Kindergarten Graduate

Kailani graduated from kindergarten today! My little girl is growing up:( The day started off with a performance of "The Great Kapok Tree," a story about the Amazon rainforest. All five kindergarten classes participated in the performance. Every child had a part. Kailani was a sloth and she said, "Por favor senor, no lo cortes" (please Mr. don't cut it). She did such a great job. After the performance, each class had their own promotion ceremony. The two Spanish immersion classes had their promotion ceremony together. As the teachers called each child up for his/her certificate, they said (in Spanish of course) what each child wants to be when s/he grows up. Kailani wants to be a teacher. Tomorrow is Kailani's last day of school. Friday she'll go to work with me for our annual walk-a-thon at Mission Bay. Then, she'll go to the YMCA for three weeks of camp until I am finished working.

Cosmic Bowling

Zachary's Birthday Party

This is my 500th Blog post...wow!
This morning we went to Lowe's for the Build and Grow clinic. The kids made an ice cream truck. We're excited about the next few projects. They look really neat!
This afternoon we had a very small birthday party for Zachary with only a few friends. It was very nice compared to the parties in the past with lots of people. He enjoyed the party. We're all relaxing now so we can go to Cosmic Bowling tonight:)

Daisy Celebration

Tonight was Kailani's last Daisy meeting of the year. We celebrated with a pot luck at the leader's house. The girls had a great time playing together. They each made a hat decorated with flowers, including a daisy. The girls were presented with their prizes from cookie sales. They also each received a certificate for completing their first year as Daisies.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by...Zachary turned 3 today! On the way to school, we stopped at the store to get some cupcakes to take to his class. He was very excited to share them with his friends. We went to Chick fil A for dinner tonight because it was military appreciate night; free meals for all military families:) They catapulted stuffed cows off the roof. Jason caught one and  won free Chick fil A for a year! Kailani tried the rock wall, but wasn't able to get very far.

When we got home from Chick fil A, Zachary had a surprise birthday present...a Diego bike. Jason took Zachary to Toys R Us to pick out another gift and he chose a cars race track set.

Disneyland

This weekend we headed to Disney. Kailani's Daisy troop raised enough money through cookie sales to pay for a ticket to Disney for each girl and an adult. We decided to make a weekend out of it and get the 3-day hopper pass for all of us...except for Zachary...he's under 3 for a few more days:)
We drove up on Friday after school and had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. We celebrated Zachary's birthday there. We walked around downtown Disney for the rest of the night. Kailani was very much into trading pins again. She picked out a few when we first got there and traded throughout the weekend. Zachary got a pin trading started kit. He traded one pin for a cars pin, but after that, wasn't too interested.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to have breakfast with Minnie and friends at the Plaza Inn. We went on a few rides at Disneyland while we waited for the Daisy troop to arrive. Once they got to the park, we were able to go on a few rides with them and have lunch together. It was a nice treat for the girls to get to hang out together outside of the Daisy meetings. When we got back to the hotel, there was a birthday package waiting for Zachary:)
This morning we decided to try Storytellers breakfast with Chip and Dale at the Grand Californian Hotel. This was the only character dining experience we hadn't done at Disneyland. The food was good, but there weren't too many characters. Nothing like the Minnie and Friends breakfast. We spent the day inside CA Adventure Park. Cars Land will be opening there in June...we were a little too early. We still have one day left on our 3-day hopper pass, so we'll save it to see Cars Land when it opens.
We had a nice weekend, but we're glad to be home.

Alopecia Ar...what!?

A few months ago we took Zachary to the doctor when I noticed a bald spot on his head that hadn't been there before. The pediatrician referred him to a dermatologist, and we finally had the appointment yesterday. The diagnosis is...alopecia areata. Basically, it means hair loss. It's nothing serious, but means he could have bald spots that clear up in a few months and then appear again in other areas. About 1 out of 1000 people have this. The doctor said we could continue to use the steroid cream the pediatrician had given us, but it thins the skin if used too much. We said we're okay with no treatment at all as long as we know it's nothing serious. He was surprised to hear us say that. I think most parents freak out and want to get rid of the bald spots right away. Luckily he's a boy and we can shave his head! I am just glad it's nothing to be worried about.

I am a Phoenix...

This afternoon we went to see Jason's graduation ceremony from the University of Phoenix. He is currently taking his last class. In three weeks, he will be completely finished and will have earned his Bachelor's degree in management. Kailani and Zachary were both very good during the 2-hour ceremony. I wasn't able to make my way to the stage to get a picture of Jason walking across. I had forgotten what it was like to be at a graduation ceremony. The only college ceremonies I've ever been to were mine. It's a much different perspective when you're in the audience. The kids and I are very proud of Jason's accomplishment. Zachary presented Jason with a flower lei after the ceremony and Kailani gave him a frog "graduate" that she picked out. We celebrated with dinner at the Olive Garden (Kailani's choice).

OTM Sendoff

This morning Kailani and I went to the USS Midway for the Operation Thin Mint cookie sendoff. Helicopters brought the top girl scout cookie sellers to the Midway for the ceremony. There were several girls who sold more than 2012 boxes. One girl sold more than 4000. I thought 200 was a lot!
Kailani enjoyed watching the helicopters come in and leave. She also enjoyed watching the parachute jumpers that jumped from a helicopter as well. We ran into one of the little girls from her Daisy troop and they had fun playing together. Overall, 2 million boxes of cookies are being sent to the troops over seas through the Operation Thin Mint program.

10 Years

It's hard to believe that it was 10 years today that we were married. Time has just flown by! Becky watched the kids while we celebrated with a night out for dinner at Roy's. It was nice to get a night out.

So Relaxing

On Friday afternoon, Kailani and I went to the salon for a little pampering. Kailani was apparently so relaxed while getting her nails done that she fell asleep right at the table:)

Fondue Night

Tonight I was able to sneak out of the house for a little fondue with some friends:)

Vote for Jessica

Chula Vista has come together to support Jessica Sanchez, who is on American Idol. They're down to the final four. If Jessica survives this week, she'll be one of the top three and there will be a home town concert. The mayor is already trying to figure out where it will be. I think it would be interesting to go.