and I looked at several photos of guys' cuts, before settling on one. The stylist took off more from the back than we asked, but it still looks great.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty mellow. We ate lunch at home, and hung out there for a long time until dinnertime. Vincent chose to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, as we received a free birthday coupon for a kids' meal. He's sweet. He said, it'll help us save money.

It was so super crowded at the restaurant, and super cold and windy outside! We had a 15-20 minute wait, which wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, we didn't get to sit in the trolly, like the kids wanted. I've never seen this location so busy. Vincent finished his entire plate of spinach tortellini, what he always orders. The guys sang him "happy birthday" with his ice cream, and he was a happy kid.

Happy birthday to our sweet, sensitive, funny, active, loud, curious, smart, friendly, handsome 6 year old, Vincent!

Winter Solstice

Happy winter to all! It's the Winter Solstice today. Truth be told, I don't love this day, simply because I don't love winter. But, I don't dislike it either. It's the day before my first born child's birthday! And, it is a reminder that the days will only start to get longer from here forward.

Coincidentally, David and I planned a nice little day for us. 

It started as normal, with Vincent going to school. The difference today was that Vincent put on a dress shirt with a tie. He's been wanting such things since we went to see Nutcracker a couple weeks ago. I found both at Macy's last week and purchased them using a gift card he received for Christmas from his great-aunt, Angel. And, I took him to school instead of David. Vincent passed out Christmas gifts to his teachers, and I set off for home.

David and Tyler picked me up on the street, to my surprise, and we headed to the gym. David is taking 2 extra days off for the holiday so he has a 5-day weekend. Woohoo!

After our workout, we went up to Capitol Hill to find David a new pair of glasses and to have lunch at The Wandering Goose. Side note: it was tasty, but took a very long time to get our food.

Now, the real fun begins after Vincent returned home from school. At about 3pm, we set out for the Space Needle. David had the good idea of valet parking right outside the Needle. Not much spendier (with validation) than parking it somewhere on the street. We had a discount coupon to get up to the top to see the big man himself, Santa Claus! He was only going to be there until 5pm, so we made it for his last shift. And, what a beautiful afternoon it turned out to be!

Here's looking down to the northeast. Bottom left is the Gate Foundation, straight ahead is Lake Union, to the east of the lake is our neighborhood, and beyond, behind the clouds, are the Cascade Mountains.

The boys decorated a rocket cookie each while waiting for Santa, and ate them immediately. Tyler didn't finish his, and complained of a belly ache. Yeah, dude, too much sugar.

One of the "elves" asked the boys what they are going to ask Santa for. Vincent said, "A pedometer and a Power Rangers Mega Bloks set." She asked if he knows what a pedometer does, and he replied, "It counts your steps."

Tyler said he will ask for an airplane and a train.

And, the moment you've been waiting for! Space Santa!

And, this one's not too bad, either.

When we were all done with Santa and the pretty views, we headed down to the "Armory" aka the old Center House for dinner. The boys (David included) were super excited for MOD Pizza. I opted for poutine from Skillet Counter. Theirs was alright, but with all this poutine craze, I wish I had tried it years ago when I was in Montreal with Lucy. It did sound gross back then.

In the Armory, we also looked at the famous model train scene, and Vincent and Tyler got to control one of the trains for the first time.

 

Then, we moved on to look at the Winterfest ice rink they set up at the Seattle Center. Then, the boys ran to the big fountain where there was a giant lit up tree. And, since we'd gone this far, we kept going over to McCall Hall where "Nutcracker" is showing to see the large statues and to show David and Tyler what Vincent and I looked at a couple weeks ago (minus the show). The boys danced and acted out scenes from the ballet on the mini stage and took a picture in front of the tree.

 

When all was done and we were heading home, Tyler kept saying it was the best night. And, they kept asking if it was really late and commenting on how it seemed like a long night. Which brings us back full circle to Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year (hence, the "long" night").

Happy Winter Solstice! 

Vincent's 6th Birthday Party

 

We did Vincent's birthday party a week early at the karate studio he takes lessons. There were about 18 kids, including ours. Mr. Ness had two others to help with the party. They set up the tables and chairs, provided plates, napkins, and untensils, along with bottled water. Vincent seemed to have a great time, and was so happy to see his friends. His cake was a red velvet, which is his favorite. He takes after his parents, as both David and I love red velvet, too. For party favors, we had goodie bags with a ninja head band, a paper ninja star that I folded, a little sweet treat, and a little chubby ninja guy that Tyler calls "Big Fat Poley."

20 Weeks - Little Kicks

I have been feeling flutters in my belly for a few weeks now. This past week, they've been feeling more like little kicks. I love it. Just now, David put his hand on my belly and actually felt a little something, too!

To The Airpot

At the last minute, David and I decided to try getting to the airport by public transportation. It's probably the only time in the last 6 years & the next 2-3 years that we'll be able to accomplish such a thing. If not longer! At least, with kids in tow. And, it saved us about $100 in parking.

So, we did it. We gave ourselves plenty of time, and our packing up and getting ready went really well. Otherwise, if we were too pressed for time, we wouldn't have tried.

At 4:30pm, we headed out the door with the boys. Each kid had a small backpack and small rolling suitcase, as did each adult. We were all outfitted in rain gear, too. The kids were surprised to find out we were walking, and very excited about getting on the bus.

We had to walk to the freeway bus stop in the rain. That was the hardest part. It took us about 15 minutes. Once on the bus, we were under cover the remainder of the way.

The bus ride was easy. Then, getting the kids off the bus, through the rush hour crowd and on the to train was a bit tricky. The 45 minute ride was a bit crowded to start. People seemed annoyed by all our luggage. Oh well.

Once at the airport, we had to walk from the station to the terminal. It was pretty empty there and security was a breeze. We ended up with lots of time to spare. We got some mediocre airport pub fare, then browsed a book store, then waited. Delayed flight. Ugh.

By the time we touched down in LAX it was 11:30pm. Tyler would not fall asleep on the plane until 15 minutes before we landed. Vincent got about an hour of sleep, but woke with slightly wet pants and extremely cranky. They both slept during the car ride to the house. David and I got to bed a little after 1am.

AND, the kids woke at 7:35am today. Seriously?!

Halloween Is Finally Here!

The kids have been talking about Halloween since the first leaf turned yellow this year. It seems like it has been looming ahead of us F-O-R-E-V-E-R. We've had costumes, we've etched out a plan for trick-or-treating, now we just need the day to arrive. AND IT HAS!!

The day started off with taking the boys to school. Tyler had his school party yesterday, so he did not dress up today. Vincent was super excited to get into his costume - Red Power Ranger Samurai!!

 

The first graders and kindergartners did a quick parade through the main building of the school, then headed to recess. After lunch, they had a party in class. I helped with one of the games. School was dismissed 2 hours early today, due to teacher meetings.

We came home, met up with David and Tyler, and rested for the afternoon. At about 4:30pm, I made everyone eat an early dinner so we could head out right at dusk.

Here's the gang! 

 I dressed up as KiKi.

Dinner was this quiche and grilled cheese sandwiches.

We headed straight for "Trick or Treat Street" while it was still light out. Right away, we ran into a friend from Vincent's class. They were excited to go door-to-door together. By 6:30pm, the street was packed. The highlight was the house who converted their garage into the building from Monsters Inc., projected the movie in the background, and gave out handmade, mini stuffed monsters and full-sized candy bars.

We stopped at about 3-4 more houses on the walk back home, but made it back a little after 7pm, my goal. The boys sorted candy when they got home and got to eat about 3 pieces each.

Tyler's Halloween Party

Tyler's school had their Halloween party today, one day early. It must be because Wednesdays are 'Tumble Bus' days.

Ty got dressed in his costume, but was very shy when we got to school.

 

He brought home quite the booty, too!

Swim Class

We signed Vincent and Tyler up for swimming this fall. Vincent was taking it on Sundays, while Ty and I did it together on Mondays. I will be the first to admit that I did not enjoy this. 

First, the water's pretty cold. They have turned up the heat recently, but it's still chilling. 

Secondly, Tyler clings on to my arm for dear life. It's hard to do the stuff with him because he's so much bigger than the other, um, babies, and the class is geared toward the little little ones. His clinging makes it tough to help him move around.

So, for the second fall session, I moved him to Sundays. This new class is for kids his age, and parents do not get in with them. David will take them both. Vincent has a class, then they get a 30 minute break, and then Tyler has a class. And, the best part is that one of our favorite Seattle families, the Beatty's have their two older boys in the same classes, too. Woohoo!

14.5 weeks

This is feeling like the slowest pregnancy ever. I'm now at 14 and half weeks. Actually, almost 15 weeks. I do remember this being the stage in pregnancy when I'm not really showing too much, but just enough to make people wonder. I think my belly is looking pretty pronounced, and I feel big. My thighs are feeling thick. 

 

Definitely a little pooch, right?

In other news, Tyler was sick Sunday evening. Right before dinner, he started to throw up. He was a big mess. We gave him a bath, and he seemed much better, but after a few bites of his apple, he felt ill, again. Poor kid continued to puke off and on until about 8:30pm, when he finally feel asleep. We put him in his crib mattress on the floor of our room. Yesterday, I cancelled all plans for him and I so that we could lay low. He even missed his last swim lesson. But, he was fine all day. He didn't have much of an appetite, which was actually good, because I was afraid to feed him too much. Today, he seems to be back to himself. He ate breakfast quickly, which is unusual for him, and has pretty much been happy all day.

We had a sitter tonight so David and I could have dinner with an ex-co-worker of mine and her boyfriend. We went to Luc, and it was delicious. We all felt so full. Vincent apparently struggled while we were gone. Audrey said that when things were going well, they went very well, but he would get upset very easily during transitions. Like, from playing to dinner time, or time to get ready for bed, etc. I truly think he's still adjusting to his kindergarten schedule. That, and maybe he's catching a little something. I wouldn't be surprised as it's that time of year, and I seem to have (yet another) cold. I hope it's just that he's tired and not anything more. 

Wicked

This year, for my birthday, David got me tickets to see "Wicked" the musical. Tonight was the big night. We ate dinner at Cafe Presse, then scored good parking at the Grand Hyatt's parking lot, and enjoyed a fabulous show. I have to admit that there were some parts when I was ready for the song to be done, only because it was harder to understand the story line through singing than talking. All-in-all, though, it was enjoyable.

Look Who's In A Big Boy Bed!

Well, after all that big deal about Tyler sleeping on the floor and all, he's been upgraded!

We got the boys matching bed. Vincent gave Tyler his old Thomas sheets set, but they will both get to pick out a backup set. Here's Vincent's bed.

 

I Caved

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I want you all to know, that I gave Tyler back his mattress. 

David and I went into the boys' room around 11pm to take them to the bathroom, and Tyler was totally soaked. I know that had nothing to do with him being on the floor, but I felt bad. David took him to the bathroom, cleaned him up, and I took care of the bed. Rather than set up a new floor bed, I pulled his mattress back out and made it up for him. I didn't drag the crib out, since it would have created quite a ruckus, and since we'll be taking it apart, and temporarily stowing it, in a couple of days anyway. 

Tyler came back into the room, and was happy to see his new sleeping arrangement. He fell asleep instantly.

Crime and Punishment

Or, aka, Meanest Mom Ever...

I don't know, you can be the judge, I guess. Yes, I'm going to allow you to judge me, but just this once, okay?

Tyler has been kind of a monkey lately. Not a one of those generally chill kinds, like a gorilla or orangutan. More like a spider monkey. He's up, he's down, he's jumping, falling, rolling, flopping...You get the picture. This is mostly fine, but he's also combining climbing and jumping...off furniture. I'm not loving the idea of him jumping off stuff at the playground and such, either, but the furniture jumping is a big no-no in our house. 

It came to a head these past couple of days. There was jumping off Vincent's bed yesterday. Warning given. Then, jumping off the futon last night. Action taken: sitting him on the floor of the kitchen while I washed dishes, which he protested, and resulted in him sitting in the bathtub, while I talked to him about the importance of not jumping off furniture. He didn't like the idea of possibly getting wet with his clothes on. I can't believe I'm admitting all this. The truth is, I didn't really know how to handle this. At the end of the night, he promised not to jump off anymore furniture. I didn't think this would be a promise he could keep, but, again, I wasn't sure how to deal with this.

This morning, when the kids should have been getting dressed for the day, Vincent comes yelling, "Tyler jumped off his bed!" Okay, his bed is only half a foot off the ground. Clearly, pretty safe. BUT, it's also not made for jumping on. He's still in a toddler bed, but new beds are coming this week. That's the biggest dilemma of all, the new beds. We're afraid he'll jump off one of those, which is a couple feet off the ground. 

What to do? 

My only solution was to take the bed away from him all together. Which, I did. I put his bed frame and mattress in the closet (it didn't quite fit, so it's sticking out), vacuumed the kids' rug and floor very well, and set up a "bed" on the floor for Tyler to sleep. Yes, yes I did. At first, he looked at it and was kind of happy. Then, he actually got into "bed" and was very upset. Very, very upset. He cried, and cried, and pleaded for his bed back. I did my best to calm him, and explained to him why he has no bed. I didn't back down, but I wasn't mean about it (even though you may think it was mean of me to take the bed away). I gave him lots of hugs and kisses, and he's now asleep...still on the floor.

No School Today

Seattle Public Schools were closed today so that teachers can have one of those days where they still have to do work, but without kids. 

I originally had this plan to take the kids to visit Halina, but she was unavailable today. Next plan was a bit grand. I thought we could take the bus downtown, hop on a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and explore a bit. With rain on the forecast, I changed my mind.

We ended up taking the bus downtown, looking at books at Barnes and Noble, and watching a movie. The plan was "Finding Nemo," but when I found out it was starting later than planned, and $10 each (we've seen it already!), I changed the movie to "Hotel Transylvania." Also $10 each, but we've never seen it. Something about paying $30 to see something we've already seen, just cuz it's 3-D didn't appeal to me. Something new, on the other hand, and starting earlier than Nemo? Sold. Tyler wasn't thrilled at first, since he saw the preview and thought it might be scary. But, he trooped it out, and when it was over, he said, "I did like it!"

David met us for lunch. We opted for Gordon Biersch, since it was right there. S-l-o-w. And, we were all hungry. Eventually, we all ate. David walked us to the bus stop, and we saw our bus pull away while we approched. Luckily, the #43 runs often, and one showed up within a couple minutes.

We got home for a super late nap, but it was much needed. Vincent hung out quietly, and even drew Tyler a pretty detailed picture of a train.

The rest of the afternoon, I let the boys play PBS Kids games on my computer while I prepared dinner. We ate without David (he's working late), then I baked a small cake and cupcakes. The boys took a bath, read a book, and went off to bed.

It's been since school started that the boys and I have had a day like today. I think they were both happy to spend the time together. Vincent even said, "This was the best day ever, and the best dinner ever." Well, he says stuff like that often, but it must mean each time he says it, the day/dinner is better than the last best one. Right?

The boys asked a ton of questions on the bus ride downtown, and got a bit of attention from other riders. People sure get a kick out of those boys. Personally, I don't like strangers trying to talk it up with my kids, even if they're just being friendly. It makes me pretty uncomfortable. I'm right there with them, but I don't want them to think it'll be okay, too, if I'm not. Paranoid? We live in a decent sized city, and frankly, I've seen some whackos here. You bet I'm paranoid.

Homework

Along with kindergarten, Vincent has started back at Chinese school. This year, it's more intense. There's real homework. Not cheesy stuff like he had last year. This is the real deal. But, it's been tough for me to figure out how to incorporate it into Vincent's day. Especially, with little monkey boy, Tyler, hanging in the background. 

So, I've started copying activities for Tyler to do. And, as if he didn't have enough work already, I've added an extra writing exercise for Vincent, too. Tiger Mom, you say? Well, I think she was born year of the tiger, so that's not me. How about Dragon Mom? Ooh. Scarier.

 

Star Wars Spaceship?

Does this look like a Star Wars spaceship to you?

 Yeah, no, I didn't think so.

 

When asked what they thought this was a picture of, Vincent responded: "It looks like some kind of Star Wars ship!" I guess there is a funky PacMan-looking shape in the middle that might be its hand. Tyler muttered some odd made-up thing of what he thought it was.

 

Yes, we're having another baby!

What A Week!

Seriously, this was quite the week. Kindergarten, new preschool location and schedule, starting a new Chinese school, a Sounders game, swim lesson, birthday party...

Yeah, so Vincent started back at Chinese school on Saturdays. This year, he is attending a new school, called Tzu Chi Academy. I've been pretty excited to get him started here. He could have done it last year, but we had already been at the other school, so I figured we'd stick to that one. Unfortunately, that school didn't work out so well for us, and we pulled him out halfway through the year. I have confidence in this school. 

For one, my mom is a teacher for the Monrovia, CA, chapter. Secondly, they were a uniform. Third, Vincent's new teacher was so organized on Saturday. I received an email last week with a supplies list. Nice. I like being prepared, as does Vincent. He gets that from me. No wait, David likes being prepared, too. Ooh, double whammy!

Another cool thing about this school is there are two pretty decent sized playgrounds at the elementary school right next door. That means that I can bring Tyler with us and give David Saturday mornings off. Tyler won't be so bored out of his mind and driving me bonkers. And, nearby, there are yummy Chinese eats! I stopped there with my friend to pick up some lunch for Vincent and I. Vincent loved his food. I love when he loves his food, and I hear him going, "Mmmm, good," from the back of the car.

Right after Chinese school, we drove downtown to meet David and Tyler at Century Link Field for our first MLS game. Go Sounders! It was so fun! I'm totally a Sounders fan now. Vincent's kind of pumped about soccer, too. David's pumped for Vincent. And, Tyler, well, he acted like a crazy kid who couldn't sit still from being over-tired. He fell asleep in David's arms immediately after the game as we were walking down to meet the players. Yeah, Vincent spun this wheel and won a wristband to "Autograph Alley" where he got to meet 3 of the players, take pictures with them and get their autographs. Tyler slept through all of it, and continued to sleep all the way until we made it home. 

Today, I went to work at Mt. Townsend Creamery. David & the boys dropped me off, and then they went to Queen Anne to meet friends for Jon Hildebrandt's birthday brunch and football. Oh, and David got up early to go for a 6-mile run with Jayson! 

After the brunch, David took the boys to Vincent's first swim lesson (aside from the one he took when he was 6 months old) at 12:30pm. There, they ran into the Beatty's, who's kids were also taking lessons. "Mr. Beatty" is actually Jayson, David's morning running-mate! What a coincidence.

Then, a quick meal of pizza and video games at Pritty Boys, and Vincent was off at a birthday party at 2pm.

I got off work, took the bus to Capitol Hill to Lark, to wish Evan a happy birthday and drop off cupcakes to the staff. David picked me up there, and we went to pick up Vincent by 5pm.

Dinner was at the ale house. I was so hungry, and couldn't think of what to make for dinner. Frankly, I was in the mood for a burger with blue cheese and fries. Success.

After dinner, we came home, David stopped in for a few minutes, but was soon back out the door. He is now enjoying a nice, mellow concert at the Moore Theater, seeing The Tallest Man On Earth. Lucky! I wanted to go to this show, but didn't pull the trigger on planning it. A couple days ago, a friend of David's had an extra ticket. I've never met this friend, so David got to go. I'm glad one of us did.

I gave the boys each a bath, read them chapter 1 of Harry Potter (book 1), and put them to bed.

Now, rest.

It's Official, We Have A Kindergartner!!

Hey hey, first day of school! We all got up by 7:30am and within an hour, we were fed, dressed, and heading out the door to accompany Vincent to his new school. 

I have to say, Vincent sure was a cutie today! Oh, oh, sorry...he looked cool.

We were the second to arrive in class. This was a good thing because Vincent tends to have a harder time coming into a situation where there are already several other kids. It seems to overwhelm him, so it was nice he was able to have some space going into the class. He had tons of hooks to choose from for his backpack. He was the second lunchbox into the bin. And, he was the first to find a seat and "table top" activity. 

We knew a couple of kids that would be in class with him, but it turned out that a kid from his previous karate class is in this class, too. Right away, he knew who he wanted to sit next to, so he moved to a seat in between both of them. Before the bell rang, he was wondering if we were going to leave already. Well, okay, I guess so.

David took Tyler to school, while I stuck around to sign up for PTA volunteering stuff. Gosh, I really feel like a parent now. At 9:20am, all the kids came out to the schoolyard and we had a morning assembling. The principle introduced all the staff, and got the kids pumped for the new year. 

Tyler had a good second day of school. Tonight, at bedtime, he said to me, "Mommy, I love my school." Awww, that warms my heart. Seriously. I've been feeling bad that he wasn't going to Secret Garden, like Vincent, but I feel so good about this new school, and I'm relieved that he's so happy. He even has a favorite teacher.

I think tomorrow, I'm actually getting a full morning all to myself!!

The New School Year

I technically don't feel like we've really officially started school until Vincent's first day of kindergarten arrives (tomorrow!!). Nonetheless, it is the beginning of a new school year for our little Tyler. And, although he's been going to preschool for a few months now, this is like him officially starting preschool, since he started at the school mid-year for the previous school year. Am I making sense?

It's especially exciting for Tyler because his school opened a new location, a little further of a drive north, that we decided to move him to. It's such a beautiful, large space that they've created for the kids, with its own playground. We drove Tyler past there a couple weeks ago to see it, and he's been pretty happy to make the move.

Drop off this morning went smoothly. Vincent and I accompanied him there. This morning, Vincent, who had been going to the old location with Tyler two days a week over the summer, said to Ty, "Now Tyler, when you are all done with school today, I want you to tell me all about school, and what you did with Jayden." Um, I guess Jayden is this friend they made over the summer. And, after we dropped Tyler off, Vincent said to me, "Aw, Mama, I wish I could go to school there, too." I reminded him that he's starting kindergarten, and he quickly changed his mind.

Here's Tylie with the giant bear and little bear. He has on his "indoor" shoes. He said he had a good day, and was very happy at pick up.

As for Vincent, he and I had the morning together. We came home and played a board game. Then, I let him play on my old computer while I checked email. At 11am, we walked over to the school to find out Vincent's class assignment:

Not that this means anything to anyone except the families with these kids, and their teacher. He will know one girl, and be forced to know one boy (his mom is my friend). Well, no, we won't force him, but I'm happy the other boy is in his class.

After we checked out his classroom, I let him play on the playground for a while. My eyes started to well up as I watched him playing. He wasn't playing with any other kids, but just enjoying himself. He was climbing on this arched monkey bars thing, and when two other kids got in his way, he carefully, and patiently, worked his way around them. It made me realize how far we've come the last 5 3/4 years.

We stopped at Target to get a couple of last school supplies, and then had a quick lunch before picking Tyler up from school.

After nap/quiet time, I took the boys to Madrona playground to meet up with old friends, the Mahoneys. We haven't really seen them all summer. It was so fun to catch up, and see the kids pick up where they left off. 

Tomorrow, we will have a kindergartener. 

Last Days of Summer Break

Ah, the final days of summer before starting a new school year - the first "real" school year. What did we do?

Saturday, Sept. 1 - This was our first, and probably last, Saturday that we didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be. I take it back, we had a couple of things to do, but no major commitments.

We lounged around the house for a long time, then took the kids to Rejuvenation in SoDo to look for hardware for our windows. Fun, huh? Then, we stopped at Costco. The kids filled up on samples, so there was no need to stop for lunch before going home. Instead, we came home and fixed some food here.

For dinner, we fired up our new charcoal grill and had delicious steak.

Isn't she a beauty?

Sunday, Sept. 2 - I went to work in the morning. 

David took the boys to QFC's "Coinstar" machine to cash in the kids' loose change. It was so cute. They both went through their money banks. Vincent had a bunch of dollar bills from his weekly allowance, and counted those up. He had $10 and was so excited to find out that the new Lego catalog showed the green ninja sold individually for $10. He stood up and cheered, "Yay! I can buy just him and I don't need to ask Santa for that big set anymore!" He also gathered all his loose change and put those in a baggie to take to Coinstar. Tyler only had coins, but set aside some that he wanted to save, and bagged up the rest. 

So, they went to the Coinstar machine, got their dollars, and went to Bellevue Square to the Lego store. Unfortunately, Green Ninja (Lloyd) was sold out! Vincent did find a stumpy Ninjago snake for $5, and Tyler opted to save his money.

The boys picked me up from work, and David took them to the playground while I got ready for a wedding we were going to.

Then, there was the wedding. So wonderful. Our friends, Cameron and Serafina, after 10 years together, got married. It was such a beautiful ceremony and space. And, we came home with these pictures:

Monday, Sept. 3 - The kids hung out in their pjs until just before lunch time. They asked us why they weren't dressed, yet. We let them veg out while we got the house ready for a Labor Day BBQ in our backyard. We were debuting the new grill.

It was a fun time. We had kalbi steak tacos, garlic-lime marinated tacos, and coconut-lime chicken tacos. People brought lots of delicious food to share. Oh, and I made my first "ranch" dip from scratch. It was more like a creamy dill, but whatever. It was good. Especially with potato chips. Mmmm, love me some potato chips. 

We had a small pinata for the kids, too. They each got a turn taking a whack at it, and Oliver, the biggest kid of all, took it down. It didn't break open, so David just pick it up, pulled it open, and sprinkled the kids with candy.

Tomorrow, Tyler starts at his preschool's new location, and Vincent and I will have the morning together. He will find out who is kindergarten teacher is, and his classmates.

Happy End O' Summer To All!!