Thanksgiving 2015

We were able to get a group picture this year at Thanksgiving.

San Diego visit in October

Happy 1st Birthday Remy!  So fun to visit!

Us lately

It feels like we have been very busy, lately.  The work weeks are long and the weekends are never long enough.  This is the season when the days are short, and I pick-up the kids when it is dark outside.  I remember getting picked up in the dark when I was a kid, too.

Max and Penny have both been fighting colds and it was challenging to get any smiles out of Max this photo day.  Thanks to my friend, Cherlyn, for the pics!

As far as activities go, Penny is participating in a lego league and after school soccer once a week and early morning breakfast book club once a month.  The kids are both still in swimming and they are almost done with this session, after which we will take a break and get our Saturday mornings back.  Luckily Penny has made good progress with swimming.  Let's hope it sticks!

We are preparing for the whirlwind of holidays and birthdays in the next few months as well as a trip to the east coast!

Max is Spiderman!

The face painter suggested spiderman for his face paint and Max was all in!

Penelope caricature

We went to Crunchyroll's company picnic today and Penny got her caricature drawn!  Here is a time lapse video of it.

Penny can ride!

Home Daycare drama...

Max had to transfer to a new home preschool/daycare in January because the provider of the home preschool he was going to suddenly got very ill.  He adjusted to the new teachers, students and routine and things seemed to be going well.

Until, on June 15th, we received notice that the new preschool was asked to move out of their house and they would be at a new location as of 8/1 (I did not even realize that they were renting their house).  For a couple of weeks, things were up in the air, while they looked for a new home.  Since tuition is due at the beginning of each month, we started looking for back-ups in case the school moved too far away.  We toured one center and decided that we wanted to stick with a home-based school for more individualized attention for Max.  We toured two more home based schools and found our back-up choice around the same time that the current school announced that they were moving to Pleasanton.  We decided to transfer Max to a new school on August 17th after the new school finished it's summer week off.

As if this drama were not enough, the school currently in Pleasanton got complaints from neighbors delaying their city business permit approval.  This meant that they could have only up to 7 kids at their house each day (normally they have up to 12).  So, for 1.5 weeks, they would need to come up with a "creative" plan to keep the number of students at their house to 7.  This is how part of the preschool ended up coming to our house on Tuesday. Pics below

1st tooth lost, 2nd tooth extracted

Penny had two teeth that were a little bit wiggly for a long time.  But the adult teeth in the back were growing in and the baby teeth were taking a long time to get more loose.

At her regular dental appointment, the dentist scheduled an appointment to extract the teeth.  Finally, two days before her extraction appointment, her tooth was hanging by a thread and she agreed to let me pull it on the count of three.  It popped out fairly easily and she did not even realize that it was out. The tooth fairy paid $5 for the first tooth!

The second tooth, however had to be pulled.  She got nitris, topical pain relief, and a novocaine shot. She said the dentist sang a song while she pulled the tooth.  It was painless and she was very calm. The tooth fairy only paid $1 for the second tooth.  Penny was unimpressed.

More pics from July San Diego trip

Grandma's summer visit

Grandma came to visit us and helped take care of Max while his home preschool was on break.  We figured out a routine that worked and had a very pleasant week together.   Grandma got to spend a lot of quality time with Max and Penny.

at Yogurtland

at a birthday party at the Oakland Zoo

San Diego trip

We went on our annual San Diego trip during Comicon this year.  I believe this was our 6th year (we missed 2014).  We drove, and it was a quick 3-night trip, but it was a good time, as usual.
One new thing we tried was childcare at the con!  I (mom) actually got to see something kid-free for 2 whole hours.
We saw Ann and Hung each day and Remy on 3 out of 4 days (he was already asleep the day we arrived). Here are some snapshots from the trip.

Big boy in a stroller

Joy from Inside Out!

Penny loves her baby cousin!

Last day of Kindergarten!

Today was Penny's last day of kindergarten.  The kindergarten class had a "Spring Sing" performance at school and I took the day off from work to spend the day with her, since she got out of school early after the performance. We went to lunch and then we went to Color Me Mine where Penny painted some pottery which will get glazed.  Then, we got ice cream, picked Max up, and went to the park.  It was a fun filled day.

Penny and Max Update

The end of the school year is approaching fast!  June 11th is Penny's last day of kindergarten.  She will no longer be part of the class of littlest ones at school.  It is bittersweet.  She has learned a lot of independence this year.  We started off dealing with her crying at Kids Country (the after school care).  Now, she is very social with friends of various ages there and she had a great school year developing her love of reading, math, singing, and art.

Max has also gone through a lot of changes.  He had to switch to a new preschool suddenly in January due to the previous preschool teacher's health (she closed her school).  The new place has about 3 times as many kids, but he adjusted very well.   He is continuing to learn to "use his words" rather than be quiet when he has a problem, and he talks so much now.  He is also exposed to a variety of foods, since they provide lunch, which I appreciate. 

Random fun things that happened recently:

Max is in a soccer class

Max is off of diapers (at night too)

Penny performed in a talent show

Penny ran a 5k race with me (mom)

For summer, Penny has a combination of academic summer school and after care for the first half and then full-day camps for the second half.  Max will continue at his year-round pre-school.

Penny's 6th Birthday

Penny had her 6th birthday party at Dublin Iceland.  Most of her friends ice skated for the first time, but they did very well and had fun. 

Tahoe trip!

We went on a weekend trip to Tahoe and stayed in a cozy cabin on the West Lake with our friends.  

Max's Caboose Birthday Party

Max had a great time on the the Niles Canyon Railway today.  We rented the caboose car for our group.  The caboose came with a chaperone that rode in our car and informed us about the history of the railway.  The kids enjoyed climbing up and down to the Cupola.  The grown-ups enjoyed coffee, breakfast, and a scenic ride on a beautiful day.  Overall, a great time was had by all.

Penny's first time ice skating

Penny and I tried ice skating at the Walnut Creek outdoor holiday rink.  It was really difficult!  But, we were both laughing the whole time, as we slipped around together.  Penny is looking forward to trying it again.

Christmas in San Diego

This year, we traveled to San Diego for Christmas week.  We got to enjoy the sun (beach weather) and spend time with family (including meeting new baby Remy!! and Kansas cousins).

Pre-Christmas celebrations with friends and family

Penny Karate

Penny started karate in a multi-age, multi-level class and it was very intimidating. She cried and needed a lot of individual attention from the teachers.  Then taking advantage of Minkz's time off, we put her in her age level, beginning class and she did very well.  She even graduated to a yellow-belt.  Unfortunately, that class is in the middle of the day, mid-week, so we are not sure when she can participate again.  Max came along to all of her classes.