SIX years old!

I can't hardly believe our baby is 6 years old today. Here is just born:

And about to leave the hospital at 2-1/2 days old.


Now he's all grown up! We had a party to celebrate yesterday. We made the call to switch to a waterslide party the day before because it was over 90 degrees! We kept our orignal plan, also, of making mini-marshmallow shooters. Between the slide, the shooters, the swingset, and DT's little playhouse, all 19 kids were pretty entertained!

Here's the setup:

Pokemon targets for the marshmallow shooters:

Cupcakes! I had fun making the pokemon toppers out of marshmallow fondant. Let's see, going across at the top are Pikachu, Munchlax, Snorlax, Pokeball, Piplup and Jigglypuff. Thank you internet for instructions!

Birthday boy sliding!

Cake time

Last night he talked us into letting him open the presents from us even though his birthday was really today. Here's the big present


Today we celebrated by bringing in a snack of grapes to his class. They were super popular. We had 3 different types from the farmers market and I split it up into cups. Only a few of the kids didn't take any. Then LT could pick anywhere he wanted for dinner. So, he chose Rubios. Silly guy.

Happy birthday LT! :D

Something's Missing!

Tooth #1 is under the pillow and awaiting the tooth fairy! Hope she is up for the task. It went missing just in time for the birthday party tomorrow.

Soccer Saturdays

Tis the season again... soccer season. It seems like everyone we know is spending their Saturday mornings at the soccer field. We are trying a new league this year and U6 is six on six with no goalies and no score taking.

Go #10!

Go Dragon Warriors! (Quite the mouthful for the smaller spectators.)

Could our spectator be getting restless already? They only play for about 30 minutes.

What, who is this coach setting up the players? I see Assistant Coach Sue to the right and is it possible that it's Coach TT on the left?

Yes, TT signed up to coach after we were the only team left without a coach. He really appreciates last year's coaches now. He has been doing a nice job.
Concentration on the player's face

A breakaway!

Post game boys

Kitchen saga

Our main blogger is feeling burnt out, so I'm pinch blogging.

Our kitchen has seen a slow and modest facelift over the last year. When we first moved in, we had these (oddly positioned) beauties for lighting.

After living with them for two plus years, we decided it would time to take them out. So we replaced them with recessed cans and a pendant light, but didn't bother to patch the holes.

The light you see in the middle is a placeholder until we found the perfect light. We found that light in the Quoizel Duchess in nickel finish, a convertible light that can be mounted flush or as a pendant. When we received the light in a big box, it didn't have a chain for pendant mounting, so we called and they said, oh, we'll send the chain immediately. A few days later, another big box came, looking strangely similar to the first box. It turned out they sent another light, sans chain. This time they realized that Quoizel no longer makes the chained version of the light we wanted, but they said we can return the second one and just keep the first one since it was reported as damaged. Later on I found a replacement chain at HD and rigged it to hang the light as a pendant, so everything more or less worked out.

Two months ago we had the kitchen painted. We liked the old color but it was a poor paint job. We like the new color as well. The painters also fixed the holes in the ceiling and added crown moulding. This is the end result.

Tomorrow, we will be breaking ground on a new project outside that door.

DTisms

DT is just hilarious these days so I want to try and write down some things he says. No pictures, though.

Everytime he sees a clock:
"7 clock, time to get out"

We hear this all the time:
"Can I try it?"

After using potty:
"I did it!"
or
"Nofing"

Looking at costume catalog:
"That crazy."

Looking at LT trying on his Halloween costume:
"Lucas, inja, that cool."

When he doesn't want to leave daycare:
"Nyet, Nyet."
(It is a Russian daycare, after all.)

I'll update with more!

Jam Session

First grade!

First grade started on Monday. Too bad I didn't have the camera on auto. Oh well, he still got there fine! On the way out, the teacher offered each student a hug or a high five. Guess which one LT picked!

Before & After of the first day

End of Summer

Monday was the first day of 1st grade. I haven't taken those pictures of the camera, yet, but here is a little video of a last hurrah pool party the Saturday before. One of LT's friend's from his Kindergarten class was turning 7 (yes, LT is still 5). They didn't end up in the same class this year.

Bed Hogs

Not sure where I am supposed to sleep.

Auntie J Came to Visit!

Lucky for us, Auntie J decided to take her bar exam nearby and come hang out with us afterwards. We only had about 48 hours, so we had to make the most of it.
We did lunch (savory pies), wine tasting, bocce, Ethiopian food, french toast, Santa Cruz boardwalk, Kelly's bakery, the beach, strawberry picking, the farm stand, and then movie night ... I had to lay around and rest the next day.

Hope you'll visit again soon!

Summertime

We've been having a lot of fun this summer!

We've been playing with water guns,

Putting on backyard shows with friends,

Picking strawberries,


Jumping,


Going to the beach,

With the rest of the Bay Area,

And even trying on some new fall clothes


Hmmm, where on earth did he come up with that pose? Oh, I see.

Northern CA

Here are a few pictures from our CA trip part 2, aka Russian River valley...
Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve




Strange rocky river beach in Guerneville

Rowing down the Russian River, very nice!





Charles Schluz museum in Santa Rosa, loved this museum also!

Tarzan/Jane