First Day of PreSchool!

Ali has been waiting anxiously for this day to come... the first day of her 4-year-old preschool. She waved to the building every time we drove by this summer, and has been asking, "Is tomorrow the day for preschool?" She was an old pro... but still didn't want Daddy to go too far. {He got to stay for the first day.} Ali's class is a little lopsided, as there are only three girls and 11 boys! It doesn't seem to bother her much, in fact her best buddy in the class is Luke!

Sweet & Sassy

These show the true personalities of my girls. The pictures say it all...

Summer is Over!

I went back to work today. {Waaaah!} This was a great summer! It seemed to go by so fast... as they always do. I have to admit, it was actually fun to be back. I loved seeing my friends & getting caught up on their summers. And, of course I enjoy getting the classroom set up. Everything is so fresh, new, & clean! {Check back with me in October!!}

Edited: This is not my class. {Casey was worried that I might be mistaken for this lady!} This is a photo from April 1971. That seemed like a very good year.

Home Again

After stopping at the Carlsbad Outlet Mall & Starbucks {of course!} we began the long drive home on Wednesday. We drove all day & night & got home Thursday morning. The girls were great travelers! Alison was so excited to be home. She ran around the house - I think she checked every room - & then immediately dug into her toys. It’s always nice to be home after being gone so long, but it’s a sad reminder that I go back to work on Monday!

San Diego Zoo & the beach

The last two outings during our vacation were to the San Diego Zoo and a day at the beach. We enjoyed the zoo & were amazed at how huge it is! We took a tram over the park to see everything, and then hopped on the zoo bus for a guided tour. {Very interesting!} Our last full day in Oceanside was spent at the beach near our condo. After a moment of hesitation, Merilyn was fully engrossed with the sand. She had sand everywhere!

LegoLand

Another adventure... this time to LegoLand! It was another HOT day! The rides were a little slow for our girls {they have gotten used to fast roller coasters}, but everything that was built with Legos was amazing! A complete replica of Washington D.C. all in legos? Amazing!

Crawling and Shamu

Merilyn is finally crawling! Yea! It's not that I want her to grow up quickly - I definitely don't! However, by dragging herself everywhere she managed to get every outfit she owned completely filthy. I probably should've taken advantage of this and created an outfit for her made from mop material. That way when she "slithered" around she would be serving a purpose!! :)
Travis flew in Thursday! We missed him! SeaWorld was another stop on our journey around California. It was fun... and HOT! It was amazing how sunburned we all got - Even after 3 days in the sun at Disneyland!! The sun is different closer to the ocean - whew! {One of our stops on the way home was for “After-Sun” lotion.} Ali went on the ride “Atlantis.” It was a huge water ride - with a steep drop - that turned into a roller coaster. She was tall enough to ride it and was so excited to give it a go. {I think I was more nervous than she was.} She went on with Daddy and Uncle Greg and completely loved it and wanted to go again. {Is she really my daughter?!} So, Casey and I tagged along for a second ride. My throat is still sore from screaming through the whole freakin’ ride!