First Day of First Grade!!

Our little Owen started first grade this year; I guess that doesn't make him so little anymore! I can't believe how quickly time flies! I think it was just yesterday that I was taking his first day of kindergarten pictures and just last week that I remember bringing him home from the hospital...

Well, no more nostalgia! Here he is being silly before we walked to school.

His teacher this year is Ms. Porter, who the principal swears to me is not anything like the teacher he had last year-this is a good thing. So far, he says school has been kind of boring (going over rules, reviewing stuff from last year, etc.) but he seems to be doing alright! No crying after school that he doesn't want to go back or trying to stay home in the morning because he doesn't like his teacher. Phew!

The bad thing is he doesn't have very many friends from his class last year, but he will just have to be good at making new friends! And he does get to see his old friends on the playground in the morning, at recess, and at lunch. I think he'll be just fine.

More silly faces from Owen---I couldn't get him to make a normal face all day!

That night we went out to dinner, our first day of school tradition. That way he can tell Scott (he has already told me) about his teacher, his classroom and his friends. Going out to eat makes it seem special instead of just repeating the same things he already told to me. Owen loves to eat and eat and eat; and he can never seem to make up his mind what he wants. Solution?? Eat at Souplantation! Then he can get what he wants, as much as he wants, and still have an ice cream cone at the end of it all.

And a silly one of Emme---why not!??! Everyone else got a silly face picture. (Oh, and she is wearing her new "first day of school" outfit. Couldn't have her feeling left out, right?)

The ice cream cones he loves. Had to do something funny here too!

El Matador

Ahhh...one of our last adventures of the summer.

We asked Owen what kind of adventure he wanted to do (beach, mountains, museum, etc.) and he voted for another beach exploration. On this little adventure we found one of the most beautiful beaches in Southern California---El Matador State Beach! On our way up there (it is just north of Malibu before you enter Ventura County) we stopped in Malibu for lunch at a local cafe sorry I can't remember the name of the cafe but the burrito I had was awesome!) and grabbed some drinks to take to the beach. I did a little research on El Matador before we went there and I was a little concerned about how we would get down to the beach...everything on Yelp stated that you have to walk down a really steep path, then some stairs, more steep path and then more steep stairs. Reviews all said to not carry too much stuff down, since you have to carry it out all back out, etc., etc., etc...but you know what?!??! It wasn't that bad at all! If little 2 1/2 year old, 23 pound Emme can walk down and back up the path on her own, then all those people online are wimps! After spending all afternoon at the beach we drove back home through Malibu, stopping to get ice cream at another local little place (where Scott found one of his favorite childhood ice cream flavors). Another fun day---next time we go to this beach we want to take some friends with us too---no point in finding something amazing if you don't share it with others, right??

Scott and Owen exploring.

Emme loved digging in the sand!

Can you tell how HUGE this rock is? Owen is so little standing right next to it!

Our little beach babies.

 

 

Owen destroying one of his beach castles (Emme called them "temples" not "castles")

I love my family!!

Our family is growing...

I know I haven't posted in a couple months and so much has happened since then! I haven't taken pictures of everything, but here are a few of the going-ons around here lately!

Oh, and I guess I should mention that we are having another baby! Baby is due January 19th (I am a little over 16 weeks right now---almost halfway!) and the kids are both pretty excited. However, one of them will be a little disappointed seeing as Owen wants a brother and Emme wants a sister (but I think she would be happy with a brother too. She just likes babies.). We will be finding out in a few weeks and we'll let everyone know then!

Ultrasound at 9 weeks.

Another day at the beach

I love living in SoCal! We have the beach just 15 minutes away (it's actually less then 5 miles, but with traffic it takes a little while to get there!) and we try to go there as often as we can. The kids love the sand and the waves, catching sand crabs and collecting shells. And Owen has gotten braver and has even let Scott take him out on a bodyboard lately. (We tried to get him to take surf lessons instead of swim lessons this summer but he said he wasn't ready for that yet. Maybe next year.) Here's some pictures from one of our most recent trips.

Getting out is the hardest part for Owen. I think he needs to grow a little!

Coming in off the wave.

One of their favorite things to do...

...the end result!

Swim Classes

Both the kids have been swim class this summer. Owen is on his 3rd year of classes and is sooo much better than even just last summer. This was Emme's first time and she started talking about swim class a month before we even started; she was so excited to take classes like her brother! Emme, however, is not old enough to take classes on her own yet, so I got to join her in the Parent and Me swim class. Scott and I are thrilled that our kids love the water and are so comfortable around it.

Jumping in!

Working on his backstroke.

Emme swimming underwater from her teacher to me.

Showing daddy how much she loves swimming!

Flips

Owen and Emme LOVE to do flips on the couch. Scott and I are always telling them to stop flipping and jumping on the couch, but they just don't want to listen. I think we need a big backyard so we can buy a giant trampoline for them. Maybe then my couches won't be falling apart!

 

Emme still needs to work on her technique...she kind of dives in stead of flipping.

Fishing!

Back in July we went with our friends Jeramie and Valerie Alba and their kids Jacob and Tyler to Mt. Baldy Trout Farms. Our boys really wanted to go fishing and this place doesn't require a fishing license. We let all 4 kids catch their own fish (which took about 3 minutes combined!) then walked across the road to this awesome creek where we went swimming and had a picnic lunch.

The next day we went to the Alba's house for fish tacos! We had a great time and we'll have to take the kids fishing again---maybe real fishing next time. You know, try and teach the kids some patience! (Owen commented on the way home how he thought fishing would be harder! Ha ha!)

Owen and Tyler scouting out the fish pond.

Owen's first catch!!

So proud of his fish.

Of course once she saw Owen do it, Emme had to have a turn too!

She wanted to hug her fish but was a little scared of how wiggly it was. I think she thought she would get to keep it as a pet, not eat it in tacos the next day!

Where we played in the water.

Emme testing out the water.

The boys exploring.

Armed Forces Day

Every year around Memorial Day the city of Torrance hosts an Armed Forces Day Parade that Owen LOVES!! The night before the parade you can walk around and meet the soldiers, see tanks and helicopters, watch bomb disabling robots and see real (but not active) missiles. Lots of pretty cool stuff.

Owen and Tennyson in the helicopter.

Shooting from the top of the tank. Owen needs a grow a little  more though!

Don't get used to driving this thing Owen, we found out they get horrible gas mileage.

This year Owen wanted to invite his friends Tennyson and Asher to come along. They had a great time, including the dads. (The boys enjoyed it more than Emme; she was only kind of interested.)

Sea World Adventure

 We had an awesome trip to Sea World on Wednesday! Scott has some great clients, Robert and Cecille, whose son is a trainer at Sea World. They got us free tickets and Dana, their son, gave us a behind the scenes look at the Arctic exhibit. It was an amazing day that Owen has not stopped talking about!

On the way down to San Diego we passed Camp Pendleton and Owen was so thrilled to see military tanks driving on the side of the freeway. Then 5 minutes later 2 fighter jets flew right overhead.

Once we got to Sea World the kids were so thrilled!!! We did everything you can possibly do; went to all the aquariums and tidepools, saw the Sea Lion show, Shamu show, and the Dolphin show (that also had some cool birds). We walked through every exhibit and rode rides at Bay of Play. 

The most amazing thing was our tour with Dana. We got a feed and pet a 3500 pound Walrus named Obie. He is too large and blind to be out in the front, so not many people even get to see him. Then we saw where they keep the polar bears at night; did you know that the same people who build prisons build polar bear enclosures? They are so huge and can be so dangerous that they don't take any risks! Then we got to meet Nanuk and Ferdinand, 2 awesome Beluga Whales. Nanuk did not want to come over but we got to pet Ferdinand, even Emme! How many 2 and 6 year olds get to do that?!?! They feel kind of like hard boiled eggs. Squishy, slippery and really cold. It was so great and I hope that Owen doesn't ever forget the once in a lifetime experience he got to have. ( I am sure that Emme will forget, but that's what pictures are for! There are couple of videos as well, but Blogger isn't letting me put them on right now.)

On the way home from our fun-filled and exhausting day, we stopped at the San Diego temple. Such a beautiful temple! It looks like a princess castle and the kids both thought it was so pretty. I love being able to take my kids to the temples that we live by--Scott and I both want them to know how important temples are and we like to expose them to as many as possible! 

Feeding Obie. He sucks the fishes up like spaghetti noodles!

He also gives you kisses when you put your hand to his lips.

Helping Emme pet Ferdinand. Such an awesome animal!!

Waiting for Shamu.

Funnel cake---yummy

Owen loved Obie so much he drew a picture with sidewalk chalk the next day.

Such an amazing day. I am so happy to have my wonderful family and I love spending time with them...

Getty Villa

On Monday my sister Kylee, Emme and I took a little trip out to Malibu to visit the Getty Villa. Kylee had to visit a museum for one of her classes and the Villa is one that I have wanted to go to for a long time. So we tagged along.

This place is so beautiful!!! The whole museum is focused on ancient Greece and Rome. The architecture, the gardens, the endless statues, coinage, jewelry and furniture. They even have a couple statues there from Pompeii! Everything was so amazing; it almost makes me wish I had lived back then. Well, only if I could have been in one of the wealthy families of course.

Emme with her silly smile. Almost every room or garden we went into, she would say "This is neat!"

Same garden from the opposite angle.

Roman Holiday, anyone?

Emme wanting to feel the water in the central courtyard.

One of the pieces uncovered in Pompeii.

Sarcophagus. Amazing detail on this one--told the story of Achilles.

Look at how much detail!! This little cameo piece is about the size a thumbnail.

You know how Olympic champions get to wear those beautiful wreaths on their head? This is where that comes from! At the ceremony they would wear actual laurel wreaths but this one, made from real gold, was probably presented to the family of an athlete at their death.