Gymnastics

Lydi had her first gymnastics class at her new gym.

bars

caterpillar

vault

handstand

climbing the pole

She's so excited to be doing her own class again.  She counts the sleeps each night until she can go back:)

Back To School Night

Robbie had Back to School Night this week.  Brian went with him.  We are excited for another great year.

Robbie's desk

Robbie's picture of himself that he made.

Cub Scouts

Robbie was awarded his Bobcat at the Cub Scout Pack Meeting.  He earned it back in June, but it's taken a while to get the award.

 They had to pin it on him upside down.  He gets to turn the patch right side up when he does a good deed.

Congrats on this first step, Robbie!

Disneyland

I took Lydi and Thomas to Disneyland this week while Robbie was in school. Lydi wanted to meet some princess.

We found Ariel

and Belle

 and Merida

It was a fun day!

BMW

Brian was excited to participate in the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience.  

 After behind-the-wheel performance driving instruction on a small track with BMW professional drivers, he got to drive a 328d and a 435i on the track himself.

After the on-the-track driving experience, he also got to take solo road tests of the BMW 550GT and BMW i3 electric car.

slick pad

OIT

Robbie met with a new allergist, Dr. Inderpal Randhawa, for his peanut allergy.  Back at the end of February, Brian looked up OIT (oral immunotherapy) programs to see if there where any near us.  We found one at Miller's Children Hospital which is 20 minutes from our house!  We found out they accepted our insurance, and we were put on a waiting list.  At the end of April, we got a phone call saying they could get Robbie in on August 11-the day before school started.  This is exactly what we needed!  We had to get school forms signed and a new prescription filled before school started, and we had our fingers crossed that they could fit him in. 

We went to that first appointment and were so impressed with the program and the doctor.  He is the director of the Food Allergy Center there at the hospital and he spent at least an hour with us asking questions, answering questions, and getting to know Robbie.  He is the founder of TPIRC.  I feel like we have found the best treatment for Robbie.  He has some initial testing to take care of before we start treatments.  The end goal is to heal is immune system. That means he could eat any food he wants, as well as treat his environmental allergies through a process called SLIT.  You can read more about the program on their website.  We are so excited and grateful for this new opportunity.

Little Things

The kids love to tackle and play together.  Thomas gets so excited to be part of the big kids.

A Thomas Sandwich

We made popcorn for our movie night.  I love my new popper---no more flying kernels, and it popped all but 5-6 kernels.

Robbie brought home this on a worksheet.  He wants to write in "curseof" so bad. 

Beginning of School

Robbie went to third grade this morning.  

 

He was so excited last night.  It was almost like Christmas Eve- he couldn't sleep. 

His official classroom is connected to the school library this year.  But they are doing construction on that building for another few months, so Robbie gets to be in the Technology Classroom until then.  It's an awesome room that the whole school normally gets to take turns using. They have large tablets, a touch screen white board, and much more. 

Robbie found out his good friend from last year is also in his class this year!

Teaching Thomas how to play handball before school.

lined up

walking in

fan club

It's going to be another great year!

Last of Summer

This last week of summer has been fun.  I took the kids to the pool a few times.  First we went to a regular sized pool, which was a little hectic without Brian there to help, but we survived and the kids had fun.  The next day I took them to this kiddie pool where Lydi and Thomas can be more independent.

Robbie and Lydi both love being underwater now, which is fun to see.

We've done a lot of reading to finish up the library program.  One morning I caught Lydi reading to Thomas.

We've had a tradition for the last few weeks to go to the park after dinner.  It seems like the whole neighborhood comes out to play which has been great.  The kids like playing with others, and it uses up the last of their energy before going to bed.

We had a trip to Disneyland too.  Here we are at the Disney Junior show.  Thomas has been into Mickey Mouse, which was also Robbie's first favorite.

We met Sully from Monsters Inc.  Thomas was terrified!  He was literally shaking and started to scream with horror before we left.

Checking in with Mater

Our favorite family ride in California Adventure is Toy Story Mania.

It's been a great summer!

Huntington Beach

We went to Huntington Beach with some friends last week.

The kids all had so much fun.   Thomas loved playing in the sand and would giggle when a wave came up to his waist.

Lydi built castles and tried to avoid getting swept away by a wave.

Robbie had fun trying to body surf and wants to try out boogie boarding.