Brayden's FIrst Day of Kindergarten!

Brayden started Kindergarten this week!  I cannot believe that my baby boy is truly old enough to be going to school.  He has been quite excited to go to the "big" school with all the big kids.  I am glad he was enrolled in preschool last year because I think really prepared him in many ways.  I did okay leaving Brayden in class, (he was so brave and didn't complain once) but as soon as I walked out the door I got a little emotional.  It was a moment, and I got over it, but it's kinda hard to see your kids grown up!  Brayden felt a lot more comfortable when he learned that his good little buddy, Luke, is in his class.  They even sit at the same table!   Today when I got to the school to pick him up, Brayden and Luke were goofing around together and giggling themselves silly.  Brayden said to me, "Mom, Luke is my best-est friend EVER!"  I think he will have a great year.

Salmon Skisco!

We recently took a little weekend trip to San Francisco, which Emma calls "Salmon Skisco".   My dear friend Michelle Gillette called me to let me know that she was going to be in the Bay Area to see her sister, Debbie.  We made the drive to SF and enjoyed the day walking around the city with Michelle, Debbie and their mom, Theresa.  The highlight of the day for Michelle was seeing the "Full House" house.  It was so great to be able to spend time with Michelle and to be able to catch up with her.  She is such a special friend to me!  We spent the night in downtown SF and then spent the next day walking the beaches of Ocean Beach and Half Moon Bay.   At Ocean Beach, we saw the amazing ruins of the Sutro Baths, a huge swimming complex built in the 1800's and burned down in 1966.  We were there during the release of Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight Series.  I wanted to go to the release party in SF but it didn't work out, so I bought it the next day and brought it with it to the beach.

Family Garden

This year we decided to try to grow a garden.  I've always wanted to grow tomatoes.  I love homegrown tomatoes.  I've never successfully grown anything before, so I didn't think it would actually work, but it did!  Brayden and Emma really got into it.  Everyday they would run out back to check on the plants.  They were so excited to see things grow, and to see the tomatoes appear and then change from green to red.  Brayden would ask, "Are they done yet?" and "Are they tomatoes yet?"  We also planted a few green bean and carrot seeds.    I was really surprised when those actually grew!  It was a really great experience for our family.  I plan on doing it again next year, and even trying our hand at growing a few other things.