First Day of School

C.J. and Brendan had their first day of school today. C.J. started 3rd grade and Brendan started Kindergarden.

Brendan had a fun day. He said that his teachers (job sharing team) are very nice. They read him books and talked about the classroom rules. He was most excited about recess which consisted of a snack time and playing on the play structure outside. Brendan reports that he made friends, but he doesn't know their names. When asked if he spoke to Amanda, the girl who sits next to him, he replied, "No. Only boys." Hmm. Perhaps Brendan won't be receiving the same marriage proposals that C.J. received in Kindergarden.

Champs!

Yesterday was the Championship Swim Meet where all eight swim teams competed against each other. It was crazy! There were anywhere from 4 to 10 heats for each event. A normal swim meet starts around 9am and ends around 1pm. Yesterday started at 8am (we were supposed to check in and do warm ups at6:30am!) and friends of ours didn't get home until 5:30pm! Somehow the stars and planets aligned and neither C.J. nor Brendan swam backstroke or the freestyle relay. That meant that we were done at the halfway point and made it home by 2pm. Just so that our friends would still speak to us after we deserted them for the 2nd half of the meet, we stopped at 7-11 on the way out of town and brought back Slurpees for their kids. All in all, the meet was amazingly well organized, though.

There was a holding area for the kids to get organized two events prior to their event. The kids were placed in rows corresponding to their heat and seats corresponding to their lanes.


The boys even made friends while hanging out waiting for their events to start. Brendan played rock paper scissors, and the older boys rested their feet. For the record, Abbie was very upset about the older boys' positions and immediately told them "You cannot move the chairs! Put the chairs back on the ground!" Yes, she is bossy.

The kids were then led holding hands to their lane immediately before they swam.

The bigger kids were too cool to hold hands, so they formed a conga line.

C.J. and Brendan beat some of their records. Unfortunately, the team didn't do as well. We came in last place. We weren't even close to the next place finisher. Oh well, at least we have a fun time swimming.

Sesame Place

I took Abbie to Philadelphia this weekend where I met some girlfriends. We had a great time! I had only known most of the women via the internet, and it was great to meet them "in real life." They all exceeded my expectations, and our friendships grew! Abbie had a blast playing with all the other kids (most moms brought one child with them). One friend even used my camera to get some rare mother/daughter shots. We did a lot of kid friendly activities -- e.g. Sesame Place, a water park designed for the preschooler set with a Sesame Street theme.

Here's Abbie at Sesame Place having fun playing in the water: Of course, we managed just a bit of shopping as well. Here we are at a place called Peddler's Village. It was a really cute area with scenic gardens, a water wheel, shops, restaurants, and the requisite children's place area.Finally, a couple of the shots my friend took of mother and daughter together:

The boys stayed home and had fun playing with various people. Brendan got to help Uncle Craig work on a garage door opener for Nana. It was quite a hit! The boys saw two movies with their Dad and competed in a swim meet. Both boys, Dad, and Uncle Craig all went to see the San Jose Grand Prix and had a good time. C.J. and Brendan capped off the weekend with a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's home.