Happy 2nd Birthday, Emmet!

Today Andy, the boys and I went to Emmet Lucey's 2nd birthday party. Emmet is the son of our good friends Bob and Megan. They were roommates when I first met them all. Rose, our social butterfly, went to our neighbor Lexie's 8th birthday party instead. (I'd share those pictures, but I have none!) It was a Mickey Mouse theme and someone spent a LOT of time on the decorations.....of which I no pictures, besides the yummy cupcakes. The boys had fun in the bouncy, but once Megan's face painting cousin showed up, they were on her like white on rice. (David anyway) It was a fun time and Emmet is adorable. Happy Birthday big guy!

Rose's Last Day of School

On Rose's last day of school, as usual, Mrs. Garcia had the kids perform a little program. I don't know about the other teachers, but I love that Mrs. Garcia has the kids learning all sorts of songs and putting on shows for the parents. As the day ended, Rose was anxious to get going to a sleep over with a few friends from, but I was pretty sad for this year to end. Will every year be this hard? We'll see...... Good thing I have a few more years of kindergarten to experience with the boys. In the end, Rose had a really great year in school. It's been so fun to watch her learn how to read. It's almost as if she has a new found freedom. Ah..... where did my baby girl go? Anyway, here are pictures from her last day.

You Gotta Fight For Your Right to PARTY!!!

These are random shots of David's last day of school and from an end of school party we had at a park. Unfortunatley, David will switch schools for kindergarten, and none of these kids will go to our school. We will miss them all... but Poway is a small town, and hopefully we can remain friends with the families. They will all hook back up in middle school then on to high school, so we'll see how it all pans out. It was really a good group of kids and families.

David's Preschool Graduation

Ok, we did it....successfully got another child through preschool! I am now officially closer to seeing the end of my days in the preschool classroom. January marked my halfway point of 2.5 years, 5 years total start to finish from Rose through Joey. I can't believe David is going to start kindergarten in the fall! Anyway, here are pictures from his last day of school. I would be really sad about it all, but I still get to go with Joey and have him experience Mrs. Martin for himself. She is hands down the best preschool teacher ever!

Oh Canada......

So off I went at the crack-o-freakin' dawn to head out on my FABULOUS mini vacation to Toronto. I went this past Memorial day weekend. I left on Thursday and came home Monday night. My last trip to see them I was seated next to an 11 year old named Collette who talked non-stop for 5 hours, regaling me with what the best shows were currently on tv, her dream to become a marine biologist, what her favorite books were, all about her friends and family and giving me a mini makeover. This time I got to sleep for both legs of the trip, and it was SWEET! I got there just in time for dinner. Lucky me! For those who don't know, Victor is a professionally trained chef from Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa, Canada. He is amazing. Bob was a pretty good cook too, even before Vic went to culinary school, but he has learned a few tricks from Victor over the last few years. That evening after Vic got off from work, we had a great evening of eating and drinking..... and that set the tone for the weekend.

The guys moved to Toronto from Ottawa about a year and half ago. When I saw them last, it was in Ottawa. I was really looking forward to seeing a new city. Unfortunately for me, Victor had to work each day I was there, but Bob was able to take the time off. Friday, Bob and I worked our way to downtown Toronto. We bussed and subwayed it around, along with a lot of walking. Toronto has a great public transportation system. (I wish we had that here.) We thought about going to the top of the CN tower, but Bob has developed a real dislike of heights, so we skipped it. Man, that tower is TALL. We took in the sights and decided to get tickets for the Blue Jays game, so after Vic got off work, we went to the game. They beat the crappy Orioles and hit an inside the park home run. I think there were about 250 of us in attendance. We had a good time, and it was fun to see the stadium.

The following day Bob and I drove to Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist which takes you right into the heart of the horseshoe falls, and boy is it a fun....wet, turbulent ride! I have always wanted to go see them. I bet they are fun to see when they are all lit up at night with beautiful colors. That afternoon / evening was spent walking, chatting, eating and drinking. My kind of vacation. Sunday we all went for brunch and ended up having a Greek feast. Vic then headed off to work, so Bob and I took a ferry to an island in Lake Ontario which has a great view of the skyline. The kids would have loved it....there was a little amusement park, beaches, loads of grassy areas to play and BBQ. The rest of the day was spent back at the apartment out on the deck enjoying the day and waiting for Victor to get home. That was my last evening there. We had more fantastic food. I took pictures of it all, but somehow I forgot to take any that night. I hope to get the names of all the great dishes and do a post on them. The next day was Monday and time to go home. It was just the right amount of time to get my Bob and Victor fix. Even though it had been a few months shy of 2 years since I had seen them, it was as if only a month had passed. They are truly the greatest guys ever. Thanks for having me! And a special thanks to Blake, my Boston Terrier bed mate.

Victor and Bob