Axel starts 3rd Grade!

We thought our computer had its last breath, but after Keith took the hard drive to work to get data off of it he was told that the hard drive was fine and often the "black screen of death" is a Windows problem. So the kiddos helped Daddy install the hard drive and then Daddy reinstalled windows and voila, we have a working computer again!

 Rubix loves to race from his bath to anywhere else in the house except his room. Here is a cute picture of him worried about the toy that he threw behind Pheeny's bed.

Here is a cute picture of Rubix playing with the balloon before bed.

Rubix is becoming quite the innovator. In the garage he discovered the cone was a perfect batting tee so I set him up in the back yard. You can see how much fun he is having and how much he loves balls and balloons!

 The big news for Rubix this week is that we started introducing dairy. I am offering him 4 oz of lactose free milk and allowing him to try a food with a small amount of dairy in it once a day. He had really bad diarrhea the first day, but it seems to be slowing down. I think I am going to keep him on this small amount for a couple of weeks and consult his allergist and GI doctor before figuring out what the next step is. Luckily, he has not vomited and he seems to still be eating, so these are all good signs that his body is tolerating the milk protein better.

The big news this week for Axel is he finally started 3rd grade. Harker started one week later then Marshall Lane and 2 weeks later than a lot of other local schools so it seemed like a very long wait! We were all very excited especially after having an awesome parent/ student orientation the day before.

 Here is Axel with his home room teacher Ms. Andi Bo. They had a 2 hour home room on the first day of school to get organized and comfortable with their home room teacher and a dress rehearsal for the rest of their day. They had 15-20 minute classes the rest of the day where they met their other teachers, but no real class work was started.

 Proud Parents!

 Today was the second day of school where the normal class schedule started. He got dropped off and then had to head to his locker and home room by himself and then manage to get to his other 8 periods. We learned that his shirt has to be tucked in so he proudly tucked it in this morning. Axel also received and organized his snazzy binder (that looks more like a brief case) and decided that he could manage to take just this and his water bottle to school every day. Apparently, the math book is the only book that needs to come home and there is a nice attachment for one book to slide into. We also figured out that he needs to keep his Lactaid pills in his pocket in order to have them available throughout the day. He is allowed 2 snacks in the morning, chooses his lunch in homeroom and then 3 snacks in the afternoon. Yesterday he skipped morning snack, and chose pizza for lunch and pizza for his afternoon snack without Lactaid pills. Hopefully he won't be reaping the consequences today for that.

Yesterday Axel had to manage to get on the 5:15 pm shuttle from the Lower Campus to the Upper Campus for Water Polo practice. He had a great experience at school and getting over to practice, but didn't have a great experience at practice. Apparently the coach forced his feet to twist out while trying to teach him the egg beater and this lead to him having pain in both feet because of his pre-existing weak arches. We are hoping to resolve these issues at practice on Saturday so that next week he will be happy to go to practice and not dread it :)

Chicago Trip, 20th High School Reunion and Pheeny's 1st day of full day preschool!

It has been a very fun and exhausting August so far. We had the privilege of going to Carol Stream, IL August 17th to 20th. We stayed with Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce and had amazing accommodations with their three extra rooms. The kids slept really well, as did Keith and I. On Friday we went to Cosley's Zoo. Rubix thoroughly enjoyed himself. I do believe this was his first experience seeing live animals. Phoenix and Axel also had fun, but they blew through the entire zoo with Grandpa before Rubix could even get half way through. Gma and Rubix looking at the deer.

 Daddy and Rubix in front of the horses.

 Here the kiddos are feeding the chickens!

 Gpa and Rubix at the duck pond!

 Here is a very tired Phoenix on the way over to my college roommate, Jen's, house for dinner. We had an awesome time visiting Jen and her family. Her three kids got along wonderfully with our three kiddos and the adults had some great fun and laughs too. We were having so much fun that we didn't get home until well after 10 pm!

 On Saturday Great Gma Connie and Great Aunt Gina came over to visit. It was so nice to see them. We had a blast talking with them and catching up as we always do. Gina sat down and drew with the kids. Here is a creation that Phoenix drew. Here is a picture of a fairy Phoenix drew after watching Aunt Gina draw.

 Saturday night Keith and I headed to Glenbard North High School for a tour of the school. It was amazing at how much was the same and yet, how much was different. I had so many wonderful memories flooding my mind.

 Most of all, were my memories of the band and Mr. Schraft and the impact that he had on me as a person and a musician. He touched the lives of so many young people by giving them the gift of belief, support and faith. Because he believed in me, I was able to obtained all of my band and music goals in high school! He will forever be in my memories and thoughts, especially when I play the flute!

 While we were at the tour the kiddos were mini golfing with the grandparents. After the tour we headed over to my 20 year high school reunion. It is amazing to me that 20 years have come and gone since we were in high school. The friends who I was close with seemed to be the same people who haven't changed a bit! Here is Reshma and Payal looking just like they did in high school. Reshma is a dentist and owns two practices and Payal is a cardio pulmonary Physician. Despite their successes in life they both have two beautiful children and are both good, down to earth citizens!

 Here is a picture of Jackie, my old neighbor and Aimee my old best friend (Kristi is also in the picture who is one of the cheer leaders who organized the Reunion). It was so, so nice to see people who I was close with in high school. It was like no time had gone at all. Even though I am really not in contact with anyone, it was like old times. After a couple of hours of visiting we then danced the night away. I mostly enjoyed watching my lovely husband bust a move. I am so very happy that we went.

 On Sunday we enjoyed some park play in the morning before we had to head home after nap time. Here is a very cute picture of Gpa and Gma.

 And them with the kiddos.

 We all had such an amazing time.

 It was a quick trip, but awesome trip and we are so glad that we went!

 On Wednesday Phoenix started all day preschool. She will be attending Marshall Lane Preschool from 8:15 am to 2:15 pm Monday, Wednesday and Fridays for the 2017/ 18 school year. Here is our big girl with her big girl back pack, lunch pail and water bottle.

Here Daddy is being his silly self!

 Big brother Axel!

 At Marshall Lane!

 In the classroom!

It appears she had a great first day. We are looking forward to a great year of growth and can't wait to see how Phoenix develops!

Rishaan's 30 hour sleep over, visit to Aunt Shannon's new house, and Gma Susan visits!

It is hard to believe 3 weeks of the summer have flown by since the last time I posted. We have had such a full wonderful summer. Angela's was closed and for the first time I got to be off with the kids for the entire two weeks! It just so happened that our old neighbors where in town and Axel had a play date with Rishaan scheduled for July 21st. We found out during the fun night of fun that Rishaan was going to be staying with his Aunt for 2 weeks while his parents traveled to Europe. This meant the boys could have a sleep over, a 30 hour sleep over! Well they had the biggest, longest sleep over that I have ever been apart of. We went to the library, Jack Fischer Park and the swimming pool. The kids played Legos the entire naptime both days without any issues and water balloons topped off the excitement. I was amazed at how well Rishaan and Axel got along. I was also amazed at how well they included Phoenix in their fun. 

Having Rishaan around was such a joy and we hope their friendship can continue from afar. As you can see from the picture, Rishaan continues to be the tallest boy in his class. He is just under 5 feet tall at 8 years old!

While the 3 played with water balloons and chased each other around the park Rubix reacquainted himself with the sand. He was bouncing the sand in the shovel and laughing when all of a sudden it flung into the air and into his hair. I was shocked I got this picture on film. He was just as shocked that it went all over him and into his eyes. 

Rubix loves to try on other people's shoes. Here he actually got Rishaan's shoes on. I have been trying to get a picture of him in someone else's shoes for a couple of months now. This is the first one where I was able to capture the picture before he fell over or took them off. 

Despite Rishaan being with us for 2 days and one night the boys were still sad to say goodbye. Here they are together for one last picture!

After two days of fun with Rishaan, I needed to get some errands done. On our trip to Westgate Mall the kiddos, especially Rubix were excited to see the pretend cars and trucks to play on.  Since it was really hot out I let them play for about 30 minutes before continuing our shopping. 

I just love how much Rubix loves to explore and how he doesn't let anyone get in his way, even big brother Axel!

The kids took private swim lessons the first week of being home. Axel's swim lessons really paid off as he had a great meet at Swim Champs. He PR'd the butterfly by 6 seconds! He placed in all of his events and was finally able to be a member of the A team 100 meter free style relay. Because of this he received his first metal for getting 2nd place. The Gators won champs and then celebrated at the end of season potluck swim party on Sunday night. 

Monday morning we got up, ate breakfast and then headed to Auntie Shannon's new house in Sacramento! The kids were so excited to go. We lucked out and had an easy, traffic free drive. 

 The kids had so much fun playing together. We went to the park and played in Auntie's pool every day. It was hot, but playing in the pool and inside the air conditioned house made the 107 degrees very comfortable. I do have to admit by 10 am I was ready to leave the park as I was already over heating!

 I just love how all of the cousins on either side of the family get along so well. It is like they just know they are suppose to love each other and be friends!

 Look at how well they were all listening to Auntie Bri/ mom on the walk home from the park. Perfect little angels!

The kiddos watching a show before bed!

 Speaking of angels, I am absolutely in love with my beautiful new niece, Aya. She is such a happy cute baby. She has an unbelievable attention span for books and looking at people's faces for a 3 month old. I had so much fun holding and playing with her.

 Rubix seems to be growing up very quickly the past month. He loves airplanes and trains. His vocabulary and ability to articulate his words amazes me every day. He is also the most loving child I have ever seen. He loves to give hugs and kisses, but what shocked me yesterday is that Axel was crying and very upset and Rubix went up to him loudly saying "Huggie, Huggie" until he hugged him. Rubix then bent over and gave Axel a hug while he was on the ground, kissed him and then pet his head until he stopped crying. It just melted my heart.

 After coming back from Auntie's Grandma Susan came! We had so much fun visiting with her. Axel and Grandma are like two peas in a pod. They think alike and have so many similar interests. He is also an amazing helper, which she really appreciates.

 Keith and I went out to eat for our anniversary and Axel was his charming helpful self while Rubix cried about one thing or another. As easy of a baby as Rubix is, he always seems to cry for Grandma Susan. Luckily, he did much better with her and went to bed easily when we got home from dinner.

 Phoenix also seems to be connecting more with Grandma Susan. She let Grandma do her hair and read books with her and best of all Grandma made edible marshmallow play dough with Axel and Phoenix which resulted in hours of fun for two days!

 On Sunday, after Grandma left we enjoyed a lovely hike to Lookout Point at Montalvo.

 It was pretty much up hill for .8 miles and then down hill for the return back to the car.

 The kids appear to be able to handle 1.5 to 2 mile hikes pretty well. Our goal is to get them up to 3 or 4 mile hikes to be able to tolerate longer hikes/walks that we may venture on in Hawaii or other travel in the coming years.

 I let Axel take a bath with the younger two yesterday. They enjoyed a fun filled bubble bath and it allowed a photo opportunity of the three kids, which I always like to take advantage of.

Although Rubix played with a ball the entire bath he always seems to escape from my arms more quickly then I can get a diaper on him to play basketball or ball outside of the tub. I love this picture of his naked butt and daddy cheering for him.

 We have two weeks of summer break before Phoenix starts full day preschool and 3 weeks before Axel starts third grade. We are gearing up for an exciting new school year, but first we will travel to Chicago for my 20th high school reunion. I am excited to see family and friends!