Tunnels

About 3 1/2 years ago I wrote a blog about these awesome crawl through tunnels I found at a yard sale for $10.

Julie thought they were great.

Andy was a little less than impressed.

But I am happy to say that Julie, Andy and Sadie are all enjoying them now.  Andy and Julie barely fit, their legs sticking out the end of the tubes. 

Sadie is in love. Almost impossible to get her out.

You can see brother in the background chasing her.  They have been having ridiculous amounts of fun in these.

That is $10 well spent.

Kindergarten

My baby went off to kindergarten this morning.

Yesterday we went up to the school for the "Kindergarten Tea". Basically a little meet and greet to say hello to the teacher and let them hang out with the other kids a bit.  When we walked up we were met by Mrs B. She is the teacher we thought Julie was going to have. But she gave us the exciting news that Julie would actually be in Mrs. Lewis's class. And it was a 1st grade/kindergarten combo class.

John and I were very excited. Knowing that Julie will do great with the older kids, we were happy for this opportunity.  Julie seemed very surprised, since we had been telling her all summer that Mrs. B was going to be her teacher.  She started to get a little upset, but then we found out that all of Julie's friends from preschool were also in her class! And she was a happy girl once more!

This morning she woke up bright and early after a great nights sleep. She ate breakfast, put her snack in her backpack and got dressed. She even brushed her teeth and did her own hair without being asked.

We promptly went outside for some first day of school pictures.

She picked out her outfit and her new backpack.  She had decided that she was way too old to have a backpack with princesses or anything on it.  The one she picked is much more mature.

 And it looks great on her!

We are very lucky that we live close enough to the school to actually walk there! We probably won't be walking every day, but today we did. Our neighbor is going into 3rd grade and it just worked out that we all hit the road together. Tagen was just as excited as Julie to start school!

Here are the girls with their boys. Nate doesn't look too happy about this!!

All 4 kiddos. Sadie was a sport and stayed in the stroller.

Julie and her friend from T-ball and preschool, Kaitlyn.  They are great buddies and we were so excited they are in the same class.

Julie gave us all hugs and kisses then sat at her desk (yes, since she is in a combo class she has her own desk complete with pencil box and sticker book. You can imagine her excitement) working diligently on the coloring that was left there for her.

We left her in great hands and headed out the door. She didn't even look back at us, completely ready for her new adventure.

The second we left the school, Andy started talking. He did not stop talking the entire time Julie was at school!! He was loving have us mostly to himself (Sadie took a long morning nap). We rode bikes, played trains and found rollie pollies.  I think he is going to enjoy his independence with Julie gone a few hours every day. Although, he did ask me a few times when she would be home. And I have to admit I looked at the clock about every 10 minutes to see if it was time to pick her up yet!!

When it was finally time to get her, we loaded up and went to the school. She was happy to see us but wanted to stay with her class until the last possible second. She got in the car and told us exactly what she had done all day. Including, learned a new song, had recess, ate all of her snack, made a necklace with the letter "K" for kindergarten and then proceeded to teach us the song she learned.  We told her we were going out to lunch and she could pick. She chose Sushi of course.

All afternoon and evening she talked about school. She had a great time and seemed very content since she got home. Like she grew up in just the 3 hours and 20 minutes she was gone. 

She is officially in school and we are so proud of her!

9 Months

Our Sadikins is 9 months today!!!

She has had a cold this past week, complete with double ear infections. But she has still been a happy, smiling, crawling machine! Just with a little extra boogies and drool.

She crawls all over the house, pulls herself up into the cabinets, pushing its contents out of the way. She will also crawl right out of the house after the big kids if they leave the door open.

And she is now pulling herself up on everything.

She is a go with the flow kind of girl, which makes it fun to take her everywhere we take the big kids. Perfect example was tonight we went to Cruise Night and watched all the old cars go down the street.  She sat on my lap for an hour and a half watching the cars! Never tried to get down! Just hung out and clapped and waved. So happy, wherever we go, whatever we do.

We love you Sadie Jo!

Mini Vacation

Last month we took a couple days off and went to Monterey Bay Aquarium and Gilroy Gardens.  We had a blast at the aquarium with Anne and Dave. But for some reason, I have no pictures!!! They were supposed to come to Gilroy with us too, but they had to come home because there was a fire near their house! Luckily everything turned out just fine, but we missed them the next day!

The kids always have fun in Gilroy Gardens.  All the rides are small enough that they can go on and not be scared.  This giant artichoke ride always cracks me up. Julie said, "I don't like eating them, but I sure like riding them!!"

This is one of their favorites, the Caterpillar ride!  We took them on the roller coaster for the first time. Neither were fans. Maybe next year.

Sadie and Daddy hanging out after lunch. Aren't they cute!?

The girls on the train. Sadie isn't too sure about this.

Andy riding with his hood up. Silly little man.

Julie and I went to a little dance show with Clifford. Afterwards she got to go up and hug him. She thought that was pretty cool.

We could have used another day or two away from reality, but we'll take what we can get!

Cuddles

We went to a sweet baby shower for my cousin Stephen and his wife Sarah the other night. We all had a great time and can't wait for the new baby of the family!  Sadie was a bit clingy all night, but she had no problem giving some sweet cuddles to Great Grandma Hazel.

4th of July

Yes, this blog is super late.   And unfortunatley, John and I were not even there on 4th of July. We were down in Shell Beach with John's dad.  But thanks to my mom, brother and our awesome friends, the kids still had a super fun 4th of July.

 Julie and Andy got fun head bands from Memere! Not sure how much they wore them, but they are super cute!

Sadie was not so sure about it. But she looked adorable with Jeri holding her.

Of course they enjoyed the parade (with our friend Nate).

Such a great small town feeling.

Sadie was a happy camper hanging out with Uncle Justin!

Mom and Justin hanging out at the park while the kids played games.

Go Andy!

Cool tattoos Julie!

Climbing girl.

These little buddies are so adorable.

After the parade and park, Memere took the kids to the lake park where there were more games, rides and a band. They also went to the wading pool!  Thanks Mom for giving the kids a great day! And thanks Christina for the pictures!!

Five and a Half

Julie Bess is five and a half today!

She is smart, energetic, caring, sassy, loving, independent, inquisitive......I could go on all night!  She amazes us every day. The things she thinks about, the questions she asks, are so thoughtful and precise.  She likes to use scientific terms for things, like carnivore and herbivore. Or feces. She is sassy. Sometimes she sounds more like a 14 year old than a 5 year old. But I have to admit. I love her sass.

She is such a great big sister. She takes care of Sadie, helps feeding her and always sharing with her. Sadie absolutely adores her.  Lights up when Julie talks to her. Julie includes Andy in everything. Even tells him that she is proud of him. They hold hands when we go to the store.

She is beyond ready for kindergarten, which she starts in 3 weeks!!! She is adding, sounding out words and spelling! I took her school clothes shopping last week and she had so much fun. We picked out a few things, nothing too crazy, but she is so excited. I have to admit it was a little emotional for me. My first born baby is going to school!

She is also a budding photographer. Wanting to do everything that Mommy does.

We love you and are so proud of you Julie. Every day is an adventure. Can't wait to see how far you will go.