A little bit of this and A little bit of that

September is winding down and I wish the weather were getting cooler, but we are headed for another hot week...booooo!

I am back working in the office and Terra is having a great time at school. She loves her teachers and playing in the sand. I have to remember to take off her shoes before she does and drops out the sand in the car...oh so fun!

 Her first painting.

Terra is pretty pleased with herself that she gets her shoes and socks off while on the way to school. She loves putting the socks on as gloves...very silly girl.

We had Back to School Night last week and are so excited about Trent's 5th grade year and what's to come. His teacher Mrs. Bialon is very into new technology and different ways to teach the kids the information. Each student has an iPad and they use it through out the day. Trent is loving 5th grade so far.

A few things we saw in his classroom.

On Saturday, September 20th we celebrate Tanner's life...she passed away 7 years ago on September 19th. It was a great celebration at a park. The weather was perfect, the kids had a great time playing in the playground and we loved being there to celebrate Tanner's life.

 Getting ready for the balloon release.

Trent trying to decide where to release his balloon...he was trying to judge the winds direction so the balloon wouldn't get caught in the trees.

 Our message to Tanner.

 And they are off...

After Tanner's Day we went to watch Madison cheer at the football game. 

Terra loved playing with the pom poms.

Terra was tired from the fun day. Love her hand in the snack cup.

The Endeavour

While Tim, Eric, Tim's Dad and others cycled 100 miles from Irvine to San Diego, Cindy and I took the kids to the California Science Center. I think the last time I was there I was in elementary school, so it's been a while. Trent had a field trip to the science center in 3rd grade and got to see the Endeavour, so he wasn't as excited as I was to see it. There was also a Pompeii exhibit going on and we were going to see that too.

Pulling on the rope to see if they could lift the Toyota Tundra that towed the Endeavour to the Science Center.

The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town near modern Naples. Pompeii, along with many villas in the surrounding area were destroyed and buried under 13-20 ft of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD...per Trent...seriously he knew quite a bit about Pompeii, but what he didn't know was that the eruption happened on August 24th, his birthday. He was kind of freaked out about that fact.

 Terra not too sure what is going on.

 Cuties!

 Inside the Science Center

 Karina and Trent checking out the control center.

The Endeavour is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, in May 2011. The last mission of the Endeavour was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of Atlantis, Atlantis became the last shuttle to fly. Did you know that the Endeavour was named through a national competition involving students in elementary schools...so cool...thanks Wiki.

 Trying to get a picture of the kids with the space shuttle was near impossible.

 Like Father, like son...reading all the displays.

I was in awe of the Endeavour, it was just spectacular. I loved that they are displaying it "as is" and didn't try to shine it up. So awesome!

The Pompeii exhibit was ok, it was a bit too adult for the kids and we kind of rushed through it.  All in all it was a good day at the Science Center. We can't wait to take Tim to see the Endeavor.

Squeezing Every Last Bit out of Summer

We had a great Labor Day weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Oxnard. We had fun swimming, fishing and relaxing a bit. On Monday, we headed to Pyramid Lake and enjoyed a fun day in the water.

 Terra and Auntie chillin' in the raft.

 Trent and Jake

 Having fun jumping off the back of the boat.

 The Gang

We went to IHOP for breakfast the day before school started. Trent had yummy chocolate chip pancakes. He was one happy boy.

Terra was just happy to color...left handed.

5th Grade Here Trent Comes

Summer finally came to an end today when Trent started 5th grade. Trent was sad that summer ended, but happy to be going back to school to see his friends and meet his teacher. Last night, he told me he was a bit nervous, but really excited. He was all smiles this morning and could not wait to get to school. He was good about letting me take pictures this morning and happy when I walked out of the class and his day began.

 5th Grade!!

All smiles!

When I picked him up he said his day was AWESOME! I hope he has a AWESOME year!