First Day of School

Micah and Mrs. Hudson

Today was Micah's first day of First Grade. He did a really good job when Jacob and I dropped him off. There were 2 kids crying but he was not one of them! When we picked him up he had a big smile on his face and he said he had a great day. He said they learned a lot of rules and had a tour of the school. He said at recess he tried to stop some boys that were killing beetles. He said he talked to 2 boys in his class.
Visor he made at school today

Darrick at Hong Kong Disney

Last week the Lake Erie pulled into Hong Kong. On one of his days off Darrick signed up for one of the trips which was to go to Disney for $23.00! He had fun and said it was much smaller-they saw the whole park in about 3 hours. It did not have all of the popular rides but he enjoyed the experience.

Meet your teacher day

Today was "Meet your Teacher Day" at Micah's new school-Iroquois Point Elementary School (IPES). We left the house at 6:50 am and arrived at school at 7:25 am. Until we move in October it will be a drive I will make 4 times a day bringing Micah and picking him up.

Micah said he was nervous but it seemed more like a nervous excitement. We had a meeting in the caferteria first where the principal talked and she introduced all the staff. Micah was very excited when his teacher walked up on the stage, Mrs. Hudson. He thought her name was cool, like Doc Hudson from the movie "Cars".

After the meeting we were invited to go to the classroom and meet his teacher and put his supplies away. She seemed very nice and one thing that impressed me is that former students and parents were stopping by to come and say hi-that is evidence of a teacher that is loved and well liked. Micah has 13 girls in his class and 7 boys! He was excited when he saw that she had toys in the room and she told him that when they finish work they sometimes have time to play. He was also excited because on the daily schedule it said that they have Science and he decided over summer break that he wants to be a Scientist when he grows up!

After the classroom we visited some booths that were set up and Micah told me that he would like to try Boy Scouts. They can start in first grade. So I signed him up. Darrick was in Boy Scouts...he will be so proud!

Then we bought him a red school shirt that they wear every Wednesday for School Spirit day!

It was a really positive experience and he said he is excited to go to school tomorrow!

Back Home in Hawaii!

Here we are once again...in paradise! There are things I miss about California but the weather is not one of them. The weather in Hawaii is so great and a welcome change from the heat.

We had a great flight back over the Pacific and we were all happy to sleep in our beds again.

Lulu was beside herself with excitement when we walked in the door.

I am almost done with unpacking and getting things back in order. Friday we went to the dentist and we all passed with flying colors-No Cavities!

Tomorrow Micah has meet your teacher Day at his new school-Iroquios Point Elementary and then Tuesday is his first day of First Grade!

So now I have to spend time labeling all his supplies. First we have to go out and buy them and then we have to label evey single one of them-down to each and every individual crayon and pencil! I better get busy!

Highlights of our trip to Cali Summer 2007

Uncle Sam is here!

Yesterday my brother Sam drove down from Northern Cali to spend a week at my parent's house with us. Sam is going to Western Theological Seminary in the Fall and is working a Granite Springs Church in Northern California for the summer.

The boys were so excited when Uncle Sam arrived. They have been wrestling and playing pirates a lot.

The boys also received a care package from Darrick yesterday. He sent it after he visited Australia. Micah got a boomerang and Jacob got a stuffed Wombat. The both also got growing crocodiles. The kind you put in water and then they grow.

Tonight we are at my brother Dave house visiting! Everyone is here except Darrick, Jeff, Beth and my new niece (Laura is 3 cm)!

Disneyland

Tuesday the boys and I went to Disneyland with Papa and Nana. We got there a little after it opened and took full advantage of our day. A few months ago we went to Toyko Disney which was awesome but everything spoke Japanese so we couldn't understand what anything was saying so the boys liked that everything spoke English a lot! We started our day at Star Tours. After we sat down Micah said to me, "I hope C3PO drives our space ship and not the bad driver we had at Toyko Disney!" Micah laughed and smiled through the whole ride. Jacob was like a statue but as soon as we got off he said "That was SO awesome!" We went to check out the line for the new Nemo subs but the wait was 3-4 hours! No Thanks! So we drove the cars at the Autotopia. Papa rode solo and Nana and Micah were in one car and Jake and I in the other. Jacob was so serious and I asked him if he was hving fun and he said he was trying to watch the road! Then we rode the train all around the park-one of our favorites. Then we took the boys on the Matterhorn for the first time. Micah was not sure about this. He wanted to know if it was fast? Why were people screaming? Where was the snow monster? But we got them on it and they both wanted to do it again. Then we rode its a small world and over to toon town to ride Roger Rabbit. Next stop was Casey Jr. train-which the boys both loved. It was so fun to see how much fun Jacob was having on that ride. Then we went to Big Thunder Mountain. Micah did not want to do it and had a lot of questions again. Micah and I rode in 1 seat and Jacob in the middle of my parents in another seat. It started out good but as we picked up speed I looked back and Jacob and his little head was squished in between my parents arms and his eyes were huge and he looked feaked out. Micah actually started screaming out loud-it was pretty funny. Then we did Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. Then we went to Tom Sawyers island which they renamed Pirate's Lair. It was super cool and the boys ended up finding the pirates treasure! Next was Tarzans Tree House, the Jungle Cruise, Aladdin's Story time , the Tiki Tiki Room and the Parade. By then we were all tired and even thought the park was open 4 more hours we decided that was enough fun for us!

Yesterday we went to Mervyn's because they were having a huge 1 day sale and I got all of Micah's clothes for school.

Today we are just hanging out. The boys watched Stars Wars with Papa and are now running around in the backyard playing what else...Star Wars!

Sunday Fun

Yesterday the boys and I went to our old church Friendship Community Church to worship and see our friends. It was so nice to see the Martinez Family, the Norman Family, Ken and Candy and Helen. After church we went to lunch at Souplantation with our friends Micah, Nicole and Kaitlyn Leonard and Bryan Frame. We had a super yummy lunch and enjoyed catching up.

After lunch we went to the Leonards apartment and we took the kids for a swim in the pool. It was such a hot day and it felt so good. After we were all tired out we went to their apartment and the kids watched a movie while we visited. Then we had pizza and Big Micah wrestled with the 3 kids! It was such a fun time!

The "New" Me

Today I got my haircut. Joanna, who is my cousin Chris' girlfriend, is a student at Salon Success. She cut my Aunt Belinda's hair and my cousin Amber's hair, and their cuts were super cute so today I went. She cut almost 4 inches off and gave it some layers and style. She blew it out but I can also still wear it curly...what do you think?

Cousins

Elijah, Micah and Jacob

Great Grandparents

Micah, Jacob and Elijah with Great Grandpa and Grandma Vanderbilt and Great Grandpa Gutierrez

Science Experiment

We put 1 Mento in a bottle of Diet Coke and this is what happened. It surprised Auntie Laura and Micah!

Laura, Dave, Elijah, Jenn, Micah and Jacob at the 4th of July Parade

Sarah, Arden, Jacob, Micah and Jenn

Micah, Jenn, Jacob and Amelie

We are back at my parents house now after our mini-vacation to Bakersfield. We had such a nice visit at Sarah's house. The boys called her Marme which is what her grandkids call her. Two of her grandkids were there, Arden and Sophia, plus Micah, Jacob and Amelie-it was a full house but the kids had so much fun playing together. Sarah made us a yummy spaghetti dinner and we had fun catching up and sharing memories of Darrick's mom.



Let me just say that it is SO hot in California. It is 102.5! Oh where are the cool Hawaiian breezes?