Water, water every where

Leo had a morning Tball game. He did a great job and had fun. On the way home, we stopped by our local farm and got a few plants for our garden. It was beautiful outside so when we got home, Farmer Tom got right to work. I tried to help him some, but I don't really have a green thumb.

The kids entertained themselves with the hose.

Here are a few of our plants.  We planted tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs.

These roses are along our property line.  Though they belong to my neighbor, I like to pretend they are mine.  She's nice enough to let us snip some for the preschool's teacher appreciation day.

Wet kids.

Both were soaked and sporting some white faces from the thick coat of sunscreen they were wearing.

A few hours later, this happened.

The kids and Tom felt the water was warm enough to go in, but I wasn't quite ready to take the plunge. I was proud of my girl for being brave about it.  She's wearing a hand-me-down bathing suit over a pair of bikini bottoms.  Both are a couple sizes too big.

Leo was excited to check out the new dive sticks.  On the right hand side, you can see our patio chairs still stacked up.  We're not summer ready yet.

Leo claimed he forgot how to swim.

After some time and attention from dad, he got more comfortable.

He's not swimming as well as he was last summer, but I think it won't take him too long to get there.  He'll have some lessons in the beginning of June to help refresh his memory as well.

Daddy's still able to toss him, but not quite as high anymore.

Serafina let Daddy take her further into the water, but it was short-lived.  She'll take a long while to get comfortable, but she still has tons of fun on the steps.

Preschool Open House

Shew...It's been one of those days. It feels like this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down.  Part of what kept me so busy was baking all this.  The chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream are for Staff Appreciation Day at Leo's school tomorrow.  The large slab on the left are Oatmeal Chocolate Cookie Bars and the loaf is a Grapefruit Pound Cake.  They were both for a dessert table for Serafina's Open House tonight.  You should have seen the mess in my kitchen after all this.

I'm running a spare change drive at the preschool.  People told me to keep my expectations low.  I'm pretty thrilled with the results.  I sent each kid home with a baggie and a note telling them to hunt down some spare change.  I think it worked!  

This evening we headed to the school.  Mrs. Hessler had a sick kid at home, so there was a substitute during the class time this morning.  There was also a fire drill.  I happened to be on campus making copies, so I had to evacuate.  I found Serafina lined up with her class and she burst into tears when she saw me.  The noise from the bell was very intense.

She was happy to see Mrs. Hessler.

Aww...

We found her self portrait.

Guess she decided to depict herself with a nice summer tan.

Posing with Neha.

Showing off her color book to her brother.

I can't express how much I appreciate this woman and how lucky I feel that she has been my kids' first teacher.  

Gotta do a little dressing up.

Daddy made it in time to see her work.

Here are people hanging out and mingling after the open house.  This is what we hoped would happen when we decided to do the dessert table.  Of course, I threw my spare change tubs up there too.  The cookie bars were a big hit.

JK 2 presents chapel

Leo's class presented Chapel today. Serafina stayed at the sitter's house so I focus on my boy.  As soon as I dropped him off at the classroom, I rushed to the chapel to get a front row seat.

Leo's class came in and he spotted me in the front.

Look at how he's gazing at Daniel.  Daniel reads and writes as well as a second grader, he's funny and he's got a bit of a naughty streak.

Singing while the other kids file in.

More singing.  I love how the girl next to Leo, named Ariel, is completely disinterested in singing.  

Another song.  Probably about thinking about God based on the hand motion.

The little skit was about how God is unmovable and strong no matter what.  Leo and Lucas threw leaves on the rock.  

Another song. 

Leo's big line.  In case you can't hear him, he says "He is always there for us". "He" being God, of course.  

His other big job was putting out the candles.  Unfortunately, my shot is blurry.

Chatting with Mrs. Meyer while chapel wraps up.

I was really proud of him.

Group shots.

And a little celebration afterwards.

Another dance performance

Serafina had another dance performance yesterday. Since Nana was still in town, she got to watch it.

First, they tap.

Her buddy Maia joined the class this session.  They enjoy dancing together.

Ballet time.

Here are some videos.

Ta-da!

Major League Baseball

Today was Little League day at Giants' stadium.  Nana was nice enough to stay with Serafina while Leo, Tom and I went up to the city.  The day started early with a Q & A with the players.  We figured Leo probably didn't have any questions for the players, so we got there just a couple hours before game time for the parade.  All the Little Leaguers were invited to walk out on the field before the game.

We got in line.

Our place to wait was along the water, so it was quite lovely.  Leo was happy with the Buster Posey pin he received as a giveaway.

We waited and waited.

It was a long wait to get into the stadium, but Leo was a good sport.  We were very happy that Serafina didn't suffer though the waiting.  But then we got onto the field and it was very cool.

Not sure why he's posing like this.  You can see some Padres players warming up in the background.

There were so many kids and parents walking the field perimeter, there was no way to get a shot without some random people included.  Home plate is behind him.

Tom was taking the pictures, so here I am making an appearance on the blog.

And my arm.

Our seats were way up high.

Leo wondered why we were so far away.  We bought our tickets through our league, so we sat with them.  It was a little hard for Leo to get into the game.  I'm not sure if that's because he's five and baseball can be a little complicated, or because it's not as fun to watch little ants on the field.

Smart daddy brought binoculars which were very useful.

It was also fun to sit with friends.  This is little Max.

They sang America the Beautiful during the 7th inning stretch.

Overall it was fun day at the ball park.

A fun day for the whole family.