Summer has past, school started. I have a lot of catch up blogging to do, but I'll start with current and move back.
Brielle started 5th grade and is loving it. She enjoys school and learning. She especially loves that her teacher reads to them after lunch, does obstacle courses with them in the mornings, and has a treasure chest to choose from for getting all homework turned in.
Ethan is in 3rd grade this year. He loves being back with friends and mostly talks about the different activities he is doing during recess. Kickball, tetherball, basketball...that's what school is about for him.
Preston is doing a preschool group with friends. We rotate houses and have school twice a week and field trips a couple times a month as well. He loves to pretend to be like Brielle and Ethan and work on 'homework' after school along with them.
We were able to spend our last week before school up in Sacramento with cousins. James had a conference to attend so it was mostly a work trip for him, but he did have the weekend to play.
We went to the airport in Auburn for a fun breakfast while watching airplanes take off and land.
Preston chose this fun Mickey Mouse pancake which he loved and ate every bite. Except he called it a quesadilla and ended up dipping it in ketchup after he ate the whipped cream.
The kids wanted to repeat the candy project they did last year.
They were very creative with their candy chosen from Winco bulk bins.
We enjoyed going to see the Leonardo DeVinci exhibit on display at the air and space museum. It was very well done with a lot of hands one learning.
And while there we also took time to explore the aircraft outside.
I don't think my kids have ever been rollerskating. Ethan and Preston were frustrated with how tough it was to figure out, but Brielle figured it out pretty quickly and decided she is now ready to work at Sonic.
I got to celebrate my birthday. Summer time birthdays are the best. We are almost always traveling for my birthday and I get to have so much fun!
As a family we went hiking to Clementine Falls on the American River.
It was a hot hike and we were all excited to jump off the rocks and play in the water to cool off.
Preston asked for another airplane cake all year, just like the one from last year. And then he decided it could be the same thing so 2 weeks before his birthday suddenly switched to a 'nemo' cake. And then a few days before it was back to airplanes, but he wanted a runway cake this time.
He didn't have any requests for meals for his birthday. Anytime I asked if he wanted a special breakfast or dinner he insisted he just wanted airplane cake.
We partied hard for his birthday. That morning was the last day of Volleyball for Brielle and Ethan, so we had a big potluck party after the award ceremony. We then went to a friends house for a swim party and crawfish boil.
40 pounds of live crawfish delivered from New Orleans just in time for our lunch.
That night as a family we had a pizza/movie party at home and then went out to ice cream. Although we played all day, he didn't think it was really his birthday until the next day when we celebrated with the cake and presents.
And he loved being the Captain a couple days earlier as we celebrated Gramma Finlay's birthday aboard the Arrowhead Queen.
My name is: Preston (aka: PrePre, Friendliest Friend, PJ)
Height: 44" (98%)
Weight: 43lbs (92%)
Sleeping: About 12 hours 7pm-7am. Preston loves life. No one finds common everyday things quite as exciting as Preston. He has such an ability to light up the room. If I had to describe him in one word it is definitely 'exuberant'. He is a good buddy to have at home with me during the day. He loves riding bikes, it was the ez-roller this past year, but he got a bike for his birthday and was so excited about it and runs to jump on every time the garage is open. He is starting to read and loves practicing writing letters. He makes up songs all the time and sings about anything and everything.
Birthday Interview Questions
He started right off just talking and telling me about things before we got into the interview.
What is your name? Preston
When is your birthday? June 10th
How old are you? 4
What is your favorite color? Green
What is your favorite song? 'We Believe in God'
What do you want to do when you are a grown up? I want to be a person that builds lights
Where do you want to live when you grow up? at California
What is your favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese
What is your least favorite food? I don't have any food that I don't like (this is mostly true. He is a great eater, but has always had a sensitive gag reflex. He still often has to spit out food if he puts too big of a bite in his mouth.)
What is your favorite movie? Chuggington
Who is your best friend? Gracie and Nora and Abigail
What is your favorite book? I don't know
What does Daddy do? My dad does all the things that are good and nice. What does your mommy do? My mom does all the things that is nice and good.
If you could get anything you want, what would you ask for? Some treats I think
What is your favorite thing to do? Color What was your favorite thing you did when you were 3? Do Chuggington on movies
What are you excited about with turning 4? My Birthday
Sunday it was time to head back home. The kids all ran out to say goodbye to the owner's dog that had kept them entertained at the house for the past 2 days. The all loved playing with BooBoo.
After church in the morning we had time for a few things on the way back to Seattle. We stopped at the lavender fields, which weren't in bloom until later in the summer, but still were beautiful.
We also went over to the Dungeness Sand Spit.
We chose not to walk the whole trail to the lighthouse at the tip. The spit is 5.5 miles long and is the longest natural spit in the nation.
A storm was blowing in and it was cold as we walked the beach.
But we were lucky it was still a clear day and we were able to wave goodbye to Mt Rainier from the plane as we flew back to CA.
We planned to spend the day on Saturday in Olympic National Park. We went up to Hurricane Ridge, and in reading about it I saw that there could still be some snow in the middle of May, so we planned to wear pants in case it was cold. The kids were so excited to find snow and I was thinking maybe we could see some small patches if we found some shady spots. We were not prepared for the amount of snow we found.
We had planned to do a few hikes, but the kids really just wanted to build a snow man. The snow was pretty icy, but we got a creature of sorts piled together and they were happy with it.
We had such a gorgeous view for a picnic lunch
And the boys were so excited to borrow a sled and play on the hills.
After leaving Hurricane Ridge we drove to Crystal Lake and hiked to Marymere falls.
It was a just under 2 miles and a fun and easy hike for the kids
We went from playing in the snow to playing in the lake, a fun day for everyone!
The house we were staying in had such a great backyard for eating outside and finishing the day with rootbeer floats by the fire.
