Beginning of Another School Year

It's hard to believe another school year is upon us. Andy has started his second year at Pine Lake Coop Preschool a couple of weeks ago and is completely enjoying it. He is still in the afternoon class with several of his friends from last year plus a few new faces. Not only is he learning a new teacher and schedule, but so is mom as I am working in his class again.
Andy is in class for two and a half hours and enjoying free choice time, snack time, a longer circle time and recess. He is really excited to be back in school with his friends and ready for more fun.

Second Harvest of the Season

Andy's little garden is a growing at grandma's house. Recently we were over for dinner and grandma had informed Andy and his cousin that some of the tomatoes they were growing were ready to be picked. So after dinner the boys, with the help of grandma, picked out a couple of red, ripe tomatoes to take home.
Here they are proudly displaying their new produce. I enjoy fresh tomatoes from the garden so this is definitely a treat for me. I know that Andy has sure enjoyed learning all about growing fresh veggies this summer. Grandma's yard is much more conducive to growing a vegetable garden as she gets more direct sunlight than we do, but she has a secret weapon against the deer. She has a motion sensor sprinkler that starts shooting off a steady stream of water if you get in the way.
I'm not sure how many more warm, sunny days we will have in September, so hopefully the tomatoes will continue growing and ripening.

The OC

For Labor Day weekend this year, Mike and I along with the boys headed to Southern California to see family and friends. One of our friends was getting remarried, so we decided to go to the wedding and make it a family vacation.

One of our destinations was to see Mike's aunt and uncle who live in the valley. They have a hot tub and swimming pool that we were able to make use of for a few minutes. The boys had a lot of fun splashing and trying not to drown themselves. Aaron has not had any sort of swimming lessons yet, but he didn't seem bothered by the few times he went under. Luckily both dad and Uncle Tom were always within reach of the little swimmer.

The wedding took place in San Juan Capistrano somewhat up the hillside with an absolute beautiful view of Dana Point and the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful wedding and a great time to catch up with some friends and meet the people who surround our friends with love since they live away from us now.

On Labor Day was Mike's birthday and what better way than to spend some time at the beach playing in the sand and surf. We spent the morning playing at Laguna Beach and enjoying the warm sunshine.

The surf was a bit scary for Aaron so he stuck his head in the sand. Aaron wanted to walk along the beach, steal other people's sand toys and people watch which mom would have gladly joined him, but I didn't want to get too far from Mike and Andy.

Mike and Andy spent a good portion of their time running in and out of the water. I won't tell you that a certain someone forgot to put sunscreen on himself and came home a lobster.

After a yummy birthday dinner at Chili's, we stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some snacks for the trip home and I also picked up these ice cream cookie sandwiches in lieu of the birthday cake. The bon bons were chocolaty and everyone enjoyed them, especially Aaron.

Tuesday morning, after breakfast we had some time to play in the hotel pool before needing to get ready and packed up to come home. Since we had about an hour and a half drive back to LAX, we took our time driving back and stopping at a few places. One of those stops was the Harley Davidson dealer in Anaheim. All my boys enjoyed the various types of motorcycles and looking at all the gear.


I will say that air travel with two boys has always been an adventure and this trip was no different. The loud engines completely freak Aaron out so he screamed taking off and landing on both legs of the trip. Once we are airborne he is usually fine although you must have enough snacks to pacify the child and toys to play with. Andy is and always has been a rock star traveling. I'm hoping that Aaron will someday get there. However, poor dad got the worst of the trip. Andy wanted to sit by dad and we had the aisle seat and then all three seats across the way. This was great for mom who for once got to sit by herself and read. Unfortunately, Aaron ate something that caused a reaction and he puked all over himself. Luckily, I had packed extra pants, but didn't have any extra shirts for the boys. Aaron seemed totally unfazed by the whole matter, but Mike somewhat freaked out and mom sat on the other side and tried really hard not to laugh. Everyone got cleaned up and we just picked out a shirt of the luggage when we got to SeaTac.

Everyone agreed it was a great trip. We were able to eat at In-N-Out Burgers, Boston Market, Chick-fil-A, Chili's, Carl's Jr. and Sonic. Otherwise known as all the restaurants the Seattle area does not have. Okay, there is a Carl's Jr, but it's like an hour's drive away and not anywhere we normally go. Next time we head to the OC, maybe we will do Disneyland. So which grandparents want to come for that trip?

A Night Out At The Baseball Game

One summer Friday evening, Mike and I took the boys to the baseball game. Of course the catch was the Seattle Mariners were giving away the second commercial dvd and since we have the first one, we most definitely needed the second one. Surprisingly, the weather was a bit on the cool side but it didn't seem to bother anyone.

At the beginning of the game, the view from our seats.

Andy and Mike enjoying the game together. It cracks me up how Andy wears his glasses some days, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much if he looks over his glasses rather than through them. We took our own dinner into the game and Andy munched on chips and cookies for most of the evening. I could not believe the entire bag of Doritos was gone by the 6th inning.

And of course, my little Aaron with cookie crumbs all over his face. Aaron was more interested in seeing the trains than watching the baseball game. We happen to sit closer to the train tracks and according to Mike, this was the first time Aaron had figured out there were trains nearby.

Overall, it was a fun family outing to see our local major league baseball team. The M's had a better season this year, but unfortunately didn't make it into the playoffs. Oh well, there is always next year.

Big Brothers

While Nana and Papa were here, Mike and I found out that we will be adding to our little family. Yes, Aaron will become a big brother in April and no, we are not finding out the sex of the baby. Everyone will find out next spring what God will bless us with.

Nana & Papa Came to Visit

I think one of the best parts of our summer was the visit from Nana and Papa. Nana's sister, my Aunt Linda and my cousin, Melissa and her little guy also came for a visit. They were here for a week and a half of fun, sight seeing and catching up.

Most mornings were spent sleeping in and just enjoying the company. Aaron found the Darth Vader mask and was walking around screaming at each person and I snapped a photo of him and my cousin's little guy playing with each other and that silly mask.

Papa wanted to see the Orca whales that come visit us in Washington each summer. We spent a day driving to Anacortas to catch the ferry to Friday Harbor, walked around Friday Harbor for a couple of hours, grabbed some yummy seafood lunch and then caught the whale watching boat. The boys had a lot of fun spending time inside the boat while we cruised around Puget Sound looking for the whales. We ended up right outside Vancouver Island, Canada to see the whales and it was just amazing.

The tour guides had binoculars for the children to use and Andy had fun trying to use them to see out, but I'm not sure how much he really saw, but he enjoyed himself.

The boys also received their joint birthday gift while Nana and Papa were here. My parents bought the boys a helicopter that is a climbing, teeter toter toy for them to use outside. Aaron wanted to help Papa when he put it together and it was rather cute watching him help.

The one place that seems to be a must see when you come to Seattle is visiting Pike Place Market. We took the crew down to the waterfront to see the market and see if my dad would actually purchase any salmon. We chose not to use the stroller with Aaron because the market can become very crowded and it's easier to be stroller free with the crowds. Aaron rode on Mike's shoulders for awhile and I'm glad I got a picture of the joy of my two guys hanging out together.

Overall it was a great visit and I am so glad my parents, aunt and cousin were able to come. Everyone had a great time and it won't be long before we get to see them again.