Julia's first day of preschool!

Yesterday (8/25/10) was Julia's first day of preschool! I signed her up for the Monday/Wednesday preschool class at the Simi Valley Adult School. The preschool is a co-op, which means that I attend class on Mondays with her to work in the classroom (doing whatever the teacher needs me to do) and then on Wednesdays I drop her off at 9am and pick her up at 12pm.

The first day was just an hour long so that the kids could get aquainted with the classroom and with the teacher. Julia did great that first day. She loved the classroom and played the entire time. I'll have to see how next week goes because it's the start of the normal schedule. I'm not sure how she will do when I try to drop her off. The teacher said she would call me if Julia was unconsolable, but I am going to keep trying to drop her off on Wednesdays and *hopefully* soon she will get used to it.

Micah's first day of 1st grade!

Yesterday (8/25/10) was Micah's first day of 1st grade! He had been excited to go back to school to see all of his old friends from Kindergarten. He was happy because 4 boys from his Kindergarten class were also going to be in his 1st grade class.


His first day went great! We got there early and he was able to see all of his old friends and find his lineup space for class. This year Micah is in school from 8:10am until 2:18pm! He has a full day. He said he really liked his classroom and his teacher.


I can't believe how fast Micah is growing up!!

Conversation with Julia

ME: Julia, you are so beautiful!

JULIA: You're so bootiful (beautiful) too, Mommy!

ME: And you're so smart!

JULIA: You're so smart too, Mommy!

ME: And Daddy is so smart too!

JULIA: No Mommy! Daddy is NOT a girl!

Paint n' Pals

Today the kids and I went to Pain N' Pals with our neighbor Ingrid and her two kids, Joshua and Jordyn. They had so much fun! All the kids got to paint first and then they played around for 2 more hours! They also got to sing kereoke and had SOO much fun doing that!

Natural History Museum

Yesterday I took the kids to the Natural History Museum. Micah and Julia both really enjoy going to museums and they are always extremely well behaved in them. They had a lot of fun! When we got there, the first thing we did was watch the Dinosaur encounter. They have a huge dino puppet come out and they teach the kids about the T-Rex. Micah and Julia both loved it! Julia was a little scared at first, but once I told her that it wasn't a real dinosaur, she was ok. After that we walked around the rest of the museum. Micah's favorite exhibits were of the dinosaur and marine mammals fossils. Julia's favorites were the dinosaurs as well. However, most of their dinosaurs are taken down for now because they are re-doing the dinosaur exhibit. I told them I would take them back next year when it is up again. We spent about 4hrs. walking through the entire museum. The kids had a great time there!

Swimming with my cousins!

On Tuesday we went to my moms house to celebrate Gio's 14th birthday! Micah and Julia were so excited because they LOVE playing with their cousins. They had a great time and swam most of the afternoon. Micah is doing SO well with his swimming! He can swim across the entire pool now. Julia also loves being in the water. They would stay there all day if they could!

Reptile Family

Today I took Micah and Julia to the Reptile Family show at the Simi Valley library. We got there early and were able to sit front row. The show lasted for about an hour and they brought out a lot of reptiles! Micah got to volunteer durring the show, and he held a big lizard (I forgot the real name of it) with another little boy. Julia wasn't interested in volunteering, but she really enjoyed watching the reptilles with Micah.

The Deep End!

Micah has been working hard this summer on his swimming. He has been practicing every time we are at my moms house and has been doing SO well! This past weekend Micah and Julia spent the night at my moms house and Micah gained enough confidence to swim in the deep end! He had been too scared to try it before - but this time, my mom said he went easily when she asked if he wanted to. He swam the entire length of the pool and then jumped into the deep end and swam to the side. VERY exciting!

Fishing!

Last Friday Kenji and I took the kids to Castaic Lake to go fishing. It was the first time the kids have ever gone. We got there around 10:30am and we were there until about 2:00pm. No one had any luck catching fish, but the kids had fun trying! Micah was learning how to cast his own fishing pole, and with a little bit more practice, he'll get it soon! Julia had her own Dora The Explorer fishing pole, but she was too afraid to really put it in the water because she was afraid the fish were going to steal it! Around 2pm the kids were getting tired and were ready to leave, so we headed home. Next time we go fishing, I think we will try renting a little boat because thats where most of the people seemed to have luck catching fish.

Huntington Botanical Gardens

Yesterday the kids and I went to the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino with our neighbor Ingrid and her two kids, Joshua and Jordyn. Micah and Julia had a lot of fun and were happy to have their friends along too. Micah and Joshua are the same age and Julia and Jordyn are about a year apart in age. The kids had a great time walking throughout the gardens. Micah and Julia's favorite part was the Children's Garden, where they got to play in little water fountains. It was perfect because it was such a hot day! They also really enjoyed the Chinese gardens. It was so beautiful! We also got to walk through the Huntington Library. Micah enjoyed the Solar System exhibits the best. And Julia was happy to see statues of the Greek Gods because her new favorite movie is "Percy Jackson, Lightning Theif". That movie is about Greek Gods and their children - so she was excited to see them in the library.

Dragon Boat races

Yesterday (8/1/10) Kenji, the kids and I went to Long Beach to watch Siori and Fermins Dragon Boat races! It was a lot of fun! The races are at a great beach for the kids, so they got to play in the water and sand from 11am - 5pm while we watched the racing. The kids were EXHAUSTED by the end of the day! They played the entire time! I don't think they sat down for more than 5 minutes that whole afternoon. We really enjoy watching Siori and Fermin race and we can't wait to go back next year!