Cienna - 5 Years, 11 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 6 Months!

Tis the season month started with our major Holiday road trip to Northern California to spend time with our wonderful family. We plan to have our first LB Christmas at home with the girls so our family agreed to include Christmas during our Thanksgiving vacation. The weather we brought from Southern California made for some great outdoor play. We started at the Rydman's with a fun filled day of play time together, while putting together a feast including a turkey and a ham. Just before our Thanksgiving feast, we had Christmas.

Lots of giving and cheer, Nana and Poppa's wall of watercolor was finally complete. We celebrated up till bedtime and got to wake up and spend more family time with the Rydmans before heading down the road to the McFarlands. More great weather let us enjoy the beautiful property that Sean and Jamie work so hard on. A fun filled fried turkey Thanksgiving day, and once the kids went to bed the adults went to the Tavern to celebrate! Carrie's 40th brought us out of our tryptophan lull, we had a great time with games and laughter, and saw hours of the day that most of us haven't seen in a long time.

Then of course woke bright and early for "Christmas" morning. The kids were spoiled as always and we had another successful white elephant for the adults! More spoiling was next as Grammy took 4 granddaughters to the Disney Store for basically anything they wanted. After a show put on at Grammy and Grandpa's and a relaxing evening we were on our way home the next morning when we met up with Uncle Matt for a hello and goodbye.

Although it's 8 hours, the girls are great on the road trip. Back at home we helped Scott make some home brew to share with his family for the holiday's. Went to Carter and Logan's Birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's. Lexie and Nickie came over for a play date. Enjoyed plenty of park time among ourselves. Put up our Christmas decorations. Then set out again on a much shorter field trip to San Diego. We spent some quality time with Uncle Joe and Dana at a Christmas themed Sea World.

Ending out the month was Cienna's first Elementary school concert. Cienna was great on stage, of course knowing every word for the "Pajama Sing". All kindergarten and TK students sang a handful of songs in the schools auditorium. When some of the more difficult words to memorize came about, you could hear Cienna's voice loud and clear. Funny typical first concert, the tall kid got place right in front of her which made her difficult to see : ). She has her nose in a book constantly now that she can read full books, even if she doesn't know the story already. Get to see influences of friends come out in her attitude (good and some not as good), but she does have good judgement. Her passion for art continues to evolve as well as her stubborn sense of style (no jacket, cause it wouldn't show her outfit that she picked).

Kaylee really enjoyed spending some one on one playtime with Isla without the interruptions of older siblings for the first time, and it was awesome to see how well they played together. She really is developing a love of learning shown through her explanations of her days at pre-school. She is a concept learner for sure. She needs to know why she is learning and what is the point, then the pieces all fall together. Her clothing style choices revolve around comfort and softness. On one of our trips back from walking Cienna to school she got the concept of skipping, once it clicked there was no stopping her. And what a cute skip it is!

Porter found some new friends in our tree next to the garage. There is a nest of birds way at the top. He now has discovered the ability to leap higher than ever just to say hello to them.

Looking forward to a simple Christmas at home but will miss the rest of the family! Thanks for making such a wonderful Thanksgiving, 40th Birthday, and Christmas vacation! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you and hope it is time well spent with family and friends!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JTh2gbyP81my2foe7 

Cienna - 5 Years, 10 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 5 Months!

Holidays are coming, and it sure is apparent.  We've done our best to avoid the chaos and just have fun!  The greatest event last month was the 1 month early birth of Daniela Switek. Unfortunately Mommy missed the baby shower just weeks before her arrival, but will use the flight to enjoy baby Daniela early next year!  As it turned out, Mommy was much needed at work and at home that weekend.  Critical path at work, and costumes had to be sewed (Requests this year were for a Flower Fairy and a Baby Rollie Pollie!).  Daddy also needed help to get our beer started to be ready for the big Auntie Carrie Birthday /Thanksgiving/ Christmas all in one week coming up.

Red ribbon week followed, in which Cienna got to adjust her outfit with each day, crazy socks, in-side-out, backwards, all red, and crazy hair.  Carver Elementary had their fall festival that week also.  We got some pumpkin carving done as well in preparation for Halloween!
 
The weekend before Halloween, Mommy had some more work to do, but did get costumes done in time for Daddy to take the girls to Alexa's 3rd Birthday/Halloween costume party which included a laser show and Alexa's brand new baby brother Max, followed by a stop at the annual Rocktober Festival at the Bakx's (dancing is a must to the music of the AWESOME local band!).

Then for Halloween we started the evening with a trip to Second Street for date night, on the way encountering some new trick or treat friends thanks to Kaylee's friendly nature.  After dinner we came home for trick-or-treating around our amazing neighborhood.

Now that Halloween had passed, we had a weekend of replacing a 30+ year old hot water heater and enclosure, plumbing new sprinklers in preparation for our backyard deck, gas re-routing as well, and a new side gate for many reasons mostly to have a place for Porter while our deck is coming together.
New to the public school system, we had our first parent/teacher conference.  Our child is as amazing as we already knew (of course we are bias)  : )  She really does love to learn!

We shared our equipment with Scott to help brew a red ale for his family during the holidays.  Roman, Steph, Larry, Rylee, and Stone joined us as well, which led to a great play date and dusting off Guitar Hero.

After so much work Mommy didn't hesitate to take Veteran's Day off with the girls and loved every minute!  We were welcomed to a playdate with Lexie and Nickie for plenty of dress-up fun.  The following week at school included Pioneer day (an impromptu bonnet and apron sewed by Mommy), and Turkey Trot which Cienna raised some money thanks to Daddy's work friends.

Back to work around the house, we finally disposed of our dead tree in front of our house and replaced it with a single stem, shade, carrotwood tree, along with a couple of other plants that weren't looking so great. We are getting quite excited and preparing for our big upcoming trip up North to spend time with our family.

Little miss scholastic has been loving every minute of being in Kindergarten.  She can't be challenged enough and we are lucky to have a teacher that is doing all she can to encourage her love of learning.  She is reading books on her own everyday, determining the words by the story if she can't recognize them, and her ability to concentrate on writing her letters has helped with her love of art to represent all the objects and scenes that she loves to create.  She has made friends with pretty much all the Kindergartners at school as they are now all her best friends.

Kaylee as well has made friend with pretty much all the Kindergartners at Cienna's school.  They look forward to seeing her every morning and when we can pick her up from school (so do the parents).  Mommy and Kaylee had their last soccer class of the session, and she keeps asking when we get to go back for more.  She has learned to "skin the cat" by herself after only been shown once and climbs anything she has access to, weather it is 12 feet high or not.  We let her figure out how to get down on her own, hoping she'll learn not to go up if you can't go down.  So far she has managed to get down on her own no matter what.  She is still loving her workbooks as "homework", and had a great time making homemade play dough with Mommy!

Amazing how a large simple box can be so much fun for a family to enjoy.  Pretty much we love that anything can be so much fun when our family is doing it together!  The girls learn so much from each other.  We learn so much from them!  We all have our separate times, but the best times for all of us are when we are together!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MtpQ2482RKpYUno28

Cienna - 5 Years, 9 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 4 Months!

Many busy work days this month, but on to the important stuff.   Happy birthday to Grandpa Kim.  Then another to Steph whom with we celebrated, to the best of our ability, during a camping trip to Doheny!  We sacrificed a late bed time to take part in a special late night magic act at Cienna’s school where her principal was turned into a Bunny Rabbit (was worth it for sure).  Mommy had a couple Sat. afternoon work hours, of which the Halloween decorations were set-up.  Also had another fantastic yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch with the Bakx. Finally at the end of the month we may have made our first forward progress to a back deck….keep you posted.

After losing her first tooth which fell out twice in the supermarket and getting so upset that we would never find it, the second was less eventful as she was simply wiggling it while at home and it came out in her hand and under her control.  Nevertheless her bottom two permanent teeth bullied them both out.  Our first go around of school fundraisers occurred, and we all realized that our neighbors sure have years full of trying to learn to say no to two adorable children.  Nobody can describe Cienna other than a model student.  She loves the structure and the knowledge.  She is in a more advanced swimming class which is helping to push her passed her comfort zone, she is quickly excelling through her star reader sight words each week and still loves to do her homework.  Going to our neighborhood school has shown to be amazing, as we run into many new friends in our everyday lives.

Continuing to enjoy time alone with Mommy, Kaylee loves her new Parent and Me soccer class on Friday’s.  She is by far one of the most energetic kids in the class.  She is a ball of fire.  We have also visited many new parks and she is not at all too shy to make friends (anywhere we go for that matter).  Somehow whomever she talks to (which is pretty much everybody) she gets something from them.  A stuffed sheep, their car when she turns 16, library books, you name it.  Seems her favorite thing to do is make or fix things.  She loves to help around the house whenever she can.  It's been fun for her to start recognizing all her letters as we drive or travel around town as we sing to all her favorite radio hits.   We are lucky that her coordination is able to keep up with her strong willed/daredevil attitude, although it may be nerve racking, she can do it!

The girls learn so much from each other, both about themselves and one another.  Learning to care so much about their sister (their best friend) and yet trying to discover themselves, by getting a (not desired) reaction from the other.  Pretty awesome to here from each of them…. So what would you like to play?

Mommy’s SD card no longer works in her phone so it won’t take as long to get through the pictures this month : )  Still just as cute, Enjoy!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3JX9WDdSEJXGKyD8

Cienna - 5 Years, 8 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 3 Months!

We are now part of the Long Beach City School District!  Started with a Meet and Greet of Cienna's new Teacher and Classroom.  Then we decided to get dirty with good friend camping in Leo Carrillo before the daily grind began.  Also got a good taste of being an elementary school parent at our first PTA meeting.  The girls had a great play date with Lexie and Maddy at our house which was a preview of good times to be had a Kindergarten with both Lexie and Cienna going to the same school.  Labor Day weekend we harvested some hops in the backyard, had the most amazing photographer, person, and very close friend do our families first photo shoot (Thanks Kristy Geithman Photography!), followed by a Neighborhood progressive dinner in the middle of a blackout (we all made it work nevertheless), the next day was a pool party at the Ferrario's for Joan's 70th Birthday (we're lucky to be treated as part of that family!), and lastly Roman came over and we used all the hops we harvested from our garden a few day prior to start a LaborDay IPA which will be going to Doheny with us for Steph's 40th.  Then it happened, we all walked the extremely excited Cienna to her first day of Kindergarten.  We also continued swim lessons back up that day, and then the following day was Kaylee's first day back at Pre-School, which she had been asking about all summer long!  To celebrate the first week, we met up with friends on an amazing night to have dinner on the beach.  Finishing that weekend the family went to a local park and rented a pedal boat, then went for a hike at the Nature Center.  At the one week of school mark Mommy and Daddy got to go sit in little Kindergarten chairs with the other students parents for Back to School Night where we learned about the upcoming school year and homework to begin.  More school fun that Friday night with a Back to School Bash for all Carver families to attend.  The last weekend we went to a double Birthday party where the girls enjoyed lots of dress up, hosted by Cinderella and Snow White, and a real T-Party with all the friends.  The fun never ends, since later that day we got a visit from Uncle Joe and Dana!

Cienna loved her first time fishing.  Larry taught her how to cast her line while we were camping, even if there were no fish in that ocean or bait on the line.  She lost her first tooth at the same time she was in need of a school back pack, what a generous tooth fairy just in time for Kindergarten!  All we have to say is that when we picked her up after that first day, she came out of the gate, looked at us, and before anything else, she said..... THAT WAS AWESOME!!!  She continues to improve in swimming, going about 15 feet by herself.  We want to record how excited she is to get to do homework for those years, that might... might? not be the case.  And she has truly enjoyed her classmates and making new friends.  Needless to say she was more than ready for Kindergarten and she loves every minute.

Kaylee and Mommy have made the most out of some of our first chances to spend time one on one with each other while Cienna is at school.  Lots of one on one has proven to peak her interests and focus without having to compete for each thing.  Her enjoyment in reading has definitely become apparent, and memorization is on fire.  She is reciting songs that I don't even remember being on.  Although she may not being going the distance in swimming, she loves it and has great confidence and style!  A little more practice and she'll be on her way!  She like her sister is super excited for School!  She currently is lucky to get to go all three days Mommy is working since they have an open spot on that Thurs. (normally she would go M and Tu. then daycare on Thurs.).  One last work for Kaylee is social butterfly!

The girls have seemed to appreciate their time apart so when they are together, they love it!  They obviously can't get enough of school, since the main play activity with each other is playing school, and every stuffed animal and doll in the house gets to be involved.  We're sure glad that they are at least somewhat good at cleaning up.  If cooperative, sometimes Porter gets to be a student too.

It's so important to step back and think of all the love that is around us!  Thanks to all of you.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S8JLQTXZVK7GfzUj6

Cienna - 5 Years, 7 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 2 Months!

Twas a month of cousins and Birthday's!  First a visit from Uncle Joe and Dana.  Joe had a paddling race at a local watering hole.  Then our first harvest of our crazy out pour of Cascade hops from the garden.  Next in preparation for a huge week long trip to Northern Ca. we fixed up the Truck with some soldering, and electrical work to fix the overhead temp/direction gauge and fan control mechanism.

On to the details of that Northern Ca. trip....Auntie Dana, Cousin Ashley, Cousin Erin, and Cousin Erik all had Birthday's at the end of July/beginning of Aug.  The family took the long road trip straight to camping in Bodega Bay.  We met up with the Rydman, Marty, and Kyle crew with visits from Grammy and Grandpa (Celebrating an anniversary this month) for a fantastic camping trip!  The pictures will fill you in on more details.  After three days of camping we were good and dirty showing up at the Natal's.  Mommy and Daddy put the girls to nap time with more Cousin's June and Grace then left them with Uncle RJ and Auntie Megan while they adventured off to San Francisco for their first two nights away from the girls to celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss.  Thanks to family we were hooked up with a cool Hotel Zetta right on Union Square.  Starting there, we purposely tried to fill the time with events which we wouldn't constantly think, the kids would love to be here, so we started with the Beach Blanket Babylon Musical followed by a "real" steak dinner.  After figuring out the city transportation we took a trolley to the Pier the next day to catch a fairy going to Angel Island which was a nice step back from the city life including a hike to the top and wonderful views.  Returning to the city we had to hit up a brewery and Rogue definitely made the cut.  We had a great time together but also missed the girls and were happy to return and hear about their fun filled weekend with the Natal's, then make the trip back home.

After getting back to the grind at work we had a nice weekend at home with family time at the park and a few hours of our first time at the OC Fair!  That was plenty.  The following weeks we got time with good friends including a play day with the Harpers, and a beach day with the Geithman's wishing Isla a Happy 3rd Birthday.   After a homemade treasure hunt, we finally found time to explore a part of a large neighborhood park that we hadn't been to, El Dorado Park, together.  They have a train, boats, and playgrounds.

Toward the end or our last month Uncle Mike, Uncle B, and Uncle RJ all had Birthday's.  Given that it was Uncle RJ's 20th... oh wait we mean 40th Birthday we headed back up North to celebrate!  The girls were a little excited to have more time with cousins and family, and we were very welcomed by the Natal's.  Mommy and Daddy also enjoyed spending time with RJ and Megan instead of just dropping off the girls with them.  Their first block party was a hit, Kan-Jam Tournament, Taco Stand, and all.

Daddy's eyes are doing well.  Quite a large improvement from his previous vision, and continuing to improve.  Another check up with the eye doctor coming soon will give even more insight on the progress.

Kindergarten is on its way (Sept. 4th) and Cienna couldn't be more excited.  She is a school girl by nature.  Getting all new school uniform clothes didn't hurt either (she is quite the fashionista).    T-Ball came to an end, and we had a couple more weeks of swim lessons this summer.  She can now swim over 10 feet, head in and out of the water, by herself.  "Breaking" news, she has her first permanent tooth coming in and it is forcing one of her middle bottom tooth to become loose.  This is exciting for her since it is a new step toward being a school girl.  She found out that she has Mrs. Ashcraft as her Kindergarten teacher this year and she is an "Early Bird" which means she starts school at 8:00am and ends after lunch at 12:10pm.  She reads every day and completed (reading and writing; Title, Author, and Summary) her first book reports on two books that Mommy and Daddy picked which got her 3 free rides at the OC Fair.

Princess Kaylee has taken the lead in pretend adventures this month, which veer from the conventional story and get quite creative.  Amazing how independent her personality is, yet still the best cuddler to Mommy and Daddy and nurturer to her "babies".  She's gotten her fare share of bumps and bruises given her level of play, and takes them with stride!  Even with a huge rash outbreak which we believe is from something in an unknown sunscreen, she was un-phased and literally a "happy camper" at Doran Beach.  She moved up to the next level swim class along with Cienna and is very comfortable in the water, swimming about 5 feet on her own.  Kaylee is now completely done with diapers, and has gotten a new NapMat (big girl bed) to use at daycare.  The last day this month, we determined that Cienna has flower hair that doesn't need cut, just cared for, Kaylee has hair like Mommy which is like grass that needs to be trimmed in order to stay healthy, so Kaylee just got her first hair cut!

Many photos to go along with our adventures... Enjoy!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SzcUSMdPHSdpgRSF8 

Cienna - 5 Years, 6 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years, 1 Month!

We felt like last month's blog was just sent out, but more fun was had in the meantime.  Cienna and Kaylee had their end of the year pre-school field trip to the Cabrillo aquarium where we got a special presentation and got to hatch our own grunions, then play in the bay with all the friends.  That weekend Roman and Larry came over to brew some beer.  Preparing for RJ's 40th Birthday we started a Blue Moon batch per his request!  Then we headed over to the Bakx's the next day to celebrate Rylee's Birthday.  Never ending fun continued with a visit from the Natal's.  The girls loved having play time with their cousins.  Mommy got to spend a whole day with all four girls on Friday, (RJ and Megan got some alone time in Catalina, we will be switching roles next week when they get all the girls and we go out) with a trip to the grocery store, then story time, and then we had to show them our neighborhood park.  We finished the weekend with a nice BBQ and a safe trip back home for the Natal's.  That week we were welcomed again by the Ferrario's along with the Bakx to a pool day, which could have been warmer for Mommy getting into the pool with both girls, but we had a great time anyway.  Next was the 4th of July joining our traditional neighborhood party at the Douglas's including more pool time... this time with Daddy, Auntie Kimmie and Haiden.  Continuing the fun we headed to San Diego to visit Uncle Joe and Dana.  We fit in a trip to a new playground, the worst/best burger ever at Slater's (Depending on who you ask), and got to finally see the Dolphin and Pet show at Sea World.  Then following Daddy's Lasik (more to follow) we spent the following weekend in our home town at Shoreline Village renting a Surrey and cruising past the Queen Mary and along the beach front, followed by a lunch at The Yard House.   Lots of time was again spent at the park this month playing and picnicking with friend including a play day with the Shiroma's, meeting up with Abby and Maddie (pre-school friends), along with Nicki and Lexie (a future Kindergarten classmate of Cienna).  We also got lots of playtime with the Snow's, including a visit with Haiden!

Daddy got Lasik this month.  He did and is doing fantastic and can still see!  His brain is still getting used to working with his new ("better") prescription so he is in the recovery stage but we are all optimistic that it'll just take some recovery time after the surgery.  He is now a pro at taking eye drops, as the doctor ordered.  We'll keep you updated on the progress!

Cienna had an easy dentist appointment, and got to start her first T-Ball experience.  She had a couple practices before her big first game and is having a lot of fun.  She has made new friends and is enjoying the "team" spirit.  We also started swimming lessons at a new Y and it has been wonderful.  Cienna has been able to swim for 5 or so feet all by herself.  She got a hand me down book (Little Bear) that Mommy read as a child and remarkably read a whole story by herself.  There has been lots of coloring, workbooks, and playing with sister.  And once you learn to ride a bike... it's like riding a bike!

Kaylee also had a dentist appointment and it was like she was at an amusement park she had such a good time.  Just like when she is swimming.  She has excelled with the new instruction and has total confidence in the pool along with knowing her boundaries.  She continues to love all animals and even got to feed pet squirrels and many other animals at the "Ferrario Zoo" thanks to Jeff! She recognizes all her capital letters, when she wants to, and is now working on writing them down.   She loves engaging others in conversations about their family and each one of their names, and nobody can resist not answering to her sweet face...."what's your name?.... what's your Mommy's name?....What's your doggies name?....etc.

Who can resist any of these sweet faces?  Enjoy.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uzE1m9HeQ6BmugkQ9

Cienna - 5 Years, 5 Months... Kaylee - 3 Years Old!

The first weekend was mellow with a trip to the park and the zoo.  Daddy finally got a chance to ride the zoo train.  That week Mommy followed Cienna's lead from last month, having her first eye exam (since she was a kid) of her own and found that she needed small prescription glasses for astigmatism while at the computer or reading for long periods of time.  We also got to spend some play time with Shannon, Georgia, Grace, and Billie that afternoon.  Then came a lovely long Memorial Day weekend.  We got to show Daddy some pretty cool tide pools on Saturday, then ride our bikes to the local Farmers Market on Sunday.  Monday's BBQ and pool party was hosted by the "young" Ferrario's.  More swimming practice and lots of Fun!  We then fit in some soccer, Library Story time and visits from Uncle Joe with a couple of BUSY weekends to follow.  Starting off with an invitation from Baby Dylan for more pool time to celebrate his 1st Birthday.  The next day was a jumping good time at a pre-school friend, Natalie's, 5th Birthday.  The following Wednesday was Porter's 2nd Birthday.  He got some toys that he loved, all 5 minutes of them till they were destroyed.  Actually one has still lasted.... barely.  We spent that day prepping for the even bigger next weekend.  Starting the weekend early, Friday was a big full day at Knott's Berry Farm (our first time there).  We joined up with the Harper family and didn't waste one moment of fun!  Then the next day Kaylee turned the BIG 3!  She asked for a celebration at her home with all her friends that could make it, and that is what she got!  Of course a chocolate cake with strawberries and Cinderella on top as well.  It's always so great to get all your friends together for some fun and enjoy how wonderful they are.  Father's day started that night with Daddy and his fire pit.  It continued with sleeping in and waking up to special coffee and breakfast.  Followed by quality time with the girls including water play and T-Ball.  Smoked ribs were for dinner and even a little movie time before bed. 

On the last Tuesday of our month, Cienna had her last day of Pre-school with rave reviews from her Petite Montessori Family!  She is on her way to Kindergarten. And quite prepared to say the least!  Another big accomplishment for Cienna this month is learning to ride her bike with no training wheels.  We got a hand me down from Rylee that simply did not have training wheels, so it was time.  After only a few quick practice sessions she was on her way!  Since then we've ridden everywhere like a pro.  She has also began to swim for short stints all by herself at swim class.  We try not to think about it too much when we look at her and there is absolutely no baby left.  She truly is a wonderful little girl.

The amount of growing that is going on with little miss Kaylee is such an incredible thing to experience.  Pre-school has really been a great addition to help her on the way, too bad it is over for the summer, but look out when she returns in the Fall!  Her Birthday came just in time to be able to have her first "Celebration of Life" at Pre-School.  She is recognizing most of her capital letters, including her name in sequence.  And her logic is flawless such that you can't argue with it.  Often we end up changing our view on things cause she just makes sense of the situation.  She's into dress up every now and again, and still loves to play pretend.  Her swimming skills has also improved, she just seems to keep her instructors so amused that they forget to instruct sometimes.  Now that she is 3, she can now use toothpaste.  She reminded us that we told her this a while ago, the first thing when she got up on her Birthday.  She got to upgrade to Cienna's old bike for good, however she's been riding it for some time now.

I hope the girls can always be such good friends!  They sure are on their way to being such.  Their personalities are proving to complement each other, even being together again every day with Kaylee joining pre-school.

Happy Summer to everyone, we look forward to vacation times with family and friends!

Enjoy the many Pictures of this last month.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/z4LNn8GEnSHaM9HaA

Cienna - 5 Years, 4 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 11 Months!

Why do we think each month is going to be more mellow than the last... yet it never is?  So, we learned that there is a peninsula down here that you have to drive to the island then take a fairy to the peninsula in order to play on the Ferris wheel and beach (Balboa Island/Peninsula).  A bit confusing at first but fun none the less, thanks Harper's.  The next day we introduced Haiden to Mother's beach before play time with Auntie Kimmie.  Starting a HUGE following weekend Daddy helped celebrate Larry's 70th Birthday with a get together at the Ferrario's (thanks for treating us like family), then the next day Mommy went to La Jolla to spend some amazing time with "old" friends (Royals!).  Two nights away from the girls for the first time.  Missed them intensely, but really enjoyed the value of true friendship (missed those who couldn't make it, but am so grateful for those who did!).  Daddy and the girls also went to San Diego and spent time with Uncle Joe back at Sea World.  A tired Daddy also took the girls to a pre-school friends Birthday party on Sunday since Mommy wasn't home till Monday.

To top that weekend, the next was Daddy's birthday.  He got some surprise Birthday crowns for the family before he headed to Home Brewfest which has proven to always be a good time, and didn't let down this year.  The girls had a great dinner with some BBQ and play time with the Harpers.  The next day took our first trip to the San Pedro Tide Pools.

During the next week we spent time at the park and even got to meet up with one of Mommy's best friends growing up and her family, The Peterson's (Lindsay Brandt and her brother Mattie).  They set a little time aside for us to meet up for a quick chat at Downtown Disney!  We got to sample many strawberries in the garden, continued dance party traditions, and planted a new tree... however, like the last one, it's not looking like it will be with us too long : (.  We then got to enjoy Haiden as a lovely guest for our weekly date night!  Thanks to the Geithman's we also had our first time flying a kite to complement our  play date at Seal Beach.  Also somewhere along the way the girls helped out with the vacuuming, nobody is complaining there... hopefully more to come.

Weekend after that was Mother's day.  Tradition repeated with the morning bagel trip and tailgating in the back of Daddy's truck for breakfast in the parking lot of Lowes in lieu of the upcoming very busy day.

Back-tracking, we got some very good news the previous week that there was an opening at Cienna's Pre-school for Kaylee to start from the next Monday until Summer break.  All paper work was filled out for her ready to go in the Fall, we had hoped for her to be able to spend some time there with her Sister to show her the ropes before next Fall, and we got what we hoped for.

Much of mother's day was spent making sure we had Kaylee ready for her first day of Pre-school, earthquake kit and all.  It was amazing weather, we took out our water play toys and lots of sunscreen then listened to the contagious laughter of our little girls.  Daddy and Mommy spent much of the day finally completing the Double Tumbling Composters that Mommy had been very cost effectively planning out for a while now.

Another great play date with the Geithman's ended this last month, with a perfect representation, of the entire month, on the importance of true friendship.

Cienna got her first eye exam this month in prep for Kindergarten, and loved the challenge of any test she was given.  She is 2 diopters far sighted which she is most likely to grow out of.  We'll have to keep check since her love for reading is undeniable, and don't want to spoil that!  She got a new bike without training wheels from the Bakx which she has been starting to practice until Mommy and Daddy are tired.  She is loving swimming, and has begun swimming on her own for short distances.  She seems to belong on Broadway with her love for dance, music, and being theatrical.. not to mentions the excitement of Mommy going through our new set of hand me down's from the garage is like a whole new wardrobe change for her!

Pre-School has been the highlight of Kaylee's month!  She was already overwhelmingly looking forward to the Fall when we told her she was going to go.  When she heard that she could start now, she almost immediately started acting older.  (mixed feelings).  She got to get a new lunch box, and new blanket to bring for nap time, etc.  She has fit in amazingly to date, as expected.  She knows many letter, and would rather explain how to write them instead of telling you their names.  Along  the line of clothing, she now has all of Cienna's old clothes that Cienna herself was very recently was wearing.  It's going to be hard to tell who's is who's very soon.  Kaylee is quite enjoying swimming with her sister.  She is very comfortable in the water and is simply naturally athletic.  She does not seem to have any trouble with coordination, wanting to try and do successfully everything that Cienna does, trying no training wheel on the bike that is too big, roller blading, etc. 

These girls are all that we could hope out of siblings.  They really learn from each other and take the best and worst to make the most of their relationship.  Better to learn ways to treat friends with your sibling rather than a stranger : ).  Really they get along so fantastic, Mommy and Daddy sit back and watch, just to enjoy.  Of course more often than not, we have to intervene here and there.  When we can't think it gets any better, they just do!  They play pretend like no tomorrow with whatever medium they have, baby dolls, Barbie's, Pet Shop, Lego's, cars, etc..  They love each other, and we LOVE them!

Lots of pictures this month!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/X8GrPoNpESAW9q8s6

Cienna - 5 Years, 3 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 10 Months!

We were all excited to start the month off with Del, Dawn and the Marty's trekking their way down to us in the Rydman bus!  Our driveway was happy to see it after all this time.  We filled our time with nothing but fun.  Starting at the Discovery Science Center, and lots of cousin play time, we then took a quick trip to San Diego where we spent a BIG day at Sea World!  Uncle Joe let us bunk up at his place then, after Riggs schooling Mommy on what Pilate's is all about during a early morning Birthday class, we had a relaxing day at Campland.  Soon after we said goodbye to the Marty's who headed home on a plane we got home just in time to head to a Birthday party at Kidnastics for one of Cienna's pre-school friends, Sydney.  The following week was "Spring Break" for the kids, so Mommy and Daddy worked a couple of half days and split time hanging with Nana, Poppa, and the girls.  The girls loved having Nana and Poppa around, just because they love them, not because they have an iPad or lots of snacks!  The family did however also score an awesome Camping Grill thanks to Nana and Poppa!  Throughout the weeks we had more time with friends, trip to the park with Geithmans, first time to the Balboa Peninsula with the Harpers, and a great Easter Sunday at the Snows.  We did have a magnificent egg hunt consisting of notes within each egg that had words or letters for the girls to read and an Easter Basket discovery in the morning.  We also had some time to work in the garden, perfecting Mommy's "plant poles" as well as starting our first ALL GRAIN batch of beer (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale "ISH").  Daddy then made a quick turn around trip helping Poppa drive the bus back to Kenwood so that he could celebrate Trevor's Communion with him and even squeezed in a trip to Lagunita's Brewery.  The girls picked up Daddy at LAX early Sunday morning and went to watch Mommy play Soccer, then while the rest of them napped Mommy went to Celebrate an upcoming (early May) new Chavez arrival.  To complete the month we had a chill day at the Zoo at which the animals were at the top of their game, even the porcupine was full of energy.

Cienna is really preparing for her Kindergarten days, loving her desk.  "Mommy, I'm going to go up stairs and practice reading quietly at my desk for a little while."  We even walked together to her soon to be new school to turn in her registration.  For the most part she simply loves to learn, anything to do with reading, writing, and arithmetic is right up her alley!  She also loves helping in the garden, mostly finding the bugs and worms then making nice places for them to hide.  Now that she is 42" she got to go on Atlantis (a big roller coaster at Sea World) and .......loved it....... minus the getting her clothes wet part!  Art is still one of her favorite things to do!

Our little fireball, is just that.  She is quite fast, her sister can't even catch her.  Her coordination keeps advancing with everything that we literally throw at her.  Her facial expressions and things she says blows us away/makes us crack up all day long.  We like that one of her favorite words has become "yes" with an accent... much better than alternatives.  She is still motherly and enjoys her baby dolls.  She likes to point out letters as she sees them around and is now skilled with naming colors.  She has taken a liking to reading the same story over and over again, but we think that's a good thing in the long run even if it's not the best for Mommy and Daddy.  The excitement of pre-school is getting to her and it'll be hard to keep telling her... not till September, but We can't wait either it's going to be fun!

The girls are such great friends, We hope it's always this way (it can happen).  Of course they have their moments, and as long as they are just moments it's cool.  Lot's of roll play, dancing, entertaining.  They got to begin swim lessons again, this time in the same class!  It's pretty cool to watch them together in whatever they do and it's nice that they look forward to the days that they get to spend together.  Since Cienna has been practicing to whistle and getting pretty good, Kaylee decided that using your voice isn't whistling and is actually starting to whistle herself as well.

Times are good!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gf9d7Z7bHYD39LRa7

Cienna - 5 Years, 2 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 9 Months!

Continuing what seems to be the birthday season around here we all enjoyed celebrating Kai's 5th at U Bounce, then Stone's 6th at Endless Food and Fun and afterwards chilling at the Bakx's.  We then got a chance for our first super nice beach day this year with the Geithmans.  Next in store was a Kindergarten tour at our "home" school which is about a quarter mile from home.  It met all expectations from the good things we've heard so far.  Such a big step!  With an soccer bye on Saturday we decided to go hang out with Uncle Joe and Dana in San Diego.  We gathered equipment for some projects and set forth in the garage with our first try at all grain batch of beer, and some new garden planting poles.  We have tried our best to keep up with preparations for early spring gardening, mostly just getting dirty!  We were soon after visited by Uncle Matt and Charley so we showed them a good place for a rainy day at Pretend City.  With a last moment decision we ended the month with an amazing trip to the snow where Cienna and Kaylee both got to enjoy snowboarding, thanks to the Bakx's letting us borrow some equipment.  The next day we spent celebrating St. Patricks day and Auntie Kimmie's birthday.  Lots of green food coloring was used throughout the day!

We see how proud Cienna is of herself when she can read a sentence, or whole page of text.  I can see the day when I can't get her nose out of a book, especially when she realizes how much she can learn from them!  She had what she says is her best doctor's appointment ever and it even included a shot and TB test which she did not shed one tear.  She love the aptitude portion which was like playing games with the doctor.  Daddy and Mommy got to hear her pre-school teacher praise her graciously at our bi-annual parent/teacher conference.  She loves to learn and please!  Her artistic side still seems to shine with expanding her free hand drawing and self love of clothing choices.

Just like the weeds right now, Kaylee is growing the same, however I would never pull this one!  She is so comfortable and coordinated with her little body.  As always she thrives on her independence and has enjoyed being able to buckle her own car seat.  Her vocabulary is increasing exponentially every day.  Her favorite letter is A.  Look... up, down, across... as she points them out everywhere!  The description is hers from how she learned to write the letters.  Making confetti is one of her favorite art activities, she's getting pretty skilled with the scissors.  Playing a very caring Mom to her baby is still one of her favorite play games.  Despite her independent active self she is still a cuddlier at heart!

As the girls get more on a common ground play agenda, they are really expanding their friendship.  Lots of pretend play and challenging each other.  From their mouths, it sounds like this... your my best sister ever!

We had some good time and some videos to share.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/P82keLu4PPfhUYEi6

Cienna - 5 Years, 1 Month... Kaylee - 2 Years, 8 Months!

So Cienna turned FIVE... that happened!  Shortly after the beginning of the Natal visit we had Cienna's 5th birthday party which ended in time to watch the 49ers make it to the Super Bowl.  On her Birthday we all took the day off of work and went to Disneyland thanks again to the Natal's visit, celebrating both Cienna and June's soon to be 3rd Birthday!  That was the girls first trip there and I'd say they had just a wee bit of a good time.  This was just the beginning of the Birthday parties in our future.  We snuck in a mellow trip to the zoo with the Geithmans before another Birthday weekend for both Grace and Jocelyn's parties.  The next weekend, despite the 49ers best effort we still had the perfect time routing them on with a small group of fellow fans!  We'll be back next year.  Moving on we had a magnificent family day at the Great Park with the girls first tethered Hot Air Balloon Ride, and more fun at the carousel, Farmer's Market, and Food and Farm exhibit.  More family time was spent at the zoo with Daddy's second time, unfortunately he still has yet to go on the train as it was closed for maintenance.

Mommy got to spend half a day with Kaylee on their own with daycare/mommy taking an extra day off and Mommy and Daddy got to split the next Presidents day "holiday" spending half/half time with the girls!  This is the time of our lives!

Cienna's creativity is accelerating faster than we can help her (observance is a current, and I'm sure a continuing, strong trait)  She is accelerating in sight words and as always loves to read.... both by memory/sounding out and now recognizing the words.  She had another "Celebration of life" at Pre-school.  She is now an older student who is very helpful with the younger friends!  It is unbelievable that we are doing Kindergarten tours starting next week.

When she is not joking, Kaylee knows pretty much all her colors, and has quite a few letters stored in her knowledge bank.  Her motor skills have advanced quite a bit and when we ask her to draw a shape she will do it..... if she wants to : ).  She has been weeks without diapers at nap time and most bedtime diapers are dry.  Most of all she has made us all laugh every day with her creativity!

I know many of you have been through these years, some of you may not have,..... they are amazing!

ENJOY!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/byFdkvViAZW8AQ5dA

Cienna - 5 Years Old... Kaylee - 2 Years, 7 Months!

Let's start with a simple mention of a book exchange at Cienna's Pre-School for starters before the first BIG road trip to visit family in Norther California for the HOLIDAYS!  We went straight to Grammy's and Grandpa's house.  We got to visit with good friends and their family's at the Buckle's home and then spend some time with Grammy and Bella missing Grandpa whom had just had his knee "fixed" and was still in the hospital.  Mommy finally was in town for her OLD gymnastics center reunion (Mommy was by far the veteran of the group), followed by a night on the town with great friends.  We spent our first fantastic Christmas together at Uncle Sean and Auntie Jamie's house where we got to Skype with Grandpa as well.  We then headed to the Rydmans where "Santa" showed up along with the Marty crew for yet another Christmas good time!  Along the way we also got to meet up with the Payne's and Uncle Joe for more celebrating and beer making.  After another LONG road trip home with amazing little trooper children we spent some time settling back in at the house.  Then for a third Christmas, the Snow's came over and spoiled us and the children with great friendship as always!
 
Once we were... somewhat settled New Year's came along and we were luckily invited back to Dana's cabin in Big Bear.  Luckily the kids were used to road trip by now since the 2 hour trip turned into a 5 hour trip given traffic.  It was for sure worth it getting to play in the snow, putting Kaylee up in 2 marshmallow man outfits, and enjoying the company!  Happy New Year to everybody!

We tried to stay close to home for the following weeks with trips to the park, zoo, Nature Center, and other local activities with friends.

Cienna was excited to go back to school after the break to see her friends and talk about how everyone enjoyed their vacation.  She also enjoyed her first birthday celebration with a very special get together with the Geithman's who set up a party just for her.  She got a new desk in anticipation for next fall at kindergarten.  Ties her shoes quicker than anyone has to wait for, and still loves to make cards/pictures for anyone and any occasion!

Kaylee got a big girl bed and LOVES it although she has always loved her crib as well, a good sleeper is good for the whole family!  We are super close to getting rid of the 5 year old diaper champ, just some pee at bed time getting in our way.  She recognizes colors most of the time, at least when she wants to and isn't just pulling your leg.  Books keep getting more interesting now that she is actually listening to the story!

Every time we look at these girls, we can't believe that they are little children that have their own lives and personalities.  There relationship together is becoming part of themselves and is remarkable.  Even though they are different they have complimented each others growth along the way.

A big birthday season amongst the friends is approaching so stay tuned and enjoy the holiday photos in the meantime!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tS6M692NaGkNA6KX9