T-Ball and a Special Award

We are pretty busy around here these days!  Keegan started his second season of T-ball a few weeks ago and he is having so much fun out there.  He is so much more confident than he was in the spring.  He runs after the ball and throws it (which is twice what he was doing last season. Ha!)  His batting is even better.  He makes contact every time and with a lot more force.  We are so proud of him and so happy to see him laughing with the team on the sidelines ;-)

Ava was recognized at her school's first spirit rally (Friday Live)  a couple of weeks ago.  The new Bennett Creed Award was given to a student in each grade that consistently exhibited the principals of the their creed - Believe in ones self, respect others, eager to learn, positive attitude and strives for success.  The principal called us a few days before and told us it was a surprise and invited us to be there.  The school's namesake Mrs. Bennett was there to give the award.  We were a little nervous about how Ava would react to a surprise like that in front of so many people but she did great.  She had big smiles and kept taking really noticeable deep breaths over and over.  

All the Creed Award winners had a their picture taken for display all year and a special lunch with the principals on Monday.

We are so proud of this girl!  She loves everything about school and we are so happy to see her work so hard and enjoy it at the same time.  We feel so blessed to be at such a great school!

September Happenings

The school year is in full swing and we've all adjusted to our new schedules.  It's always great when Friday rolls around though!  We love the weekends :-)  Here are some phone pics of the last couple of weeks...

We spent Labor Day on the lake with our sweet Daley friends.  

Ava  loved tubing but Keegan wouldn't even consider it.

Sweet Kinley turned 1 on September 5th!  She is such a precious girl.

We had a fun time celebrating her last weekend!

Keegan loves going to school.  I snapped this pic on the first day of carpool.  He feels like such a big boy walking to class by himself.  Although he told me he walked into the wrong class at first.  "That Mom told me to keep going down the hall," he said.  (He calls every woman 'that mom.'  Makes me laugh!)

He took Batman to school on Tuesday for his "Teddy Bear/Favorite Stuffed Toy Picnic."  He was pretty excited about it and told one of the 4's teachers that helped him out of the car at carpool "Look!  I brought Batman today!"  This kid couldn't be more different than his sister.  He's never met a stranger.

Ava absolutely loves jazz dance this year.  I love that it does not involve tights!  She comes straight home after school on Thursdays, picks out her leotard and shorts, and waits excitedly for 4:30.  

This is our fourth year with Mrs. Crystal and we are back in the pink room (my favorite room) where we started when Ava was 3.  Oh how they grow!

Just a snapshot of Keegan at the pond looking for fish one day last week.  I'm looking for ways to keep him entertained.  He hasn't napped since we've been back from California so I guess those days are over.  It actually works out because he goes to bed the same early time Ava does now - but wow the days feel long sometimes!  

First Day of School!

Yesterday was Ava's first day of 1st grade.  That sounds so much older than kindergarten somehow!  

She woke up excited but I could tell she was getting really anxious once were inside her classroom.  It's always hard to walk away the first day. She said she had the best day though!  

She loves her teacher (who we've known from church for years) although she only has a few friends from her kindergarten class in her new one.  

She hopped out at carpool this morning with all the confidence in the world and she is all smiles at pick up!  I'm thankful she is loving it.

And today was Keegan's first day of preschool!  

He was excited and ready to go this morning!

He has Mrs. Sherri (Ava's preschool teacher) and it's fun to be back at her preschool.  Everyone remembered Ava and the teachers were so excited to have little brother Keegan.  

He would have walked in by himself if I would have let him.  He put his backpack away and headed for the toys with the other kiddos.

At pick up he talked about painting with a paintbrush, having a 'cookie' snack and the song 'move it, move it' in Ms. Connie's body movement class,  He is so excited to go back on Thursday!

I know this is going to be the best year for these two!  We are getting back on a schedule and soaking up the excitement of all the new fun they are having!

California 2014- San Diego Part 2!

The next day we headed back to harbor village to tour the USS Midway.  It was a United States Navy aircraft carrier and it was huge!  The views from the top were amazing.  The kids loved sitting in the jets and helicopters but Jeff loved it the most.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on Coronado Beach.  It was a really rough afternoon.  Ha!

Here's a video of Keegan at Coronado Beach...

We drove to La Jolla Cove that evening and walked the most beautiful stretch that included caves, boulders, sea lions, giant waves....It was the most beautiful place.  

We went back the next day to La Jolla shores down the coast a bit and the water was clear and the views were amazing.  It was just SO crowded.  I guess everyone knows about La Jolla's awesomeness :-)

Ava started to get really good at body boarding and loved it!  Here's a video of our girl at La Jolla....

We stopped at the Mount Soledad Cross in La Jolla.  It was so beautiful.  We've been following the news on this memorial for a couple of years and praying with our church for its future.  It was so special to be there and pray with our kids around it.

We had dinner at Candelas on the Bay in Coronado.  The view was beautiful and the food was so good!

And our last day we spent at the San Diego Zoo before driving back to L.A.  We saw polar bears, panda bears, grizzly bears, koalas, and lots of other animals.  Ava was so excited about riding on top of the double decker bus.  Keegan passed out in my lap but Ava enjoyed every minute of it, taking pictures, viewing with her new binoculars and pointing everything out.  

We made it back to LAX around 5:30 and ordered a pizza by the pool.  We were in the air by 9:30 the next morning and back home at 4:30 (losing 2 hours).  

It was an amazing trip and we are so thankful everything went as smoothly as it did.  We will be talking about our adventures for a long time!  And now my babies get ready to head to school this week.  We are spending the weekend getting ready for a great new school year :-)