{this moment}

First Day

The Night Before Kindergarten - Part I

'Twas the night before kindergarten,

and as they prepared,

kids were excited

and a little bit scared.

They tossed and they turned

about in their beds,

while visions of school supplies

danced in their heads.

Erasers and crayons

and pencils galore

were stuffed in their backpacks

and set by the door.

Outfits were hung

in the closet with care,

knowing that kindergarten

soon would be there.

Click here to see the ORIGINAL post from 2 years ago

In the morning it came --

 ... NOT YET!!!

To be continued tomorrow!!!

VIP NOTE: I am not the author of this wonderful piece. Natasha Wing is and we LOVE, LOVE this book!!!

Now and then ...

Two years ago I was very anxious and nervous about sending my first born into Kindergarten.

I called the "Ice Cream Social" to meet the teachers and other kids "meeting the enemies" and I was convinced that they would take my oh-so-loving and kind hearted girl and turn her into a vampire :)

Two years later and I almost forgot about Lulu's ice cream social. 

I walked her to school, pushed her on the play ground and said "Go play with your friends" and I was off chatting with my PTA moms.

Lulu came and pulled on my pants and said "Mama, I need to go potty!"

and I answered "Go, you know where the bathrooms are!"

But then I stopped in my tracks, looked at my itty Lulu and saw a little bit of fear and nervousness in her usually so mischievous eyes. 

I thought "Gosh dummbo! You are here for HER!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"

So I held her hand, walked her into the classroom and to the bathroom and never left her side again.

It's so easy to make a big fuss over the first one but then it's also easy to not make a fuss over the second one.

But tonight all my thoughts are with her, my little Lulu.

My youngest L, who will leave the nest tomorrow and become an official Kindergartener.

It seems like yesterday when L started Kinder.

Time flies!!!

So we walked in our own footsteps and (of course) I recorded it to share these very special and somewhat sad moments and make note of it for years to come.

I had made the Ls these awesome skirts and they wore them to Ls ice cream social.

Then

On Friday it was Lulu's turn and I remembered the skirts in time to bribe the Ls to wear them again.

Now 

Then 

Now

Then 

Now 

Then 

Now

 Then

Now

Then

Now

The Ls with Mrs. O, L's Kindergarten teacher AND Lulu's new Kindergarten teacher :)

Lulu checking out the lila (purple) table, sitting in L's old chair :)

She has been in this room many, many, many times!

Every time I taught in Room 1 & 2 Lulu was with me.

She knows these rooms inside and out.

She knows most of the teachers, quite a few of her new classmates and she knows the office staff.

You can't be better prepared than that ... yet, she is still not so sure about the whole Kinder thing and keeps talking about her beloved Mrs. Tang and Mrs. Dunn.

It'll be a BIG day for her tomorrow ... and for me!!!

I already prepared GP. 

I told him I'd probably hold his hand walking back home, make him sit and color with crayons and then eat Mac & Cheese and watch a Barbie show :)

I vividly remember walking back home, after dropping L off on he first day, holding my little Lulu's hand very tight.

Tomorrow on my way back my hand will be empty and I know I'll miss my little one VERY, VERY much!!!

{this moment}

"Fun in the sun!"

Phase 124 of the rental remodel:  Construction Debris Clean-Up.

Free dump day for Milpitas residents = 8 hours of hard labor in the BLAZING sun.

Pat rented a UHAUL and we just loaded that sucker up ... to the max ... TWICE!!!

When will it ever ENDDD???
The house is still a complete construction zone and GP will arrive in TWO days.
We better call in the help of Red Bull tomorrow.

... off to bed ... T-I-R-E-D!!!!!

The NOT SO camping camping-trip

This should be a short post!

A) there is not much to say about this oh-so-highly-anticipated camping trip of ours and
B) I am too tired!
... but then I MUST tell you about our awesome trip!!!

A-a) Camping in Yosemite in the middle of big-summer-tourist season is NOT a good idea IF you are planning on relaxing and enjoying nature.

A-b) Prior to booking a cabin-tent at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park one should ALWAYS read the fine print.
Because if one would have read the fine print then one would have known that Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, with it's "wonderful" cabin-tents is the only campground in Yosemite National Park that DOES NOT ALLOW cooking.
And if one would have known this little fact one would have not packed the ENTIRE car full of provisions for the trip.
All meals were carefully planned and prepped and only needed to be cooked on a camping stove or camp fire ... both of which we were not allowed to use at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park.
One would have also noticed that at 9:00 pm lights are OUT and no sound is to be made.
Apparently the newborn in the tent 2 feet away didn't get that memo, neither did her/his SNORING dad.

A-c) Since one could not cook in Curry Village in Yosemite National Park one had to go and stand in a VERY LONG LINE to buy some VERY expensive and NOT GOOD food at one of the eateries near Curry Village in Yosemite National Park.

A-d) There are two beaches that allow cooking and even have pick nick tables and so we hauled our ice box full with food, the kitchen, the cooker, the chairs, the blankets and and and to this beach, set up camp, opened up our ever so new and sweet camping cooker and then ... to started raining / pouring.

A-e) If one is ever so unhappy with the situation one find herself in one just decides to LEAVE Curry Village in Yosemite National Park (never mind the reservations and the penalty fee of one night for checking out three days earlier) and find herself a nice HOTEL outside of Yosemite National Park and forgets about the whole camping thing and instead ...

Prepares meals in a nice in-suite kitchen.

No limitations on meals or time restrictions applied!

One sleeps in comfy beds with a TV WITH channels ... we actually could watch some of the Olympics and saw Phelps-boy swim his last race ever :)
No snoring neighbors or screaming babies were to be heard.

We traded the dream of making smokes on the fireplace, in front of the tent for a nice HUGE patio ...

with a SWEET view and sound!

One traded the glass of not so good beer for $5.00 at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park for a bottle of a little better beer for $2.25.

The only one camping was Belle and her unicorns. I was a bit envious of her camp fire ...

And instead of 2 feet away noisy tent neighbors we just had mama Raccoon come by every night to look for some din-din.
Last might she brought the whole gang, 4 little ones who were told to climb up the tree until she had begged for enough food.
Once every tourist in the hotel had taken 100 pictures of her she summoned the kiddos down (one didn't listen so mother Raccoon jet pulled the little fella down) and off they went to the next hotel building.

There were games of Checkers (L is getting pretty good and beat me ... which says enough about my abilities to play a SIMPLE strategy game!!!).

While Lulu gave a VERY long speech about Raccoons and how they nibble on feet.

After the lodging situation was solved we dared to enter the tourist filled park one more time and just hang out at the VERY low but still very cool river for the day.

Each and every trail on the park map was packed with people and after the whole Curry Village in Yosemite National Park - disaster we had enough of people and just wanted to be ...

... and so I end this post with one last comment.

NEVER EVER book a cabin tent in Curry Village in Yosemite National Park in the middle of the summer if you want to take a simple camping trip with your family, away from everything.

However, the Ls did have fun and I believe I had a smile come across my face when I woke up this morning. Unfortunately that was the day we had to pack up and head back home :(

Oh well, our long awaited summer vacation trip didn't end up being as fun and relaxing as we hoped it would be BUT there is always NEXT year!
I'll make sure to add opening day for reservations for Curry Village in Yosemite National Park on my calendar.