Field Trip!

A couple weeks ago James had his first field trip! They needed parents to drive and siblings could not go so luckily it was on a Friday and my Mom was home to watch Jake so I could go to the field trip. We were going to the fire station! I was more excited than James was! James didn't really want to go because he thought it would be loud! I assured him that I would be there and things would be fine. They might put the sirens on for just a minute so everyone could hear what they sound like!

James and the little boy that came in our car, Jackson.

 Right when we got there a few of the firemen introduced themselves and were talking to the kids about safety and calling 911. Then a call came in. A few of them left on the fire truck. 

 We broke up into two groups and our fireman started our tour of the fire house. We went inside and saw their tiny bedrooms. I never knew how small they were! He let the kids go in and jump on the beds! 

 As the kids were jumping on the beds another call came through. Our guide looked at his pager and looked at us and said we need to get out of here. So he told us to follow ourselves out and he went the other way. Pretty soon another engine left, with two other fire cars. 

 The kids waved bye...

 We were all standing out on the grass with no firemen around! We thought there has to be someone there, they can't all be gone. One of the teachers goes inside to see if anyone is left and nope! No one is there!

 They left the garage open so we decided that we would show the kids around the garage! 

They saw the cloathes they were and their helmets! 

 James asked me what this hose thing was and I had no idea! 

 We showed them the maps...

 And there was this cute fire hose outside the station. 

There wasn't much else we could show them so we left! James wanted to see the kitchen, but we didn't get to see it! :( James' teacher thinks she jinxed it. On the way over she said that in all her years doing this they have never had a call while they were at the station. Then they had TWO! She said maybe they will get to reschedule it, but I don't think the kids even knew the difference! 

After school we went to Nonni's and James wanted to play croquet. So he set it all up and he and Jake played! He got that hat from the fire station. 

 Nonni played too.

 Jake decided to sit with James' class pet, Magic Monkey and watch.

Rosary Day

Oh how behind I am on my blog! A few weeks ago at Brianna's school they have a day called Rosary Day. It is the feast day of the Rosary. Every year the school does a big ceremony for the junior class in which they have a mass, present them their class rings and talk about how they are now upperclass women. Ugh, made me cry! I can't believe she is half way done with high school! Seriously, I remember the first day of Kindergarden like it was yesterday! Where did my little girl go??

All the junior girls are processed in caring a flower. She is walking next to her friend Brooke who she has been friends with since Kindergarden! 

They have a full mass with the Bishop and our Deacon from our church was there! 

 Blessing the rings...

 The girls had to pick a teacher who talked about their class. Mrs. Dialba was chosen. Brianna had her for Freshman Religion and LOVED her! She made such a great speech! 

 Brianna and a couple of her friends decided to sing in the Rosary day choir! 

 Singing...

 Brianna didn't get a class ring. She was being practical for once, haha, just kidding! No but really, she was and she didn't want a class ring. She thought she would only wear it during high school and then that would be the end of it. And they weren't cheap! $350 was what they started at! So thank goodness my daughter was thinking about it and opted out! The school wants every girl to be presented with a ring so she had to bring another. There is a ring in our family that we all have. One is given to the person on their 16th Birthday. She just received that ring for her 16th Birthday, so she decided to choose that one. It was much more meaningful having this ring blessed and I am so glad she made that choice! 

Being presented the ring...

After the ceremony the junior class all surrounded us in a big circle holding hands and singing a song. So sweet. 

With some of her friends

 Showing off their rings.

After the ceremony the whole school goes to Disneyland! Their favorite part of the day! 

BUNK Beds!!

For awhile I had been looking for bunk beds for the boys. It is that time Jake should be getting out of his crib and we thought we would save some space in their room by getting bunk beds. James has seen bunk beds at a few friends' houses and has been excited that he gets to have one! I took them shopping with me a few times to get them more excited. Finally I found some that matched and we bought them. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. I know James was excited but was he going to really want to sleep on the top bunk when the time comes?? And Jake getting out of his crib, is it going to be an easy task or will he be like James and not want to sleep in his bed?? We ordered the beds and it took about a week and a half to get them. The day they called to say they were delivering them James was SO excited, jumping up and down. The next day the guys came to set them up and James and Jake watched the whole time. James was so funny telling the guys how well they were doing, clapping his hands, and asking them questions. He noticed they were speaking Spanish and asked them if they were! The man started speaking in Spanish to him! 

After they were done James and Jake played on the beds ALL day. The spot I originally thought of putting the beds didn't work out so I actually had to rearrange their whole room. It took all day for me to get things arranged and that night we headed to IKEA to buy some storage stuff for the closet. 

Jake was not too happy about sleeping in a big boy bed. His crib was taken apart and in the hallway and he kept looking at it and saying my bed. :( We got a late start on going to bed which was a bad idea on my part. Well not too late, 8:30, but we should have started much earlier since we didn't know how the process would go. I made sure to do the whole routine and not skip out on anything to make the transition for Jake as easy as possible. We got all the toys he wanted in his bed, we read two books, got his water and his blankie. 

All ready for bed!

 When it was time to turn off the lights Jake got a little whiny and wanted his crib.  He said he wanted to rock. I told him I would sit in the rocking chair until he fell asleep. James was so excited and he kept moving around and needing to go down the ladder and get more things in his bed and looking over the side to tell Jake something. It was making it harder for Jake to relax and go to sleep. Plus it was getting very late. I finally climbed up the ladder and had a little talk with James. I told him that I know he is excited but he needs to be quiet and just lay in bed. That this was a difficult night for Jake because it is his first night out of his crib and he is not used to sleeping in a big boy bed and he might miss his bed. All of a sudden James burst into tears. I ask him what's wrong and he says Jake wants his crib and misses his crib! I tell him it's ok, Jake's not crying so he doesn't need to cry! Awe, my sensitive boy!

Finally I sit in the chair and there is peace. James fell asleep and then Jake, not until about 9:45! 

Jake did pretty well and only woke up once in the night and went right back to sleep! Yay! The next night he did even better I didn't have to sit in the chair and it has been easy every night since! Phew! Yesterday was the first day he took a nap in his bed and I was a little nervous about that. Didn't think he would stay there or fall asleep right away. But he proved me wrong and fell asleep within minutes and slept for 3 1/2 hours! I had to wake him up at 5:00! That's what happens when you don't have a nap for two days! I am so glad this was an easy transition for both of them! Now if we can just find a side rail so Jake doesn't fall out of bed! Oops! He has fell out twice, but he doesn't even cry! I just hear the boom! Sorry Jake!   

Octoberfest

A couple weekends ago it was the annual Octoberfest at one of our parishes. When we go to my Mom's the boys see the carnival rides going up all week. So the anticipation is high until Friday comes around! We headed down there Friday night right when it opened. We met lots of friends there. I forgot my camera but luckily we had our phones to take some pictures. This year was the first year Jake really got to experience the rides! He went on the motorcycles, which was his favorite. I think we went on them 5 times! The ferris wheel, the merry-go-round, and the big slide with Daddy. 

James went on all of the same rides as Jake...

And he went on the flying turtles. 

We had so much fun and I wish we had more pictures! We used all our tickets and then enjoyed the yummy food and listened to a fun 80's band! The kids were dancing and wore themselves out! Nonni took the kids back to her house and we stayed to hang out with our friends! I love that this is a tradition every year! I remember when I was a kid being so excited for the Octoberfest to come! We will be looking forward to the next one! 

James' First Day of School

James had his first day of school last Wednesday. James was SO ready to go back to school, especially since Brianna had started three weeks before him! He kept asking when he gets to go to school! When we learned that James would have Mrs Reyes for his teacher and NOT one of his three close friends would be in his class I decided I should prepare him for a couple weeks that he may not have the same teacher and his friends may not be in his class but he will make new friends! He didn't like the idea of this and told us a few times he didn't want to go to school! The night before school started the parents had orientation and meet the teacher and when I learned which classroom Mrs. Reyes was I told James it was the class right next to Mrs. Wedekind. He used to LOVE to go in her room to play. He was so excited! And there is a boy he knows through another friend at school and they were also in summer camp together, so when I told him Owen was in his class he couldn't believe it!  

Here he is, ready to go! 

Waiting in the "hug line"...

Finding his classroom...

The first day they only go to school for an hour and a half just so the kids get to meet their teacher and the kids in the class. It is nice for a little introduction! That is his teacher in the background.

James only knew the boy next to him, Owen. They got to playing trains right away!

After school we went and found Brendan in his class and James played with him for a bit. Brendan's teacher invited James right in because she was an aid in their class last year! She was happy to see James! 

The second day of school! A full day and taking his lunch to school! 

James had a great first week of school! He loves his teacher and is making new friends! He also gets to see his other friends out on the playground!

End Of Summer Fun!

For our last fun weekend of the summer my Mom and Tom had a beach house in Newport and we went down there for the weekend with them. It was down at the very end of the peninsula so it was a different experience for us since we are used to being up towards 35th street. We had perfect weather all weekend.

We had lots of fun at the beach. 

The waves were really different down there and it made me really nervous. The waves would crash down on the shore and James had to stay right by our side. Craig had to give a James a little lesson about the waves...

When I was with him I held onto his hand so tightly, the waves were so strong. One time James fell down and I tripped over him and fell too! The waves kick up so much sand we had sand ALL over us! I had so much in my bathing suit I felt like a little kid. 

Craig and James running away from the wave

There were SO many dolphins! They seemed like they were feeding on something because they kept coming back to the same spot. There was a pod of about 10. They were so close to shore people were swimming out to them. You can hardly see them in this picture but if you click on it I am sure you can see better. 

Nonni and Jake playing in the sand

 Craig decided to take James out on the jetty. The one that comes out of the harbor. I guess it is a mile long and it is all rocks. For some reason Craig remembered from when he was a kid that when you get further out there was cement down the middle of it so it would be easier to walk. Well he didn't remember correctly, there was no cement. It was hot and James was walking in flip flops and they had nothing to drink and the rocks got pointier and harder to walk on the further they got out!

 Along the way they saw sea stars and sea anemones. 

 

They also saw a pelican that James wanted to touch! It was obviously not afraid of people!

About half way out Craig was getting tired and thirsty and told James that they should go back. James says, "Dad come on we are almost there, you can make it." Haha! So Craig kept on. 

And they made it!!!

See in the background how far out they were!

Craig ended up carrying James back because James was tired and didn't want to walk. He didn't want him to fall so he carried him, thinking it would be safer. 

It was nice for me because while they were out there Jake took a nap I had some alone beach time to sit, relax, and read a magazine. I think the last time I did that was about 4 years ago! 

The house also had bikes for us to use so we went and rented a trailer for the boys. We were a little nervous  James wouldn't want to get in it because of his accident in one last time. We did have to coax him in and promise Daddy would go slow. They loved it and had so much fun! 

We rode to the Balboa Pier and got a shake!

And then later we rode all the way to visit Nonna and Granpy! We would definitely like to ride bikes more often! 

We had such a great time that weekend. James didn't want to go home and Craig and I both said we really felt like we were on a vacation! 

Last week we were finally able to use our Disneyland passes. They had been blacked-out since the middle of June. We were all so excited and because school has already started for some kids Disneyland was empty! We were SO thankful, the park felt like it was the middle of winter! The longest ride line we waited in was 15 minutes! 

It was so empty that we were able to sit on the porch on Main Street! We have always wanted to sit there but have never had the opportunity!

James went on another new ride! Last time he wanted to go on Goofy's roller-coaster but it was closed. This time he didn't want to go on but I talked him into it. Craig and him went on. 

 

Craig couldn't believe they were going on this, it was a pretty good roller-coaster. James was a little nervous and after the first drop he said that he didn't like it. 

After they kept going he LOVED it!

He loved it so much that he wanted to go on again! So I got to go with him as well! And I was really surprised he liked it. There was one dip that made me lose my stomach a bit! 

I love that each time we go he tries another new ride! It is so funny though because he will only try one!

Jake on the other hand, who we thought was our dare devil is now maybe getting a little older and coming to realize that these rides are a little scary. He wouldn't go on anything! He only went on Autopia the whole day! 

They were both really excited when they were able to get a couple new Cars!

We had a great long day! The longest we have ever spent there! We can't wait to be going so frequently again!
I am a little sad summer is over, but also SO ready for James to start school!