We had a great 7 years at Northwood Elementary. Kiddos had amazing teachers and made some great friends. We will definitely miss Elementary school but are definitely ready to move onto middle school. Nikki got the presidents award. We didn’t even know this was a thing. It is for getting all A’s and B’s in school. Way to go Nikki! Congrats Nikki and Justin, we are so proud of you guys!
Nikki is following in dad’s footsteps with the trombone. She had an amazing concert at Sergestroms and played trombone at CA Adventure. The concert was incredible. They are playing pieces Bret said that are way above their age level.
Kiddos both played basketball for So Cal Elite. Both had great teams and it is so exciting watching a basketball game.
They also did the Irvine Junior Games for the first time, what an awesome day! I am blown away at how organized it was and all the athletes. I hope they do it again. Nikki did a run and a soccer kick and Justin did a bean bag toss.
Since Justin is getting into planes, we went to the WWII planes exhibit. It was a cool museum and amazing to see the planes take off. We got to walk through one of the old planes. It was near the airport so we watched the jets as well for a bit.
Date night with the love of my life-Chicago/Reo Speedwagon concert
Can’t forget about our sweet Chili Bean rabbit. She is a sweet sweet bunny!
Since I love April Fools so much, I thought it deserved it’s own post. It is getting harder and harder to come up with things to do to the family. I horrified Nikki as this is what woke Nikki up this morning.
Breakfast for kids is dog food AKA coco puffs and scooby doo graham cracker bones served in our dog’s bowl!! HA HA.
After Nikki took all the elastics off her phone, she discovered a very embarrassing picture of herself as a screen saver *(her on potty when she was little).
And just a few more of my shenanigans…everyone needs a sinkful of fruit loops, string everywhere in playroom, desks wrapped in foil, the horse got a friend…
This blog is out of order now. I wish I kept it up more but hopefully I can add all the highlights. My worst nightmare came true outdoor ed. Actually it isn’t the outdoor ed part, it is my kiddos being away for a week from me. Putting them on that bus was the hardest thing ever for me. The kiddos were excited and prepared to be away. Saying goodbye was so hard for me, I was a cry baby. I held it back and didn’t cry in front of the kids. I didn’t want them to worry about me. I sure let the tears come when I got to hug them when they got off the bus! We knew this week would be hard for me, so dad took the week off. It was time for us to spend some much needed time together. The school uploaded photos so I was checking that site often, totally analyzing the kids faces. All I saw was smiling faces. It was cold up in Big Bear. One day it actually snowed but the kiddos didn’t get to play in it much. Dad and I took a helicopter over to Catalina Island. My first helicopter ride. It was pretty amazing! On Catalina, we just enjoyed the Island life. We were able to walk everywhere. There were not a lot of cars around so it was so peaceful. We rented electric bikes and a little golf cart to putter around the Island. It was great to spend some alone time with dad but I sure missed those kids.
I feel like Cody deserves his own post. Cody is the silliest, sweetest, ball crazed, lovable dog. We can’t imagine life without us. He brings us all so much joy. Cody puts up with all of us picking him up, hugging him, etc. I took him to dog beach recently and everyone commented on what a happy puppy he is. This dog is amazing and adorable. He likes to drink out of our cups of water. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about how grateful we are to have Cody!! Cody will be the first one to get in the car to go with us, play ball until it all our arms are too tired from throwing, makes us laugh when he runs from squirrels, cuddles with us anytime, loves going on vacation with us, he is the only one who can wake up my twins (tweens) and they smile, dinner with a Cody chin on my lap is the best, and he is just a gentle sweet cute boy!! And I can’t forgot he always has to accompany me in the bathroom.
Summer went by way too fast. It was full of lots of video games, both kids got into Fortnight. It was full of seeing friends whenever possible and going to Boomers, K1 Speed, etc. They did Seals swim team again.
We took dad to Flightdeck for father’s day. The kiddos did a dog fight with dad. Nikki did get a skull and cross bones when she landed, ha ha It was all in great fun! Justin loved it the most.
In fact, Justin tried out on a new camp at Flight Deck Aviation, flight simulators. He loved the camp. So great to see him so excited about it. We signed him up for the second camp as well.
We also went on vacation. We went to Florida then on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Bahamas. It was an amazing trip, lots packed into a short amount of time. We were pathetic as we didn’t want to leave Cody any longer than we had to. And boy did we miss him. We went to the Magic Kingdom AKA Disney World. Of course it was hot and humid and loved the random rain. I was amazed at how similar the two Disney’s are.Kiddos go on every ride, no fear what so ever. Nikki’s highlight of the trip had to be swimming with the dolphins. She named her dolphin Kelly. My highlight was probably going to Atlantis. I have always wanted to go there and it did not disappoint. We had a blast at the water park. Kiddos went on crazy slides that I would never go on. We went down the one where you go through a clear tunnel and you get to see the sharks. This is where dad accidentally went into the water with his cell phone in his pockets, oops. Royal Caribbeans private Island, Coco Cay was dad’s favorite part of the trip. It was so relaxing, the water was clear and so warm. The cruise ship was amazing. So much to do and so much food.
Here is the first day of 7th grade picture. And Justin has bright orange shoes (size 9.5) to match his bright orange backpack. Love it as I can see him a mile away.
I can’t believe how big these kids are. They have grown so much. Justin had the biggest growth spurt ever.
Kiddos are really liking middle school. They were really done with elementary, really needed a change. Justin is loving his exploring tech class. He is making lots of things on the 3D printer. I think Nikki loves the social aspect of school most. She has been going to the shopping center nearby school with her friends on early dismissal days and late start Friday days.