Preschool Graduation

Dear Brady and Brody,

We had a great time celebrating the end of preschool with you guys, your great school and our friends who we will miss dearly.  This school year has been so wonderful. Rewinding to when we decided to move closer to the city last labor day... we made the decision to stay with your preschool in the South Bay because we love it so much.  You guys had five kind, caring and energetic teachers that taught small lessons on math, reading, science, social studies, and movement.  You also had access to an art studio and two outside play areas.  You were so happy at school and sad on the weekends when school was not in session.  You made great friends whose families we enjoyed spending time with.  Even though it was a very long drive to and from school, I am happy we made the decision to stay.  I think it laid the foundation for a life-long love of school, or at least one can hope that is what we invested in!

On our drives, you and I and listened to a large number of audio books.  I started a list but lost track around April when we were up to 68 stories.  Since the list is so long I still wanted to preserve it.  Audiobooks were a great way for us to let our brains wander and share some great stories together.  You guys especially loved mysteries and magic stories.

Part of the end of the school year activities was a hoe down, a penny carnival and a graduation celebration.  You took so much pride in the dances learned and the songs performed.  You especially liked having cotton candy for the first time (though you ended up not really liking it at all!) It was a perfect way to end a very special year and I feel like you are truly prepared to head off to kindergarten!

Love,
Mom

Our audiobook reading list for the 2016-2017 school year:

The Boxcar Children

The Legend of the Irish Castle

The Celebrity Cat Caper

Haunted Cabin Mystery

Deserted Library Mystery

The Bicycle Mystery

The Pizza Mystery

The Amusement Park Mystery

The Dinosaur Mystery

The Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth

Ralph S Mouse Audio Collection

Henry and Ribsy

Henry and the Paper Route

Ribsy

Socks

The Magic Treehouse:

Danger in the Darkest Hour (incomplete, too scary)

Good Night for Ghosts

25-32

Carnival at Candlelight

Seasons of the Sandstorm

The Night of New Magicians

17-24

Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers

A to Z Mysteries

The Absent Author

The Bald Bandit

The Canary Caper

The Empty Envelope

The Falcon's Feathers

The Goose's Gold

The Haunted Hotel

The Invisible Island

The Jaguar's Jewel

The Kidnapped King

The Lucky Lottery

The Missing Mummy

The Ninth Nugget

The Orange Outlaw

The Panda Puzzle

The Quicksand Question

The Runaway Racehorse

The School Skeleton

The Talking T-Rex

The Unwilling Umpire

The Vampire's Vacation

The White Wolf

The X'ed-Out X-Ray

The Yellow Yacht

The Zombie Zone

Geronimo Stilton

Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye

The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid

Cat and Mouse in the Haunted House

Upside-Down Magic

Showing Off

Sticks and Stones

Disney Full length books

Cars 2

The Toy Story Collection

Big Hero 6

Finding Nemo

The Monsters Inc Collection

Brave

Tee Ball

Dear Boys,

Someday I will tell you with great pride that I was your tee ball coach.  I will say those words with a big goofy smile because they feel ridiculous to say but it will, in fact, be true. I was your tee ball coach.  I ran practices, helped you bat, tried to help you catch and was the biggest cheerleader for the Yankees.  Oh yes, we were called the Yankees because I got to pick the team name!  Tickle Grandpa was very proud!

Brody, you have always wanted to play tee ball and you anxiously awaited coming of age where you were allowed to play.  Brady, you insisted you like only golf... an assertion that is hilarious to me because you have never played anything other than mini golf.... but I digress.  I think the thought of playing a sport that Brody loves so much was a bit scary to you, Brady, so when they asked for volunteers to coach the teams I decided to step up.  I figured I was going to be there anyway, I may as well participate and if everything goes well, you may even have some fun!   I am happy to say that my plan worked out perfectly.  You both had a blast and we have had a great season.  

Brody, you have great biomechanics when it comes to throwing and hitting.  You are able to throw the ball very far, make some catches and your swing is scary.  You are right handed but bat lefty and if you actually keep your eye on the ball when you swing, you make great contact.  Brady, you are incredibly consistent.  Your focus is so admirable.  You are not one of those kids who picks at the blades of grass and counts bugs when you are in the outfield.  Instead, you are zeroed in on the action and constantly trying to do the best you can.  You are left handed but bat righty.  Your swing is consistently even and accurate and you know all of the rules to this game.  Mostly I am so happy that you seemed to love it enough to want to do it again.  

I had a great time watching you guys make new friends and improve!  That may actually be the craziest part of this whole fun filled ordeal.   You guys actually got better over the last few months.  Improvement is a wonderful thing!  I am sure I will not always be your tee ball coach, heck, you guys may not even want to play again, but I will always be happy that I was your very first coach.

Love,
Coach Mom

Chris Turns 40, a Tahoe Adventure

This April we celebrated Chris's 40th birthday by heading to Tahoe for a weekend of fun in the snow!   California had an epic winter of rain and snow fall in the mountains.  We managed to miss this record snow by staying local and not traveling much.  When I asked Chris what he wanted to do for his birthday I was happy that he said he wanted to take his parents up to Tahoe with us.  As part of his present, it snowed the first two days of our trip so we got to wake up to fresh snow and play to our heart's content!  The weather and scenery were perfect.

The boy's excitement for Tahoe has not dissipated in the 11 months since we have been up there.  When we told them we were going to Tahoe they chanted "we are going to Tahoe" over and over again.  Mary and Oscar thought it was amazing that they had so much excitement for a vacation that involved nothing commercial.  I chalk it up to their genuine love of adventure!

We spent our time sledding, hiking, on a few dates, building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate.  We had to build snowmen over and over again because it turns out that Hank loved to destroy them!  Brady built a little snowman on top of the hill on our first day there.  It snowed overnight so the little snowman got covered in a thick layer of snow.  When we went out exploring the next day I found where the snowman was buried and I was going to let Brady dig it out.  Hank wandered past where I was standing before Brady got to me.  Hank walked by, did a double take, sniffed the tiny pile of snow, got a devilish look in his eye and pounced right on top of the little snowman!  That dog sniffed out the snowman under 8 inches of fresh powder. Hilarious!

We took everyone out to our favorite waterfall.  The road to the waterfall was still closed due to snow and ice.  We used the truck's 4 wheel drive and got back to reasonable parking area.  We walked to the trail head, traversed some massive snow banks and walked on top of some snow mobile tracks.  The tracks were pretty firm but if you broke through, my leg sank in up to my groin!  It was so incredibly peaceful back there.  It is rare to be able to find a place in California where you feel like you are all alone.  I felt like we had those woods to ourselves.  The waterfall was flowing and there was still plenty of snow all around to make it so beautiful.  It was a special treat to be able to share this with the McLeans.

On Sunday we got a surprise text from Brady and Brody's best friend.  They were in Tahoe too and we meet up for some sledding.  It was such a relaxing and fun trip!