Dear Peter

He loves writing to his cousin Peter:

A day at the park

 we needed to get out - the boys and I.. so after school we picked up MG and headed to the park!  They ate a quick snack and then ran off!
I used to be nervous about this thing... Now, I just stand underneath and hold my breath!  Just kidding!  They love it!  They have been on this thing so many times that I totally trust them to know their own limits.  They always do just fine!

 There he goes...

 And there he tries... and he tries every time with out complaining!  One day, I know he will be up there with the other 2 and I'm not going to know what to do!  (Oh boy!)

 She always gets there first, the little monkey!  Thanks to good friend, Olivia, who showed her all the tricks kindergarten year!  :)

 After climbing, we went for a walk to play near the lake.  Remember my children... where there is water, there must be some rock skipping!  So off they went chucking rocks in the lake.  MG almost chucked me with a rock!  That girl could use a lesson or 2 on throwing forward, rather than up and back!

 Then she got distracted... by this lady bug here:

 But this guy, he's always focused on causing mischief.  He was trying to figure out how to get that tire out of the lake... He began pulling a HUGE root sticking out of the dirt... this is where you may insert nervous mom rushing forward after taking this almost innocent looking boy's picture who is just playing a bit too close to the lake for his mom's comfort!  He, of course, did not fall in... but you never know with him!

 Before we left, I asked for a picture... and this is what I got!  Can't be too picky if you want all 3 in the picture and all somewhat looking in my direction!  :)

 When I asked for a silly one, they gladly obliged!  Ha, imagine that!  :)

Happy Tuesday all!!!!  Have a great rest of the week!

A trip to San Francisco

Vince had to work Saturday, so we had him all day Sunday to ourselves!  We decided to drive to SF and have lunch.
Yummy wonton soup!!!!

 He only likes the noodle -- no soup, no wonton... yes, very exact!  :)

 I had the wonton with duck and egg noodle soup! OH MY!!!  Good thing we walked after this meal!

 We have been here so many times...but have never taken photos... so here you go!

 Then we went to Golden Gate Park and they had so much fun running around that I didn't take any pictures! Except these:

Could they be any cuter????

Her first sleep over

She went off to camp with her troop yesterday afternoon at Gilroy Gardens...  This is her first time sleeping away from home without a family member in tow.  She was really nervous leading up to the event. But you will see from these photos, she was very excited!
The troop:

 Closer -- love that DJ their mascot is in a matching tshirt too!

 She's getting so big!!!!

 Brotherly love and farewell:

 a bit of a forced farewell?!

 Happy to be on their way!

And I'm happy to report that at 9:45 PM when she called to say good night, she was very happy!  I am so proud of her! :)  Picking her up this afternoon.. more stories to come about her adventures!  I also made her a few new items to carry her supplies!  Photos to follow!

So i don't have too many pictures because I'm still waiting for the leader and co-leader to offer some up!  lol  Cindy (the leader) and Melinda (co-leader) were nice enough to text and email some photos while they were having fun.

The tent they... er... pitched... hmmmm, something not quite right, right?  Turns out they were missing a pole -- so this was used to store their luggage!  (photo courtesy of Melinda)

Dinner that night: (photo courtesy of Cindy)

 The next morning riding the carousel: (photo courtesy of Melinda)

The next day in front of the waterfall:  (photo courtesy of Cindy)

While she was doing all that... they boys and I were doing this:

We celebrated the 5year anniversary of our local library/community center!

There were science demonstrations:

 Private story time:

 Cookie decorating:

 Yum!!!

 Then we went to a different library and they sat for 45 minutes during an opera performance of Hansel and Gretel!  The San Jose Opera members were amazing!  (Sadly, I was the one falling asleep during the show because I was up late worrying about MG last night and wondered if she would need me, etc, etc... but I never received a phone call.. and eventually fell asleep!)

 After the show we went to lunch....

yes, her ate both tacos and the pizza!!!  He's a growing boy!

After this meal we went to pick up MG -- she had a fabulous time!!!!  I am so proud of her!  Now she can have more sleep overs!  :)

Alohamora!!!!!

Did the title of the post help?
How about this?  Would it help to start with this picture?

Yes, Harry Potter is the reason why the following pictures were taken.  I was making dinner.The 3 were playing very nicely... until I heard a door shut and MD chanting these words, "alohamora!"  In Harry Potter terms... this word is used to open locked doors!  Yes, my friends, he is really into Harry Potter right now!  So into it that he thinks he can conjure up some spells of his own.  So he had to test it out, right?  He ran to my room, locked th door, and slammed it shut!  Well, it was all fine and dandy.. until we realized that we do not have th key to the door.  I checked all the spare keys... none would fit!  When Vince came home, we tried a few more tricks... Google friends, I know your advice to others may have helped them - but it didn't help us!  A credit card would not slide in.  A screw driver would not work.  A paper clip did not either - it kept bending too far back!  So we did what we had to do - I needed to eventually sleep... Right then... here we go!  We hammered the handle off!!!!

 E had to help, of course!

It was a strong lock!  Took us some time to bang th life out of it!  It put up a good fight!  :)

But it eventually came off... Crazy kid!  What will he conjure up next?!  He wanted to take broom flying lessons.  I had to "remind" him that Harry Potter is not real and he could not learnt to fly a broom stick!  AGH!!!

V, I am so sorry your door handle fell off your door... but I'm sure you have a better reason than me, right?!

Wordless Wednesday

I still have 10 minutes left to post this to qualify for Wordless Wednesday!

Tomorrow... the full story!

Swimming Lessons Update

They are doing so well!!!!
He has come a long way!!!!

 They are loving it in the pool!  (MG far left)

 That's MD in red shorts:

 I looked over and saw him...

 jump into the pool!!!!

EEEEKKKK!!!!  I should be nervous, but I'm not... I am SOOOO excited for them! They can join their dad in the deep end this summer!  (While I read a book on a nice chair...hammock... whatever - I'm not picky!)