3 is a Magic Number

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today was Little Squirrel's first day of Kindergarten! It was very exciting and a little chaotic. The playground was filled with children of all sizes and about a million parents. Little Squirrel did a great job of remembering where to line up (and luckily is first in line due to good old alphabetical assignment). After school she was still excited but (as expected) a little short on the details. With some prompting it sounds like she had a great first day and really enjoyed school.

Vacation

2009-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

It was Little Squirrel's first trip to Disneyland, Mama's first trip since 1991 or so, and Papa's first trip since before Captain EO opened (that was as close of a date he could arrive at). Needless to say we were all very excited. We ran ourselves ragged all over the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure for 2 ½ days.

We had breakfast with Minnie Mouse and her friends got to meet Mickey Mouse and tour his house, and got shrunken to the size of pixies to meet Tinker Bell and Iridessa. Little Squirrel's favorite rides were Dumbo and the Tea Cups in the Magic Kingdom and Soarin' in California Adventure.

By Wednesday, we were exhausted and enjoyed the quiet train ride to San Diego. We rode on the second floor of the train and had a great view of the ocean. Thursday brought the Zoo with pandas, okapie, and the start of flamingo mania. Little Squirrel was delighted to see flamingos for three days straight in San Diego. She also greatly enjoyed pointing out palm trees.

On Friday, we spent the day at Sea World and then took a dinner cruise around San Diego harbor. Little Squirrel really enjoyed all the animal exhibits and shows at Sea World, especially the dolphin show, penguin encounter, petting the rays, and feeding the flamingos. She really enjoyed the cruise and wanted to spend most of it on the top deck. She found a good resting spot on Papa and dozed off after dinner.

Saturday was our last full day and we spent it hiking around the Wild Animal Park. Little Squirrel was delighted to see lots of baby animals including a baby cheetah. It was adorable but we decided that it may play too rough with our kitties so it was best to leave it there. Of course there were also flamingos and lots of other animals (babies or otherwise) to learn about and see. Little Squirrel had an amazing time and it was definitely a memorable birthday present.

Ducklings

2009-04-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Bumblebees have ducklings! Little Squirrel's class were watching for their caterpillar's to emerge from their pupas and also were incubating duck eggs. They finally hatched and they are so cute. The kids named them "Baby Quacks" and "Albert".

The kids love them and they really like the kids. The ducklings peep constantly and jump up and down to see the kids when they are out in their splash pond.

Easter

2009-04-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

It was a nice quiet family Easter. First it was the frantic emptying of the Easter basket. (I'm surprised that the Easter Bunny doesn't have a hernia), then we went to church followed by breakfast at Squeeze Inn.

It was then back home for an Easter egg hunt. That bunny is very sneaky and it took Little Squirrel awhile to find all of the eggs.

After a little rest, we went over to Grandma Rita and Grandpa Ben's for a family Easter dinner and Little Squirrel was once again in charge of bringing the decorated eggs. I'm not sure how many are consumed but she certainly has fun decorating them.

Effie

2009-04-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Little Squirrel "adopts" the same animal at Animal Ark each year, Effie, an Artic Fox. As Animal Ark is only open April through October, we usually get a beautiful picture in the mail of Effie in the snow and then get to see a small white fuzzy dot trying to stay cool under the trees when we visit. This year, they had a special adoptive parent's day, very early and we were allowed to bring in treats for Effie.

There was still snow on the ground and it was very chilly so Effie was bright eyed and still shedding her winter coat when we arrived. Sarah Beth from Animal Ark fed Effie the hard boiled eggs and raw sweet potatoes and really made the day special. Effie was very animated and engaging (and so absolutely adorable that Papa wanted to take her home).

Little Squirrel was absolutely thrilled and got to learn a lot about her friend. Sarah Beth even gave her a little tuft of Effie's fur to take home. We will have to make sure that we visit on colder days from now on.

February

2009-02-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

It was a busy month including a trip to the planetarium and saying goodbye to our favorite tea spot, Belle's Tea Cottage (which was also the last tea place left in Reno/Sparks).

We also had all sorts of birthday related activities from parties for friends, to Papa's birthday, and the grand finale (of course) Little Squirrel's 5th!

Little Squirrel took pizza and cookies to school (she wanted the big frosted sugar cookies instead of cupcakes), followed by dinner that night at Blue Moon Pizza with Mama and Papa, and just to round things out, a family pizza party (complete with cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents). (Surprisingly, pizza is actually her second favorite food, right after macaroni and cheese).

Hectic Holidays

2008-12-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

December was a hectic holiday month with lots of festivities! The first part of the month started with a lot of dancing. We got to go to Tea's recital and Little Squirrel's ballet class did a special holiday number for the parents. We also planned a special outing and took Little Squirrel to the Chocolate Bar for lunch and then to the Nutcracker Ballet. She absolutely loved it and spent most of the performance on her feet, dancing along!

Little Squirrel's preschool class did their very first Christmas Pageant in the big church for all of the parents. Little Squirrel was suppose to be a cow but decided at the last minute that she would rather be one of the sheep. Afterwards, we all went back to their classroom for holiday crafts and a visit from Father Christmas.

We got to spend more time with family by dividing Christmas day into thirds so that we could celebrate with everyone. We started by opening presents at home and Little Squirrel got a bicycle from Father Christmas. We then had our traditional breakfast with Gram E and Uncle Skip (Aunt Holly/Uncle John/Sofia/Olivia were in Santa Cruz so we did a separate celebration with them). Linner was in Cold Springs with the full Weisshaar clan and then dessert was with Grandpa Ken, Grandma Mary Jane and Uncle Skip.

I was able to take some vacation time during the school break so we did a lot of fun activities with Tea n' Crackers. There was an outing to Jump Man Jump and sledding with Tea's new Christmas sled, and lots of practice on the new bicycle.

November 2008

2008-11-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

November was a family-filled month. We celebrated Baby Athen's first birthday (he is a Halloween baby but the party was November 1st), Uncle Ivan and Aunt Jasmine's wedding, and Thanksgiving. Little Squirrel is really enjoying all of her cousin's much more now that they are a little older and more interactive. It was a fun month and it was nice to be able to spend so much time with family.

Halloween Happenings

2008-11-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

The last week has been filled with Halloween activities. Little Squirrel made a haunted house, decorated her pirate pumpkin, had a Halloween "Carnivore" at school (every time she called it that I pictured a smallish T-Rex chasing children in costumes), went on the annual pumpkin patch outing with Tea and Crackers, and (finally) trick-or-treated with Papa. It was an exhausting week for the adults but everyone had a lot of fun.

Little Squirrel's September

2008-10-09T13:37:00.001-07:00

September was another full month for Little Squirrel. She got to move up from the "pink" class in balled (a.k.a. Intro to Dance) to the "blue" class (Primary 1 Ballet). This was fortunate as somehow since class ended in June both her shoes and her leotard had shrunk somehow…

Swimming lessons started up again. This time Cracker got to be in the same class as Tea and LS. They all had a great time but unfortunately, LS got sick the last week so she missed the final two classes. I had to explain to her that when she has a 105°F fever and has been vomiting, they don't want her in the pool.

LS also got to spend some more quality grandparent time in September. She had a fun brunch with Gram E (where she got to show her pictures and tell Gram E about her trip to Oregon).

Grandma Rita's birthday and related party were mid-month and held at Uncle Ivan's house. LS had fun and is getting more interactive with her cousin, baby Athen, who was showing off his new walking skills at the party. I think she found his new mobility more fun than him just laying there as countless relatives pass him around.

The most exciting event of the month had to be the celebration of International "Talk Like a Pirate Day". This event occurs every September 21st and is eagerly anticipated by Papa each year. As this year's date fell on a Friday, he had been planning a huge surprise event for his office for months. Little Squirrel loved helping him hunt for pirate "treasure" and props on the Oregon Coast and even helped assemble some of the goodies he was distributing among his co-workers. The morning of the great day, they both dressed appropriately for the occasion.

~KK

Road Trip!

2008-09-07T17:18:00.001-07:00

We took a few extra days off in conjunction with the Labor Day holiday in order to embark on a Little Squirrel's first long road trip. Our ultimate destination was Wilsonville, Oregon for a family reunion. However, as neither Little Squirrel nor Papa had ever been to the Redwoods or the Oregon Coast, we thought we would add a few stops to our itinerary.

We met up with Grandma Rita and Grandpa Ben in the Redwoods at the "Tour Thru Tree" (they were traveling via Harley Davidson) and then journeyed with them to Crescent City for the night and then to the Sea Lion Caves and Lincoln City on the following day.

On Saturday, they headed inland to the reunion and we stayed an extra day on the coast so that we could take Little Squirrel to the Newport Aquarium and, of course, to the beach. She had a fantastic time. She loved playing in the sand (and burying Papa's feet and legs) but did not get even close to the water. At one point she stepped onto the wet sand and declared it "too cold" and did not go any further towards the surf.

On Sunday we drove up the coast to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then to the reunion. It rained on and off at the reunion during the day so much to Little Squirrel's dismay (and my relief) she didn't get to go up and down the Willamette River, either in the boat or being drug behind it on the inner tube like the other kids. We did get to spend time with my Grandma (Little Squirrel's Great-Grandma Florence) both at the reunion and the next day. I wish we could go visit more often. It is a good thing we send her a lot of pictures of Little Squirrel, otherwise she wouldn't recognize her because she grows so much in between visits!

We headed south after breakfast on Monday with Grandma Rita/Grandpa Ben, Great-Aunt BJ/Uncle Loren, and Great-Grandma Florence. We took I-5 down the center of the state and went to Wildlife Safari (another first for Little Squirrel and Papa). It is similar to a zoo but the animals are able to roam around as you drive through. Some of the animals, such as the tigers and cheetahs are in enclosures, but most of the rest of them (including rhinos) are out and about. You are allowed to have your windows down, except in the bear areas, but Papa vetoed that idea. As a result, we did get to see a lot of animals really close (but not too close) but didn't get a lot of great pictures.

The following day we took a brief side trip to the Oregon Vortex/House of Mystery which Papa enjoyed more than Little Squirrel. She had a good time but was a little young for the discussion of magnetic terra lines and why the golf ball roll uphill instead of downhill. We pushed on for home and arrived just in time for bed. It was a journey of 1,600 miles and yielded 940 pictures (not all winners). It was definitely an experience, but once again Little Squirrel traveled like a champ.

~KK

August Antics

2008-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

August has been another busy month for us. We had Little Squirrel’s cousins Sophia & Olivia's first birthday party, Tea's birthday party (we missed Cracker's because we were in London), the Greek Festival, one last trip each to the water park and the sprinkler park, and my 20th high school reunion.

The reunion turned out to be a lot of fun and the best part was getting to see old friends and meet their children/families. On Friday night we had our own mini grade school reunion with Raina, Jane, Dina and I (and families). It was so great to be able to see everyone and catch-up. Saturday night Raina, Jane, and I braved our 20th, ended up having a good time, and stayed out way, way too late.

We are now getting ready to go to through the Redwoods and up the Oregon coast on the way to Grandpa Ben's family reunion. We leave on Thursday and will have logged about 24 hours of driving time by our return on Tuesday evening. Little Squirrel is very excited because she spent the month of August learning about the ocean and sea creatures in school. She is also can't wait to see her Great-Grandma Florence (whom she hasn't seen since she was eight months old).

~KK

London Baby!

2008-07-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our vacation to London and it was wonderful! Little Squirrel did a great job traveling and was quite upset that we had to come home. She skipped and danced her way though the entire trip.

Mama & LS at Legoland ................ LS on the Tube ............ Papa & LS on the London Eye

Her favorite things were seeing Big Ben, riding on the “dicker decker double bus” (especially on the top), Legoland, Yo Sushi, riding the tube (and all the escalators in the various tube stations), the Science Museum, and the zoo. Her least favorite things were going to bed at night (even though it was never even close to her bedtime at home), some of the food (there weren’t a lot of kid’s selections at most restaurants), and having to leave London.

LS at the Science Museum .........Papa & LS at the Zoo and at the Natural History Museum

Little Squirrel is definitely excited to go back in 2010 (and really wanted to know why we couldn’t go back next year). She is a little young to grasp the whole problem with the exchange rate (~$2 per £1 = ouch!). The good news is that we took 699 pictures so she has a little something to remember it by until we can return.

LS at Paddington Station....LS & Papa at our flat

~KK

Bugs

2008-06-29T21:12:00.001-07:00

Little Squirrel doesn’t mind bugs, as long as they aren’t in the house or within 10 feet or so of her. Oh, and they have to be announced in advance, she can’t stumble upon them. While Papa was working in the yard today he saw a praying mantis and multiple dragonflies. Little Squirrel was very politely interested, as long as I was holding her, and then promptly wanted to go inside. Papa and I both thought they were very cool but apparently we were the only ones.

Sprinkler Park

2008-06-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

As a testament to how resilient little kids are, Little Squirrel was up at the crack of dawn – even though she and I both had taken the day off to “recover” after the dance recital. (Papa, the trooper that he is, went to work). We had Tea and Cracker, (and parents) over to our house to play, have lunch, and then all go to the sprinkler park. The kids ran around while the adults rested in a nice shady spot. The kids always have a great time and the area it is small enough that it is easy to keep them always in sight. Afterwards, Little Squirrel and I went home to take a nap and ended up missing soccer completely. Needless to say, Papa wasn’t too surprised when I called him and asked him to pick up dinner on his way home.

Recital

2008-06-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

After many, many, many, (did I mention many) Saturdays of rehearsal at dance class, a technical rehearsal at the Grand Sierra Resort on the (wait for it) world's largest theatrical stage, and a full-blown dress rehearsal on the same said stage, Little Squirrel finally had her first dance recital last night. The "Intro to Dance" class did a routine to "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in full Shirley Temple regalia. It had the twelve little girls from the Saturday class and the twelve little girls from the Tuesday afternoon class for a grand total of 24 three to five year olds tap dancing in curls. Needless to say, Mama is exhausted (believe me - I have no idea where the child got straight hair that won't hold a curl much less a corkscrew curl), and Little Squirrel was in heaven. After her routine (which was second in the show), she got to come out and sit on my lap to watch the rest of the performances with Mama, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, one of her Godmothers and her Great Aunt. She was mesmerized until the very end (at approximately 11pm!). It was quite an adventure for us all.

Soccer

2008-06-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Now that swimming is over we decided to give soccer another try. It is only a three week “camp” which means that they learn skills and get to run around a lot (which is about as interested as Little Squirrel gets right now). I don’t think she is ready for the structure required of a team or games. If she can’t stay close to her friend Claire from school, then she kind of loses interest. They like it best when they can run around together (especially if they can still hold hands). It is kind of cool to see that they both have improved since last fall and seem to remember a lot of the basics. Little Squirrel is enjoying her self but she definitely likes dance and swimming better.

Busy days...

2008-06-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Summer hasn't officially started yet and we are already busy! We have had a lot of fun over the past few weeks. Swimming lessons finished up and by the end, Little Squirrel happily went all the way under water. I think we are going to try to get her into lessons again later in the summer so we don't lose the momentum.

The first really hot weekend, we took Tea, Crackers, and Little Squirrel to the Animal Ark (a local wildlife sanctuary) and hiked around. The adults ended up hot and tired but the kids had a lot of fun - even with a flying insect terrorizing Little Squirrel. (She threw her water on the ground, screamed and ran for her Papa - which she later edited to be putting her water down and asking Papa to pick her up. On Memorial Day the two families met for a couple of games of bowling. None of the parents were actually beaten by the kids but it was a close call for the Moms.

We celebrated my birthday, which was even more fun because Little Squirrel was excited about it. She couldn't wait for it to get here and loved being able to celebrate with family and friends on different days. She also was so excited that she walked around the date of my actual birthday, announcing it (complete with my age) to her entire school, and her 20-25 year old teachers.

Last weekend we went to Tea's big dance recital and then back to her house for cupcakes and ice cream. Little Squirrel was very excited to watch Tea on the "big stage" and is eagerly looking forward to her own recital on June 18th. Tea and her dance class were incredibly adorable and did a great job.

The day after the recital, everyone slept in and then we took Little Squirrel to a bug exhibit at the May Center. She liked the robots bugs and the glow-in-the-dark scorpions the best. Afterwards we met up with Tea and Crackers (they had already seen the exhibit) and went to the Great Basin Adventure. We rode the log ride a few times (Little Squirrel preferred to sit in the back so that she didn't get splashed), checked out the baby goats, played on the playgrounds, and finished up with pineapple snow cones.

Today we had dance class and Perry's Pirate Party (which has been greatly anticipated for the last few weeks by Little Squirrel), and tomorrow it is back for dance photos and then to Tea and Crackers to play while the Moms make cards. Thank goodness Papa knows how to do laundry and dishes or we would be in real trouble. :)
~KK

Mother's Day

2008-05-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely Mother's Day which actually started at Little Squirrel's school on Friday. The kids had painted flower pots for us which we received on the upper patio while having breakfast with the kids. It was all Little Squirrel could talk about for the entire week prior to the event! On Sunday we went out to breakfast, just the three of us and had a great time. Afterwards, we went home to work on planning our trip to London and made a paper chain to help count down the days (only 61 to go!). We finished the celebrations with a late lunch/early dinner at Uncle Ivan's house. The boys barbecued while we visited and we all consumed way too much food! Little Squirrel invited Grandma and Grandpa to her dance recital in June, and we all caught up on the goings on that have occurred since Easter. It was a nice leisurely day, the weather was beautiful, and we all had fun. It was a wonderful Mother's Day.

~KK

Swimming Lessons

2008-05-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Last night was Little Squirrel's final night of swimming lessons (at least for now). She and her friend Claire from school had a blast and even got to go in the big pool for part of the last class. She finally went under water when jumping in from the side of the pool. She still has to work on blowing bubbles but she is definitely better about getting her face wet.

~KK

Bunnies!

2008-04-14T10:32:00.001-07:00

Friday after work, we picked up Little Squirrel from school, picked up pizza, and had dinner with Tea 'n' Cracker's family. Afterwards we drove to one of our great regional parks, Bartley Ranch. During the winter/spring each year they have a program called Kids Night Out on Friday nights at the Old Huffaker School building. This week, the program was on rabbits and hares (complete with domestic bunnies from the Humane Society). We hadn't had an opportunity to go in the past but I thought LS might enjoy it since she has likes to pretend she is the Easter bunny almost every morning before school. (She hops around pretending to hide eggs and has her Papa pretend to find them).

Ranger Fong taught the kids about rabbits, hares, and how they are different in between reading theme appropriate library books. Afterwards the kids got to go up and see the bunnies and make their own set of bunny ears. Cracker's dad made his ears for him but the girls made their own (with a little assistance of course). Little Squirrel and Tea spent the rest of the time hopping like bunnies. It very cute and everyone seemed to have a great time. We will definitely have to go again. ~KK

Here goes nothing!

2008-04-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

What the heck. Everyone else has a blog so why not me? Hopefully this will help us keep in touch with friends and family since that has been more and more challenging over the past four years. Hmm that seems to correspond with the birth of our child. Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, this won't be very profound and I will most likely have to squeeze in posts after everyone else has gone to bed but hopefully it will still be enjoyable.

At the request of my dear husband (DH) I will will refer to our darling daughter by one of her many nicknames, Little Squirrel. "Tea" is her dear friend who is the daughter of my dear friend and "Crackers" is Tea's little brother/another playmate of Little Squirrel (got all of that?). Just about everyone else should be self-explanatory...

If nothing else, watching me try to keep everyone straight should be very entertaining!
~KK