Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Parent/Teacher Conferences

As has been my experience with first grade so far, kindergarten holds nothing on first grade. First grade conferences were a little (A LOT) more detailed, and in fact, 20 minutes wasn't enough time to review his grades and progress AND ask questions I had of the teacher. And you know I always have questions! Whew, it went fast.

Naturally, Sam is a brilliant and talented student. His reading is "above average" and his math skills are terrific. I did find one 1 on the report card (grades now come in 1-3, with 1 being the lowest)-- organizational skills. Can this be my child? So I asked. Messy desk. Apparently my genius son is too busy to keep his desk neat, so there are often papers spilling out on the floor or left on top of the desk. I think I remember that kid from grade school. As long as he doesn't eat glue too, I think he'll be okay. When I asked him about it, he slowly smiled and admitted that it was not his priority. Well, of all of the things I can think of to put in the "some work needed" category, I guess I'd choose organizational skills above sharing or attention deficit or illiteracy.

I am so proud of my smart boy!

Monday, October 25, 2010

San Diego Pictures

The Lego pirate greets us at Legoland. Arrgh!


Sam battles Darth Vader made of legos


Kate happy about being eaten


Kate and Sam wait for the dolphin show at SeaWorld. It's finally sunny!


It's Willy! (and a friend) at the Shamu show


Shamu! Shamu!


Sam trying out the pilot's seat on a plane on the USS Midway


Kate's at the helm! (Don't worry, it's docked!)

Selena Gomez and Captain Cody do Brick or Treat

The family at Brick or Treat


My kids choose the apples in their bags over candy. Such a proud mom!

Sam's pumpkin for the pumpkin-building contest (no prizes given, so I'm not sure contest is accurate)


Sam and Kate on the way into the San Diego Zoo. Aren't they cute?!!

Sam and Kate at the polar bear exhibit


See the orangutan combing his hair for the picture?!


California Dreamin'

Actually, the whole time I was in California, that song was in my head, but it didn’t quite apply. I sang it for the “all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey,” but it WAS California, so I guess I was dreamin’ of someplace else. The whole time we were San Diego it was grey, overcast and cool.


We spent 4 full days in San Diego, discounting travel time, which was somewhat significant. We saw Legoland, SeaWorld, SeaLife, the U.S.S. Midway, and the San Diego Zoo. We dined at the Corvette Diner and the kids tried seafood (calamari, swordfish and clam chowder) at a local restaurant. The kids swam outside in a heated pool, but the air was only about 61 at best (CRAZY). We Brick or Treat-ed at Legoland, to which Sam responded that he thinks we ought to do that every year.

A couple of fun things:

- Sam and Kate got along great most of the time. They held hands on the way into several places, and in the airport I overheard Sam say, “I’ll take care of you Kate. Just stay with me.” It was really special to be able to take them to new places and have them enjoy together.

- Kate walked the whole time—no stroller for us. That meant that each night, despite the fact that we were usually done by 5 or so, she was TIRED. Of the 4 nights there, she fell asleep before we got her into bed 3 times. The funniest was when she fell asleep on my lap at a Mexican restaurant and she was so asleep that she didn’t wake at all, even when we tried to put her in her booster seat in the car and she fell to the floorboard. Oops. Oh, Dad says that wasn’t funny, but it kind of was.

- Over the summer, our friend Beth gave the kids the movie Free Willy. So, when we went to SeaWorld, we had two interested whale-lovers. So at the big Shamu extravaganza, when a whale with the same fin as Willy came out to do his tricks, mine were the only kids in the stadium who said “WILLY!!!” We even tried to get up close to watch Willy swim, but he was kind of a solitary guy.

- Brick or Treat was fun, but semi-crazy. Big crowd, all these little kids dressed up for Halloween and a trick-or-treat line a mile long. Maybe not quite a mile, but at least a half a mile. Kate’s favorite part was the “Boogiemonster” party, where they had two young ladies dressed in fancy (friendly) witch costumes who were dancing with these preschoolers. Music, lights, fog machine, all in effect. Then a little “boogiemonster” singing group (3 women) came out and sang popular songs with Halloween themes. If it sounds cheesy, that’s because it was, but Kate LOVED it. She cried when it was time to go, and she was most proud of her “Boogiemonster” prize ribbon. I hope the video turns out.

Pictures will be posted soon!