First Week of School

Last week the kids headed off to school. Monday night we had orientation while the kids got to check out their classrooms and meet the kids in their class. It is a big change for us. After 3 years at Eastside Lutheran, the kids are now attending Abundant Life Christian School (www.alcs.us)

Ben was ready to go the first day of school. He was glad that a friend of his from Eastside was also attending Abundant Life. Cami got up bright and early to get dressed so she could go to Kindergarten. Ben was great at encouraging Cami with starting Kindergarten. He told her about all of the things she would learn and the friends that she would meet.

Cami was proud to have her big brother across the hall from her classroom. She was also VERY proud to have her very own desk.

Ben's class was quiet as they all anxiously awaited the start of the school day.

Cami posed for one last picture with mommy before going into class.

Ian got into the action by playing with some of the toys in the Kindergarten classroom. He wanted to stay and play.

A quick pose with mom and dad. Such a big girl!

Cami is attending half day 5 year old Kindergarten with Mrs. Tiradani and Ben is in First grade with Miss Rohrer. They were both so excited about starting school on Tuesday that they got very little sleep Monday night.

Cami's teacher, Mrs. Tiaradani

Ben's teacher, Miss Rohrer

Cami with her teacher after the first day of Kindergarten.

Ben after his first day of 1st grade.

Cami's Golden Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMI

Cami turned 5 on August 5. We had a birthday party at our house with several of her friends. She definitely enjoyed having a very girly party filled with pink and princesses. Her friends arrived and they spent a good part of an hour playing outside. They enjoyed playing on the play set and in the sandbox. They also enjoyed making pinwheels for a craft. They tested out their pinwheels outside. Unfortunately, the wind was calm so they had to rely on their own blowing to get the pinwheel moving. After lunch the kids played dress up and later opened presents and made cupcakes. We decided it would be a fun for the kids to frost and decorate cupcakes instead of serving a birthday cake. Needless to say, it was a hit!

My princess is growing up. I can't believe that so much time has passed and she is growing up. She is such a wonderful little girl with a gentle, kind, and loving heart. She has a beautiful smile that lights up a room. I am so thankful that I have the honor of being her mom. I would love to keep her little forever, but look forward to seeing her grow into an amazing young lady.

Ben and Justin's Adventure to Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. Trip - August 2009

Note: This is why I don't blog as often as Dana - it takes me three months to publish a post!

As explained in the a previous blog entry, our vacation in early August turned into two vacations. One for Dana, Ian and Cami and another for Ben and Justin. This is the story of Ben's Washington DC adventure.

After Dana, Cami, and Ian left for LA, Ben and I waited in the airport for 4 1/2 hours to catch the flight to Washington DC. Ben had been wanting to go to Washington DC to see the Smithsonian Museums since the beginning of summer so while he was bummed about missing out on the trip to California, this was an ok substitute in his mind. His interest in the Smithsonian seemed to coincide with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, but even without the movie he has an interest in museums, history, and the like. So since we still had flight benefits through Midwest, we were planning a father/son trip trip to DC to see the Smithsonian museums, but we hadn't planned on it this weekend.

So while we waited, I hooked the laptop up to the airport wireless to book a hotel room, learn the DC Metrorail system, and determine when the Smithsonian museums were open. Our flight was good and we arrived around 5pm and took a shuttle to our hotel. We arranged our stuff and headed to the Metrorail station to get down to the National Mall area. The Museum of Natural History was open until 7:30pm so we went in an explored for about an hour. We saw some gigantic dinosaur bones, a huge elephant, the Korea exhibit, the ice man, and some sea creatures. When the place closed, we headed back and swam in the pool and then went back to the room to watch TV. One of the things Ben still talks about from the trip is sitting in the hotel room, eating popcorn and watching the River Monsters show on Animal Planet about giant man-eating Piraiba Catfish in the Amazon.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed back down to the national mall. We stopped at the Smithsonian castle because a prop from the Night at the Museum movie was on display. After that, we went to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. August was national inventor's month and to celebrate, a world record, 8 foot tall lightbulb was being constructed there. Thousands of kids built bricks for the giant light bulb which was assembled by two Lego master builders. Ben was one of the first 1o kids in line to build a brick. Then we talked to the Lego master builders a bit. Ben loved the joke he heard from the younger master builder who asked, "Do you know how Steve (the other Lego Master) got his job? Because he's such a blockhead." Perfect humor for a 6 year old!

After seeing some of the exhibits at the American History museum (Lincoln's tophat, ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, an old American flag, and Oscar the Grouch), we grabbed a bite to eat before heading over to the Air and Space Museum. However, before we got there, Ben was intrigued by the circular Hirshorn Museum and the fountain in the center. So we spent some time looking at the sculptures in the garden and some of the sculptures and artwork inside the building. Ben says this was not his favorite place, but he did show some interest.

Ben standing by a sculpture at the Hirshorn

At this time, Ben was starting to lose steam so we started heading back to the subway. We made a quick dash through the Air and Space museum and I told Ben we could come back later that evening after he took a rest. He didn't resist because he was beat. He fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel and I carried him to the room. He slept for a couple of hours and then we grabbed a little to eat and some snacks and headed back down, stopping at the Air and Space museum until it closed at 7:30pm. We saw several space craft, airplanes, the Wright flyer, Amelia Aerheart's Spirit of St. Louis, military jets, etc. Ben really enjoyed this museum.

After Air and Space closed, I asked Ben if he would be interested in going down the National Mall to see the Washington Monument and visit the Lincoln Memorial. I told him he could

have a piggyback ride any time he wanted as long as he was patient because it was a long walk. He eagerly agreed and we walked down the mall to the Washington Monument, then on the World War II memorial. It was a beautiful evening with a gorgeous sunset and a crescent moon overhead. Unfortunately, I ran out of film before we made it to the WWII memorial. We then trekked on to the Lincoln Memorial, arriving after sunset. I had never seen the Jefferson Memorial and hoped that we could see it, but wasn't sure if Ben would have enough energy. I asked him if he'd be up for it and he agreed. We ended up seeing the Korean War Memorial, Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, and finally the Jefferson Memorial. Ben was a trooper as we stayed up way past bedtime. After we got on the Metrorail, he eventually fell asleep. The Metrorail was one of his favorite things about the trip. I showed him how to read the map and he was getting the hang of it after a few rides. He especially liked putting his ticket into the reader when we would enter and exit the station.

Ben still wanted to see the White House, so on Sunday morning, our last day, we got up a little earlier, ate a quick breakfast and headed down to see the White House. We walked as close as we could get, took a few pictures and then headed to the Museum of Natural History to see the Ice Man. We also looked at the rocks and gems. Ben really enjoyed this section and we probably would have spent more time there had we not been as rushed to finish up and get back to the hotel so we could get to the airport. Before leaving, we made a quick stop back at the American History Museum to see how the light bulb was coming along. Ben created another brick and then we headed back to catch the early afternoon flight.

Our flight back went fine. We were hoping Dana, Cami and Ian would be able to make the earlier flight of the day so we could all go home together. But even with the earlier flight, we'd have at least a 4 hour wait for them. So we dropped off our pictures to be developed, stopped at Culver's for a bite to eat, then went to my alma mater, Concordia University Wisconsin, to see the renovations they did to the bluff that hugs the Lake Michigan coast. At the bottom of the bluff, there is a trail that leads to nice beach area. Ben and I enjoyed throwing rocks into the water and talking about the time I spent at Concordia. I showed him the dorm where I lived all four years, the Peace Center - it was gutted - apparently for renovations.

Dana, Cami, and Ian made the earlier flight back so we picked up our pictures and got back to the airport to reunite the family. What an adventure!

A Tale of Two Vacations

This past weekend we were excited to head out as a family to California to see Mike and Allison and the kids. Cami wanted to go visit her cousins, Austin and Kylie, as part of her birthday present. Since we still get free travel on Midwest, we happily agreed to take her. We left early Friday morning and drove to Milwaukee for our flight. Upon arriving, we learned from the gate agent that the flight had seats available to Kansas City, but the connecting flight to LA was now full. We decided that we would travel at least to Kansas City and hope for the best. Ian was beyond excited to see all of the 'Whees', AKA airplanes. He has been asking about going on a plane since Grandma Aladodo came to visit a few weeks ago. We came up with 'Plan B' on our flight to Kansas City. We would have at least mom, Cami, and Ian head to LA, if the seats were open. If not, we would all head to Washington D.C. for the weekend.We arrived in Kansas City and learned there were only seats available for mom, Cami, and Ian. Ben was looking forward to going to Washington D.C., but was also a little sad that he would not be able to go out to California and play with Austin.

The kids were right at home on the plane. The kids always get a special treat of a lollipop for the flight to help them with their ears. To date, we have not had any ear problems while flying!

Ian was happy to pull his suitcase once we arrived in California.

As a special birthday surprise for Cami, we were able to see Jana Alayra in concert. We had received a DVD of Jana Alayra a few years ago from Allison and Mike and the kids LOVE watching it. Cami was shocked to be able to see Jana in person! The kids each got a a signed picture of Jana.

Jana called Cami up on stage during the show and wished Cami a happy birthday. Cami was also able to stay on the stage along with Ian to sing one of her songs with her. Needless to say, both kids were beyond excited. The video we have is awesome!

Allison bought Cami a Jana Alayra Tshirt at the concert.

The kids were thrilled to meet Jana after the concert and have their pictures and shirts signed by her.

Saturday we headed to the park. The kids had a perfect morning for playing outside on the swings and the play structure.

After lunch we headed to Corona beach. We stopped for shakes and smoothies at Ruby's Shake Shack.

Ian was a bit overwhelmed by the ocean.

He saw it last year, but now at age 2, he is a little more aware of it. He was happy to play in the sand and watch the water until the tide started coming closer. Austin's bucket got picked up by the water and Ian freaked out. He promptly collected the buckets from all the kids and refused to let them play with them in fear that they would end up in the water again.

After the beach we headed to Balboa Island for dinner. We got to see lots of boats! The kids enjoyed looking at the variety of boats in the water. We rode on a ferry across the island, which was a hit with the kids. We enjoyed some amazing pizza for dinner than walked around the island before returning on the ferry and then back to Mike and Allison's house.

It was hard to say good bye, but we were looking forward to seeing Justin and Ben and hear about their adventures in Washington D.C. They had to buy a disposible camera for pictures since we did not anticipate taking 2 separate vacations, so we are unable to upload any pictures from their trip. Despite being on 2 vacations, everyone had a really great time and lots of wonderful adventures!