1st Day of Preschool

Today was Owen's first day of Pre-K.  He technically qualifies for regular kindergarten this year, but I felt like he needed an extra year, especially because kindergarten is from 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.  In my book, that is WAY too long for kindergarten.  He didn't qualify for the Transitional kindergarten class put on by the district (which is more like how kindergarten used to be), so we opted for the best little at home preschool run by a few ladies from church.  The teachers are as sweet as can be and even set up a little photo op for today.

I am happy to report that there were ZERO tears shed today.  He only had a "tickling feeling" in his tummy.  My boy is really growing up and I'm so proud of him.  Lexie, however, cried when Owen didn't come back into the car with us.  I think it was harder on her than it was on him.

We couldn't leave Lexie out.

Lexie Lately

Here's Lexie before church one morning.  She was putting on her "lip gloss."

 

I love having a daughter.



Happy Birthday To OWEN

 

Owen is now 5!!  In the morning he opened his presents and we went to the donut shop.

 

Then we surprised him with a trip to Chuck E Cheese.

 

Here he made a bouncy ball with his new gross science kit.



 

Uncle Michael joined us for a special birthday dinner.

 

 

 

The following Saturday, Owen had a BOY dinosaur party!  There are about a million girls in Owen's class at church, so given the size of the living room, we opted to just invite the boys. (Although there were a few exceptions for little sisters and cousins). It was a lot of fun!

 

 The volcano cake - I told Rick what I wanted, and he made it happen.  :-)

 

McKennan and Owen- These two are becoming good buddies.

 

 

 Lynnlee and Lexie

 

 

Finding eggs on the dino egg hunt

 

Checking out their loot

 

 

Happy Birthday, Owen!!  Mom and Dad love you so much!!  You are so much fun to be around and you are so kind to others.  You always know how to make your sister smile and you are growing up to be such a smart, sweet boy.  No wonder all the girls want to marry you.  :-)

Disneyland

Thanks to Auntie Hannah, we were able to have a DISNEY day!!  We all had a blast.  I'm sorry, but no matter how old I am, I still get excited going to Disneyland. It was pretty crowded, so we did some things that are a little less popular, but were still fun for the kids.

Riding the Carousel.  She cried when it was time to get off.  We had to pry her fingers off the golden pole.  Seriously.

 

Eating cotton candy (Owen's absolute FAVORITE treat at Disneyland) and waiting for the "Mickey and the Magical Map" show to start.  The show was SO GOOD.  They haven't had a show there that good for awhile.

 

Innoventions - one of Owen's favorites, of course, because we told him it is a science building.  Iron man is Owen's favorite super hero, so Rick told Owen to stand in front of the Iron Man suit for a picture.  Lexie walked over right away and posed.  Owen didn't want to go near it.  After talking, he told me that he was afraid that when his back was turned it would, "come alive". 

After some reassurance, he joined the picture, too.

And here's another shot of all the Iron Man suits from the movies.  It was pretty cool.

 

THANK YOU, Hannah for helping us out!  We had a blast and made lots of fun memories!

Legoland

We've been trying to make the most of the summer before Rick started school again, so we of course hit up Legoland.  Ironically, we went there AFTER we moved from Carlsbad.  I'm still not sure how that one ended up happening, but it did.  Since Lexie is still too little for most of the rides there, basically I hung out with her while Rick and Owen hit up all of the rides.  Owen loved spending so much time with Rick.  It was a fun day!

Here we are in front of a life-size star wars space ship made of out LEGOS.  That is way too many legos. I would not have the patience.

Owen looks so small next to Chewy.  I couldn't get him to stand next to Darth Vader.  I think he was a little nervous that he might come to life.

 

We ended the day with Sea Life Aquarium.

 

 

Home Tour - Carlsbad Condo

For those of you who never got to see our house in Carlsbad, here is a quick photo tour. We lived at this cute condo community that had a little gym, playground and pool. We were super close to the ocean and could see a tiny sliver of it from the balcony.  We were also super close to Costco and could see the entire parking lot from the balcony.  :-)  Anyway, come on in!!

Living Room

 

Dining Area

 

 Entry way - the door on the right is a small 1/2 bath.

 

1/2 Bath

 

Kitchen

 Going downstairs - and my favorite part: the washer and dryer INSIDE my house!!!! I cannot tell you what a blessing this was!  It was literally a dream come true.

 Around the corner to the hallway - and at the far end, the kids' room!

 

The kids even had their own bathroom attached to their room.  It was heaven!

 At the other end of the hall (next to the washer and dryer) was our room.

And I just have to take a moment to brag about Rick because he refinished these end tables and they are completely unrecognizable (in a good way) from how they started out!  He has mad skills.

This is a horrible picture, but this is the long dresser that matched the end tables to give you an idea of how much of a transformation took place.

The view from our sliding glass door. Beautiful.  We called that big tree the "bug tree" because Owen would always find about a million different insects on that thing.  It provided many hours of entertainment.

 

Our bathroom.

We looooooved living in Carlsbad!!  It was such a fun adventure for our family.  We are so thankful that we got the opportunity to go there and have the experiences that we did. We were sad to leave it but we know that where one door closes, another one opens! Thanks for all the good times, Carlsbad.