closing out 2015

Lego death star

It's been a busy last half of the year for us. In July we took a week long family vacation to pleasant San Diego. The main purpose was to visit LEGOLAND, and it did not disappoint. The boys loved it there. We weren't planning to go for so many days, but we ended up spending 3 days there. There are so many rides and fun lego creations, it was their fantasy world. Junior was tall enough for most of the rides, but he still declined to go on the rollercoasters. DT was too short for all but a handful of rides, but he still had fun. We went on helicopter ride several times as a family, and the kids enjoyed the little kid train ride repeatedly. DT was able to get his afternoon nap in the stroller most days without a problem.

We also spent a day at Sea World and the Zoo Safari Park.

Preschool

Junior is the big kid in preschool now that he's in his second year. Most of his close friends graduated last year, so we were wondering how he would like school. The first week or so, he would mention that he missed his old buddies. He soon got over that and is now having a lot of fun with the other kids. His teachers tell us that all the kids love playing with Junior, since he has the best ideas and is so full of energy. He's also "very independent", which I'm sure can mean both good and bad things.

For his birthday this year, he wanted to have his party at our house so that he could share all his toys with his buddies. We had 5 of his closest preschool friends over for a day of fun.

DT started walking with Junior and Daddy to preschool every morning, and spends a few minutes playing there before the rest of the students arrive. DT absolutely loves preschool. He always wants to stay for longer, and it's often very hard for Daddy to bring him back home. He'll start preschool soon enough, and at least we know it will be an easy transition.

New York

Mommy's cousin got married in NY, so we all took another trip out to the big apple in November. Unfortunately Grandma and Grandpa Y had just opened up their store, so they were really busy with its operations. We still got to spend some time with them, and Junior and DT seemed to like playing at the laundromat. Whenever we see one now, Junior will say "Hey, that's a laundry-mat!"

We stayed at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa K for a couple of nights. We were able to get 2 connected rooms, so the boys had fun running back and forth and hanging out at the grandparents side. There were 4 full size beds between the 2 rooms, so Junior slept in his own bed in Grandma and Grandpa's room. He enjoyed having a mini sleepover with them.

The wedding was beautiful, and mommy's cousins have a lot of children that are around Junior's age. Junior really loved playing with them and sharing his cars. He was very sad when it was time for us to go. Too bad that they live so far away from us. Every once in a while he will still ask when he can see his new friends again.

The flights this time were much more civilized than our last experience. From now on, we will have to choose flights that depart and arrive during normal waking hours, and make sure to pack a wide variety of movies downloaded onto our laptops.