Back to School

Parker started his new year of preschool yesterday. He is in the 4-year olds' class this year--his last year of preschool before he starts kindergarten...what??!! That's crazy. We love his school, so we are pretty excited about the upcoming year. He has a new teacher, is in a new classroom, and has a new class pet--this time it's a turtle (last year it was a fish, and his summer school classroom had a tarantula named Rosie...). I can't wait until he starts bringing his school projects home again! I hope this year holds lots of fun growing and learning experiences for Parker. And I hope he enjoys his time on his own, getting out of the house and getting a chance to be independent from his parents and his little brother.

Back on the horse

We had to get back on Prudence and when we did we were rewarded with a beautiful sail and unlimited hungry mackerel.



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Levi's First Airplane Ride

After saying goodbye to Em, Peter, Josie, and Chiara, we drove to the airport and headed to Montana to spend two weeks with my family. Jared was able to join us for our journey up there and vacationed with us for two days before heading to the East Coast for two weeks for work. This was Levi's first airplane ride, so we were curious to see how he would handle things, and how it would be flying with both kids! 


I must say that at this age, Parker now seems like a breeze to travel with. He was super excited about the flights and happily packed his own backpack with some snacks, toys, and games--and even carried and took care of his backpack himself the whole time. He loved the turbulence on our approach to Salt Lake City, asking us if we could do that again! 


Levi was totally excited about the whole scene as soon as we sat down in our seats on the first flight. He loved all of the new things to explore and flirted with everyone around us. He was so active the entire time, clambering over all of us to get a look out the window. By the time we finally landed in Montana, I felt like I had been wrestling an alligator all afternoon!

A Sailing Adventure

We got to take everyone out for a sail one afternoon, although we had pretty cold, grey weather. We had our usual Prudence luck, though, and saw a bunch of dolphins, which was exciting for the kids (well, probably for all of us)--we even saw a couple of baby dolphins! Unsurprisingly, Parker and Josie both eventually fell asleep! All of the kids were great little sailors, Chiara included--she was so sweet and mellow the whole time.

San Diego Botanic Gardens

We had so much fun playing in the childrens' gardens at Quail (I'm going to be hard pressed to remember to call it by its new name, "San Diego Botanic Gardens"!). We brought lunch and spent hours playing in both the Seeds of Wonder garden and the Hamilton Children's Garden. They are both such awesome places for kids, and Parker and Josie (and even Levi, too!) seemed to be endlessly entertained and had a great time exploring and playing together. Levi climbed right up his first flight of stairs--that boy sure is a climber.

The Morks Come to Visit!

Levi with Chiara, about three 1/2 months old

Levi and Chiara are only about six months apart!

Josie loved the swing! She and Parker are only about 7 months apart.

Such a fun, happy girl. She loved spinning on the swing.

Levi and Peter 

Em and Chiara

We were so happy to have the Mork Family come visit us for a few days during their San Diego vacation last month! We don't get to see them very often, and they are some of our best friends. Our kids are all pretty close in age, and it was especially fun this time to see how well Parker and Josie hit it off now that they are older--they played together like they were the best of friends, it was so sweet. Now it is Levi and Chiara's turn to buddy up :) We wish we could see you guys all the time--once a year just is NOT enough! Love and miss you.

Yard Work, Yard Work, Everywhere!

Parker being goofy as always

Levi LOVES playing in dirt! 

Jared beginning the process of building a planter bed wall

Dee in the midst of cutting down the bottle brush tree--it's finally gone!!

Parker working hard in his role as "supervisor"

The last month or so has found us inspired to clean up and improve our front and back yards, and thanks to Dee and Lisa's help, we've made a ton of progress! It's been fun getting into gardening and home improvement projects again, spending time dreaming about possibilities and spending nap times trying to get as much done as I can before Levi wakes up! So many more projects ahead...we're already enjoying meals out on the patio again now that it's nice and clean.