Ben's Graduation!

Tonight was Ben's graduation from preschool and both boys participated in the end of the year program.   

As part of graduation, the graduates had to decide what they want to be when they grow up.  Initially, Ben had a hard time deciding what he wants to be because there are so many choices and because he wants to help people.  Ben's teacher, Miss Kristi, was worried that Ben was going to develop an ulcer from the stress and then quickly he asks, "what's an ulcer?"  So we came home and talked about his top choices...

Ben decided that he wants to be a Lego Creator so that he can design Legos for kids and adults to play with and enjoy.  Apparently, he will still be living at home with us when this happens.

Yesterday, on the way to Pampa and Grandma's house to swim, I asked Ben what he wanted to work on during swimming... side breaths, backstroke or diving.  He replied, "Mom, it's not like I'm going to be a professional swimmer.  I'm already going to be a Lego Creator and a Daddy.  If I'm a professional swimmer, my kids will be mad because I'll come home so late and I won't have time to see them."  As a preschool graduate, he's already got life all figured out.

Quick Trip

We made a very quick trip to northern California over the weekend, but in a short amount of time, we managed to have a lot of fun!

We visited Anna, Marc, Evan and Justin in El Cerrito.  It's great to see the kids grow up together and enjoy playing with each other.  And since both of the Daddy's love shoes, I think it's inevitable that they'll also end up doing more shoe shopping and admiring of each others' shoes in the future.

We headed to San Jose on Saturday evening for a surprise celebration of Jichan's 90th birthday!  Everyone had a great time and we are still enjoying the birthday cake we were able to bring home.

With a fun filled day and full tummies, everyone slept peacefully all the way back to our little town.

"I want to ride my bee-a-coe" and "I want to kick"

We finally broke down and got Jason his own vehicle... He named is Green Machine.  Since it's been so warm lately, he asks to ride his "bee-a-coe" as soon as he wakes up in the morning.

Now all of the kids can ride together, which is pretty fun... But Kara and Ben don't know that because Jason's is a newer model, it goes one mile an hour faster.  Kara thinks her battery just needs more charge.

Everyone got new goggles and we're ready to swim!

We weren't sure how eager Jason would be to swim, but so far, he loves kicking and doesn't mind putting his face in the water and holding his breath.  After he lifts his head up he says, "I did it!  I did it!"

Kara and Ben pretty much picked up where they left off last year... but the fear of having to take formal lessons kicked in for Ben and today, he was cruising with big arms and breaths to the side.  Nice.  

I think we'll be spending many happy hours in the pool this summer... and with the huge bags of sugar we purchased today, it looks like a lot of shave ice is also in our future.  Very nice!

So Much to Celebrate

We started the week by doing a simple celebration for Boy's Day on May 5th... With help from all of the boys, we enjoyed gyoza for dinner.  

The kids colored  pictures of Japanese carp and hopefully soon, we'll be able to fly the real carp shaped flags at our house, just as we did when we were growing up.

Grandma made her famous strawberry pie and I think the kids each had two pieces, it was so delicious!

At a church service last weekend, the speaker asked about special days in the month and Pampa was proud that Ben announced that Pampa's birthday was coming up.  Uncle Todd came into town and we all celebrated Pampa's birthday with dinner out followed by blackberry & blueberry pie and a sleepover at Grandma and Pampa's house. 

On Mother's Day, we were lucky to have three mothers in the house!!  We started off with a delicious brunch...

We had finger-licking good ribs for dinner and Kara and Ben could not get enough!

And isn't it a sign of a great day when you don't have to change out of your pajamas?  We decided that even though Grandma and Pampa's house isn't too far away, it feels like vacation when we're there.  We lounged and had family game time... Uncle Todd found the vintage Life game, which Kara and Ben played for the first time.  And for me, the favorite part of the day was having four generations of our family siting together playing the Disney version of Apples to Apples... It was our turn to be the judge and Ben read the descriptive word of "Best" on the card... There were many great cards thrown into the pile for consideration.  "A Nap" and "The Beach" were two... but Ben's choice as the winner was "Family".  I could not agree more.

Parlier Picnic

Our family always looks forward to the annual Parlier Picnic.  From childhood, I have fond memories of running races, playing volleyball with my friends and drinking lots of soda, which was not allowed at home.

Our kids LOVE the Parlier  Picnic.  Jason had so much fun running his races... he ran with swinging elbows and a huge smile.  The hardest part for him was waiting until it was his turn to race again.

Ben had a great time playing with friends he doesn't get to see often enough.  

Kara's favorite part of the picnic was playing Bingo and spending time with her cousins and friends.

Even the adults participated in games and won fabulous prizes!

Jason loved all of his prizes... especially the bubbles and the fishing toy.  He really wanted to walk down to the lake and go fishing... only to find out that his fishing line wouldn't reach the water.  Although he was a bit disappointed, he knows there are many more Parlier picnics to look forward to.  Maybe next year!

Our Spring Break

Spring break started out very sweet when we declared April 13th to be Pie and Ice Cream for Breakfast day.  Why?  Why not.  I am a sucker for sweets and really, isn't it better to have your dessert in the morning and then have all day to work it off??

Kara said she'll remind me to mark it on our calendar for next year as well.

During the week we took a trip to the zoo with Grandma.  Kara was eager to show us the elephant named Kara, Ben loved the sea otters and Jason couldn't wait to go see the snakes and other reptiles.  I personally loved watching the baby tigers play with their mom... and just like at our house, the mom sits there and the babies are jumping around all over her.

We also went to Chuck E. Cheese where the boys love playing the driving games and Kara is collecting tickets for who-knows-what.  

We did a quick trip to the Bay Area and got a chance to see Jichan, Bachan, Uncle Ross, Uncle Gregg and Uncle Bill...

And Jason could not get enough of "Big Bunny" as he calls it.  

By Easter, all of the kids were Easter-egg-hunting pros... I think it was their third hunt this spring.

Watching the kids open their eggs was interesting.  Kara opens all of her eggs and makes piles, separating each type of candy, keeping quarters and slips of paper each in their own pile.  Ben opens everything as quickly as possible with what looks like a tornado from Easter sitting in front of him.  And Jason opens each egg and wants to eat whatever is inside before moving to the next one.

Kara remembers having chocolate covered strawberries at brunch once while in Hawaii, so whenever I mention brunch, she gets very excited.  Earlier in the week we talked about having brunch on Easter and even though our plans changed, "brunch" did not disappoint. 

 

Hope your week was full of Big Bunny and brunch happiness!

Who brought back summer?

With the very warm weather and the fact that we've had so little rain, we figured it would be a win-win for the kids to go outside in their suits while we watered the lawn.

For weeks Jason has been obsessed with shooting his water gun outside, but I'm not sure how it will now be able to compete with a hose and spray attachment.

Everyone had fun running around outside, taking turns making the rainbows of water that the others walk through.

Just good ol' country fun.

I don't know how long this heat wave will last, but it definitely felt like Olaf brought back summer!  Bees will buzz... kids will blow dandelion fuzz... if you haven't learned the words to all of the songs from Frozen, or you don't own the movie, our kids will happily re-enact it... no charge.