Arizona Trip: Part 2 - Pederson Resort

After our overnight at the JW Marriott resort we headed to the Pederson resort, which always provides wonderful accommodations. :)We had great fun catching up and hanging out with Jeannine and Harlow. Ryan flew home on Monday  night and I headed into work on Tuesday. Thus, Kaitlyn had some great alone time with Nana and Papa, too!

Lots of swimming, golf cart rides, gecko searching, orange tree climbing, a little shopping, golf for Ryan, and lots of good food equaled a great trip!

Thank you, Jeannine and Harlow for such a wonderful getaway!

Climbing for oranges

Tuckered out from all the fun

Shopping with Nana and Papa

Pool time!

Arizona Trip - Part 1a: The JW Marriott Resort Brandi's Pics

So although I played in the pool a bit, I also had a heavenly time lounging pool side and soaking in the incredibly warm sunshine. You know, it's all for medical reasons...I need to up my Vitamin D so I can get off the prescription strength pills - lol! Anyways, the pool server came by and I really didn't want her to be bored so although it was barely 10 am, I figured what the heck and ordered up this dreamy adult beverage. Super Yummy!!

And boy, I sure miss these evenings!

Arizona Trip - Part 1: The JW Marriott Resort

Over Memorial Day weekend we headed down to Arizona to soak in some warm sunshine and spend time with Jeannine and Harlow. First off, an overnight at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort.

Kaitlyn had a blast at the pool area. The lazy river and waterslide were HUGE hits. So much so that we never made it to the other three pool areas. The dive-in movie was pretty cool, too! Although a 1/2 hour in and Kaitlyn was about to fall asleep in the pool. The other biggie...breakfast room service, the ultimate treat (and the ultimate hit to the wallet - ugh)!

End of Year Celebration - Part 2: The Performance

Throughout the entire school year Ms. Robin has not only been working with the kids on their letter writing skills but also their signing skills. And over the last several weeks, the kids had also been working hard on a song. They performed both the ABCs in sign language and sang this super cute song with choreographed motions to boot! Prior to the performance each kiddo said their name into a microphone in front of a very large audience. Very brave and impressive! And the performances were super sweet...hearing those little voices and seeing the great moves, I LOVED it!

Many thanks to the Mosers and the Krauses who headed up to see KP's performance and show her love and support. It meant a lot to us!

Kaitlyn, I'm sooooo proud of all your hard work this year. You continue to amaze me daily and I love you so stinkin' much. Congrats, preschool grad!!!

What better way to celebrate than a special gelado treat from the Nutty Squirrel!

End of Year Celebration - Part 1: The Picnic

Although the weather in May has been really great there was one day it was not. And wouldn't you know it, that day was KP's end of year preschool picnic. It was 41 degrees and dumping rain - ick!! We were all huddled in a little picnic cabana freezing and watching the sheets of rain coming down. We toughed it out for 40 minutes and then moved on to the indoor McDonald's playground. Unfortunately, the first slide down in the playland area and KP and one other classmate ended up with baby puke all over them. Evidently a little one had gotten sick on the slide and no one had cleaned it up. Super ick!! Kaitlyn was a total trooper although we did leave pretty quickly after that. Formula spit up is one of the worst smells out there. Thus, we took her happy meal home and happily hung out together staying warm and dry in the house!

Last Day of Preschool

Crazy enough, yes we have reached the end of Kaitlyn's preschool years! Wow! Off to Kindergarten in the fall. Check out the changes from the first day to last day. She's a grown' up!

First day with Ms. Robin

End of Year Celebration with Ms. Robin

Mom's Day

Thanks to the Mosers for hosting a great Mother's Day celebration. It was wonderful to spend time with Jen, Chris, Emily, Sandy, Al, and Mom and Dad. Although we probably should have called this something else...like 'Wheels Day' or 'Toys Day' or 'Tick Off Your Neighbor With Loud Quads Day' as at some point all toys exited from the Moser's garage and onto the street. We had a little motor bike, 2 quads, several bicycles, and a scooter. More wheels than I could count!

Also, Kaitlyn invited me to Mom's Day event at her preschool where she served me tea and goodies. And made me this fantastic placemat. Please note: Just for the record I am not 39 yet! :)

Here's all our fun at the Mosers (thanks Jen for these pictures!). I wish I'd gotten one of KP and I together though - bummer!

Side note: The new addition to our family is the red item peeking out in the right corner of that picture. More to come soon on that. :)

Summer Birthday Celebration

A couple of weeks ago at Kaitlyn's preschool we celebrated her birthday since she's a summer girl and wouldn't have a chance to do it then. There were four kiddos total celebrating summer birthdays and it was great fun. Although also quite confusing for the kids. Ms. Robin told them that for that day they were five. However, for days after that Kaitlyn kept insisting she was five. She also very much wanted to have her birthday party that same day and I heard from the other Mom's that they had similar requests. Oh well, fun was had by all regardless!

May-tastic!

Our May weather has been amazingly lovely! With so many sunny, warm days Kaitlyn has had a blast playing outside with her friends Makena and Noah. She's also gotten in LOTS of bike riding. And of course with so much bike riding going on it's super important to have a new cool bike basket.

Animal Expert

Evidently we have an animal expert in our house. A few weeks ago Kaitlyn and I were playing Littlest Pet Shop. I handed her what I thought was a monkey. She said, 'No Mommy, that's a kinkajou!' She seemed quite perplexed that I didn't understand the difference. I thought she was being silly and making it up, but no, indeed she was correct. Looks like Wild Kratts is really teaching her something. Here's the Wikipedia definition.

The kinkajou (Potos flavus), also known as the 'honey bear' (a name it shares with the sun bear), is a rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos. Kinkajous may be mistaken for ferrets or monkeys, but are not closely related to either. Native to Central America and South America, this arboreal mammal is not an endangered species, though it is seldom seen by people because of its strict nocturnal habits. However, they are hunted for the pet trade, for their fur (to make wallets and horse saddles) and for their meat. The species has been included in Appendix III of CITES by Honduras, which means that exports from Honduras require an export permit and exports from other countries require a certificate of origin or re-export.^[2] They may live up to 40 years in captivity.

BIG night

On Tuesday we had a night full of fun events. First up, Kaitlyn's kindergarten orientation at Rock Creek. I don't think I've ever seen a smile as big as when she got to ride the school bus. Definitely the biggest hit of the orientation. She's been waiting her whole life to do that! We also got to meet the teachers and explore the classrooms. Here she is with her friend Makena. I'll be sure to keep these pictures, which capture the pure joy of being on a school bus, and bring 'em out when she gets to be a teenager complaining that it's no longer cool to ride the bus. :)

After the orientation, we headed over to the Pederson's house with yummy tiramisu and gelato to celebrate Justin's 14th birthday. Kaitlyn loves hanging with her cousins and they are so incredibly sweet with her. Happy, happy birthday Justin!! Also a birthday shout out to Jeannine. We'll celebrate with you in a few weeks!

The 'S' Words + Two 'B' Words

Sunshine, swings, sand, sprinklers, smiles...all great words especially when you add in two 'B' words - bikes and beach! On Sunday, Ryan was golfing so Kaitlyn and I headed down to my parents and had an amazingly great day that incorporated all those words and more. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a lovely time! I'd forgotten how entirely cool it is to have a private beach...something I definitely took for granted as a kid. So happy I get to share it with Kaitlyn now!

Our Little Fish

Last week I was on a work trip to Philly so missed out on Kaitlyn's swim lessons. I so love seeing her swim and dive! Thanks to Jen, I got a great set of pictures though. Check this dive out!

Zoo Fun!

The weather has been amazing lately. I actually read an article where a private school in Bellingham gave their students a day off simply to enjoy this great weather. Yes, in Washington when the sun shines and the temps warm up, you MUST take advantage.

Thus, on Friday Jen pulled Emily out of school a tad early and due to my much loved early-out of work Fridays (2 pm), I was able to head down with Kaitlyn to meet Jen and Emily and go to the zoo. It was packed so evidently we weren't the only ones with the idea. Nonetheless, we had a great time (less the occasional bickering between the girls) followed up with dinner out at Red Robin (and a well-deserved beer...did I mention the girls' bickering?!)