Graduation

 

The day has come - GRADUATION! I cannot believe it. The wonderful teachers at the Mount have helped raise our little girl. She now solves her own problems on the play ground- understands how to wait her turn - knows how to clean up and care for her self. We have loved the program and how it has focused on the social emotional aspects of raising children.

 

 

But it has not just been the teachers- also all the families that we now know through the Mount. Parents that have helped us raise this little gal- all looking out for each other's kids. Luckily- we will all stay connected being so close in West Seattle.

 

 

And now- Lilly is ready for Kindergarten. She "can't wait to sit in a desk" and "try out the new centers". She is ready to meet new friends and learning new things. 

Some Like It HOT!

After Disneyland our real "vacation" moved to Palm Desert at Mariott's Shadow Ridge Resort.  Great place- very spacious accommodations and right across from the pool and kids center.  Pool has a great waterslide that both kids love.  The weather has been awesome - started in the high 80s and has moved to low 100s as the week progressed.  We did a lot of fun things in between pooltime- the Living Desert Museum (think of a zoo) complete with giraffe feeding and a wildlife show; exploring Plam Springs and going to a movie (Epic); and lots of quality family time.  On Thursday Dad went exploring Joshua Tree National Park and later that afternoon cousins Jessica & Lawrence and the twins Eloise and Andersen came to visit (they coincidently had a work retreat at a nearby hotel!).  We ended up hanging out all day Friday and did the Palm Springs Tram up to Mt San Jancito State Park.  This was a highlight- takes you up to 8500 ft to a beautiful and mountainous pine forest with hiking trails.  We ended up doing a 1.5 mile hike with gorgeous views of the Coachella Valley followed by burgers and beer when we got back down to the valley.  The Jepson family joined us Friday night nad enjoyed a relaxing pool day on Saturday before reality rearing its ugly head and heading back home Sunday.  Speacial thanks to Bobbie and Larry for taking us to lunch our first day and letting us borrow so many fun toys for the week!!!

Grandpa Fred

I don't know many people that are as fortunate as me to have a 98.5 year old grandpa who has all of his whits about him! He shared family reunion memories with us- recounted the last Angles baseball game- and told Lilly that she was going to do great in kindergarten! Grandpa Fred has a real will to live- after a scare last winter from a stroke- he is continuing to persist onward. No longer walking the 1-2 miles a day- but somehow with the same great humor. It was a real treat. Lilly was able to perform all of her graduation songs and skits. Barbara and him were quite impressed. (so were we!).

more disney

It was so much fun living through our kids. . .at Disney. What a wonderful unexpected surprise. Thanks to our friend Jeremy Jepson- who gave us tickets. He made it much more manageable with young kids. It was amazing watching the magic through them. The parades were my most favorite part!  I have a few more pictures I want to make sure we share.

California Adventure

The second day of our trip was dedicated to Disney's California Adventure (located across from Disneyland).  This was a new "adventure" for everyone- as Mom & Dad hadn't visited before.  It definitely rivaled Disneyland for rides and things to do- it used the Pixar characters (Toy Story; Bug's Life; Cars) for many of its rides and events.  It had a grand parade (which of course we watched) and shows/movies- maybe the biggest highlight was a Broadway-like musical of Aladdin.  The rides were very cool - Soarin' California (hanglider simulator); Radiator Springs Raceway (Cars); Grizzly River Run and Its Tough to be a Bug were our favorites- Mickey's Fun Wheel not so much :).  We hung tough for 12 hours before deciding to bail before the Color Show started (we'll see it next time).  Two days was plenty of fun for everyone (as well as Mom & Dad's wallets)- we're ready for our real "vacation" to start in Palm Springs...

Disneyland

We did it!  We surprised the kids the afternoon before at the airport and woke up bright and early in the morning and hit Disneyland as the gates opened up.  All in all we spent 11 hours at the park- no naps and many many treats later.  We did most of the rides in the morning and slowed down in the afternoon and enjoyed the big parade down Main Street and meetimg some of the Disney characters.  Highlights were Pirates of the Carribbean (Hen's favorite and also scariest); the Jungle Ride; Buzz Lightyear; the Materhorn (Dad & Lilly only); Star Tours (Dad & Lilly only) the cars (Lilly actually got to drive!) and a trip down nostaglia lane for Mom & Dad with It's A Small World.  It was a full day- both exhausting and memorable.

Art Show

The Mount is putting on an art show in which each one of the Bug Room students' art pieces is professionally matted and framed  and then put on display in the main hallway.  Next week there will be a silent auction (we'll miss out due to vacation) as a fundraiser- we already put our bid in (starting bid is $90 - wow!).  Lilly's piece is called "My Monkey in the Snow" - catch her signature in the top righthand corner.