It's Hot!

It cooled down a bit today, down to the 90's after being over 100 degrees yesterday, so we spent a little time in the backyard with the water table.



My beautiful girl...



My silly girl...



 

I love her.

Preschool 2012: First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was the first day of preschool and Baby Bear was really excited.

Papa George was pretty excited too. He wrote on the sidewalk with chalk ready for Baby Bear. He was wanted to see her off.







Daddy came with us to meet the teachers since he couldn't make it to the Open House the day before.  When it came time for Daddy and I to leave, she barely even said goodbye. I had to get her to take a quick picture with me, but she was more interested in playing.



When I picked her up at lunch time, I learned that she did have a potty accident. She was in the potty but she didn't make it in the potty. She wasn't sure who to ask to help her but she did know where the potty was. Poor sweet girl. New teachers and she just wasn't sure. Luckily she knew where the potty was since we were there at Open House. In time she will learn.

Today, she was a little clingy at drop off, but no tears and no accidents. We'll get back into the routine of things.

Preschool 2012: Open House

So today was Open House at Baby Bear's preschool. Tomorrow is the first day of school... I can't believe that my Baby Bear is starting her second year of preschool. She was so excited to be back at school. I am so glad that she loves her school. We love her school as well. She is in a new classroom, in the 3,4 and 5 year old class. Which means she is in a bigger classroom with 6 teachers since it is a combined class. She also gets to play on the big playground. I can't believe my baby is a big little girl who gets to play on a big playground.



She immediately loved her new classroom, there was a nook filled with dress-up clothes, baby dolls, and a loft with a play kitchen. How awesome is that!! We already know how much she loves her school, she has been asking to go to school all summer. We did take her to summer school for a few weeks, but she has been so ready to be back to school on a regular schedule. I love the fact that she loves her school and that she feels so comfortable there. I love that the teachers are so excited to have her and even though they didn't have her in their class last year, some of the already know her. I love seeing her excitement when she is there to try new things and learn new things. She has already gained so much from being there last year and I know she will gain so much more this year.

To start off the year, I put together a little something to help her teachers out. A few supplies for the class to keep the teachers and the kids healthy.



And a little something for the school secretary (who does so much for all the kids, she was so great and greeted Baby Bear with a big hug) and the director of the school (who I've known for a few years and is just so kind and great with all the kids, it is so nice to see someone who loves what they do). They need to stay healthy too.



Can't wait for tomorrow and the first day of school. Let the fun and learning continue...

Busy weekend after our vacation

I am still catching up with blogging about what happened in August. Hopefully, I will be back on track soon....

It is always sad when a really great vacation comes to an end. We had a great road trip and really enjoyed our family vacation. We weren't sure how it would all turn out going on vacation with a toddler, we were afraid we might have a "Griswold" adventure like in the movie, Summer Vacation. LOL. It turn out great.

It always seems that you need a vacation from the vacation. But the weekend after our vacation left no rest for the weary. I had a nice social work event at the LA Arboretum with my co-workers. We saw a concert, the Pasadena Pops, at the LA Arboretum. A great venue for some great company, yummy food, and music. Baby Bear enjoyed it as well.





The next day we had a little swimming get together with some friends.



It was a great way to beat the heat and hang out with some great friends. It is amazing that I have known many of these people since high school. I love that we still get together and now the kids outnumber the adults!!

Road Trip 2012: Stop 4 - Lake Tahoe

Finally, the last installment of our road trip. I can't believe how behind I am, it is already September!! Life has been busy and I am just trying to catch up to it all....

On the road again with Miss Lady Mama to navigate us to Lake Tahoe for the final stop of our road trip where we would stay for a couple of nights before heading back home.

We didn't make any stops from Chico to Lake Tahoe since it was only a few hours to get there. We made one quick stop to take in the view. It was beautiful.





We started in North Lake Tahoe to take in a boat show (yes, daddy planned this road trip stop to coincide with boat show). It was the Concours d'Elegance. A wooden boat show, with gorgeous wooden boats.

After we spent some time at the boat show we headed down to the hotel in South Lake Tahoe. It took about an hour to drive to the other end of the lake, who knew it was large. It was a scenic and beautiful drive. We stayed at one of the casino hotels, Mont Bleu, in South Lake Tahoe. Not the nicest hotel, but it worked for us.

Again yelp to the rescue to make a recommendation for dinner.We headed to Scusa Italian Ristorante, for a nice dinner. The food was good.

The next day we head out to Round Hill Beach and Marina. A nice little beach area for some sun and fun. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day.





After getting a little bit of rest at the hotel, we went to dinner at another yelp recommended restaurant, Base Camp Pizza, and had some very yummy pizza. Yelp did not do us wrong.

We left the next morning for the longest drive of our road trip to head home. It is 8 and half hours from Lake Tahoe to Upland. So we got up early even though Baby Bear did get to bed a little later than usual. While I was getting myself ready, daddy decided to go down to the casino for a bit. It was a really short period since he was back up not too long. He had played a little blackjack and won and decided it was time to leave while he was ahead with cash in his hand.

On that note, we left Lake Tahoe and headed home. Baby Bear was excited to get home so that "Chase and I can be together again." She missed her cat. Because Baby Bear had been up later than usual the night before and we got her up to make the drive home, after an hour of driving she fell asleep and slept for several hours. When she woke up, we stopped for lunch. No yummy restaurant this time, just McDonald's. It was the only fast food stop we had through out the whole road trip, so that was not so bad. By that time we had 3 hours of our trip left. We made it home in the early afternoon to unpack a bit and do a little laundry and get ready for the week and reality.


This was an awesome vacation. We had a great time and Baby Bear enjoyed every moment of the trip. She was a great little traveler, she was great through the all the drives and we made stops at great places. It was the best.vacation.ever!