Six Flags

Well, we have a busy summer planned. We kicked off the summer with Lexi's preschool graduation party. The school had a little ceremony for all the students and a program where everyone was put in a group of 3 or 4 kids. Then when it was their groups turn they went to the front and recited a nursery rhyme. Lexi's group recited "Baa, baa black sheep". She was excited and did an excellent job. Of course. (I mean, she was the class "valedictorian." Okay, maybe I should explain. One of the moms decided Lexi was the smartest of the group and asked her to present Teacher Nancy with the class gift. Of course I didn't argue. Now I tell people she was the class valedictorian:) So, after the ceremony there was a big after party. The biggest hit was the huge blow up pool that had 2 big slides and 2 huge water guns attached. It was a little chilly for June but everyone still had a good time. Ryan was able to take the day off so he got to hang out with the family which was really nice. Here's Lexi with her "ME" book. The moms made one for each kid. It's a scrapbook all about the school year. I even made one for Kendri since I knew she would be devastated if she was left out.

Now Lexi is ready to start kindergarten. She was asking practically every day, "When am I going to start kindergarten?" Luckily, she hasn't been bugging me about it lately. She still wants to know if I'm going to let her ride the bus to school. I was all for it until I started talking to the other parents. Apparently, everyone else is totally against it. I don't really know what the big deal is. It's not like I'm sending my kindergartener off to some inner city school in L.A. where they check for weapons at the door. I mean this is Valley Springs we're talking about, population of approximately 7,000. But now I feel like some delinquent parent who doesn't care about her child if I don't hold her hand and walk her to her desk. So long story short, I still haven't decided about the bus.

This past Saturday was our latest summer fun. Ryan's work paid for all their employees and families to go to Six Flags. Whooooo hooooo! We did have a lot fun and the girls loved going on the rides. Sadly, I managed to come down with a cold after kissing Kyson numerous times before I realized I was getting snotted on. Hmmm. A little disgusting even if it is your baby. So, I spent a lot of time popping cold medicine and blowing my nose. But we were able to see lots of animals and reptiles. They even reserved a dolphin show for us. We were close enough to get splashed. I liked petting the sting ray. Kendri did too, but for some reason Lexi did not care to touch them. Here we are at the dolphin show and penguin home....I know you like our matching outfits.

And last but not least.....You can see what my children were up to the other day while I was cleaning. This is the "before" picture.....

And here you have the "after" picture.....do you see the little matching clip? I knew it was only a matter of time bfore Lexi and Kendri got their hands on Kyson's luscious locks. After I surveyed the "damage" Lexi said, "Mom, don't you think he looks so handsome?" Handsome is not the word I would use...poor baby. I did have to laugh about it though. What a good sport!

We take off for Newport Beach on Saturday. And our summer of fun continues!

Pet Pollywogs

I have to write about our new pets....some of you are probably wondering, "What pets?" because you know that Ryan and I are allergic to animal hair (dogs, cats, and probably any other hairy creature). Our poor neglected child (referring to Lexi here) is always begging us for some sort of pet. She sees all of her friends with their dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, gerbils, hermit crabs, lizards (yes, you read that right) and anything else that can be captured.

So one day while we were on our walk the older neighborhood kids were selling tadpoles. Lexi immediately fell in love with the idea of having pet tadpoles. I, on the other hand, was wondering what on earth you fed tadpoles. Lexi got lucky. The girl in charge decided that Lexi did not need any money for the tadpoles. She got them for free!!! So off we went with our new pets. We let them go a few days later and I thought we were done with them. Boy, was I wrong. We made daily trips to the puddle to check on the tadpoles. Yes, it was a puddle and it was drying up fast. Soon I had been talked into a "rescue mission" so all the little tadpoles wouldn't die. Well, we went with Lexi's friend and caught about 20 for both girls.

Unfortunately after a couple of weeks, Ryan decided they needed some fresh water......just so you know, tadpoles thrive in their gunk. So the next day they were all dead. Devastating. But, once again we got lucky. Lexi's little friend who had captured tadpoles with her still had several. She gave us 4 more and the morphing began. It was actually pretty cool to watch the different stages of tadpole, pollywog, and frog. The girls loved it. And then one day our little babies hopped away. So now Lexi and Kendri have been on the look out for our pet froggies. They are only a little bit bigger than my thumb nail. So far we've seen two different frogs in our backyard. Who knows if they are the same ones we raised but they were awfully well behaved.....