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Good Bye summer tourists!! Now that school is back in session I have all of my favorite local spots back! During the summer months we avoid places such as PlayWerx (indoor climbing structures), LegoLand, the Aquarium, the Library, malls, the beach, etc.! My family does not do crowds!

Today my mom and I took the girls to LegoLand and we basically had the place to ourselves. Kloey is now tall enough that she can go on a few more rides than she could at the start of summer. So we took advantage of no lines and hit up some new rides! Since LegoLand is so close and we have annual passes, we can justify going (often!) for just a few hours in the morning to get out of the house. Unlike my solo mission last week with Kloey, I am happy to report that Kloey had no meltdowns and everyone had a great time! Must be the Mimi touch!!

 

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03-Sep-2014 16:29
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Yesterday we went to the horse races with our close friends. This was the second time we went and we had a great time. It was the last day of the races, and we definitely celebrated the ponies!! No big wins to report, but a good, crazy time was had by all. Love our South O group of friends!!

 

 

 

 

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One of the benefits to Kayden being in preschool is that I get some one-on-one time with Kloey. We usually go to a park and/or do chores around the house- Lucky Kloey, I know!! Today I decided to brave LegoLand’s Aquarium. It was surprisingly busy since summer is over for the school-aged kiddos. We found a good parking spot, so I thought it was a good omen. I thought! I should mention, Kloey has a running history of melting down at both LegoLand and the Aquarium. I thought, ‘No, this time it will be different! It’s just us two. No pressure to move fast, go slow, or keep anyone else happy. It. Was. Just. Us.” So it had the recipe for success, right? We had all our ducks in a row. Snacks- check. Water- check. No stroller- check. All the time in the world- CHECK!! Well the damn slide at the beginning ALWAYS trips us up. Kloey would prefer to stay there all day. Unfortunately, a sea of big kids came in right behind us so she had to move on. I say unfortunately because as soon as they fled, she high tailed it back to the damn slide!! ‘All the time in the world’ I reminded myself. I let her slide. And slide. And slide some more. Here comes another sea of kids! So I convinced her to move on and we got far enough that she didn’t know how to get back to the slide. I then tell her that there is another slide at the end and let’s go find it! (**Remember that when I get to the tantrum that ended our trip) So we move through the aquarium and she is doing AWESOME! The shades stayed on the whole time- even though most of the aquarium is in the dark so you can see the illuminated fish. Didn’t faze Kloey! Okay, so we get all the way through the aquarium, through the food court with way too many tasty treats at eye level for children with quick hands, and down the ‘elegator’. Then the toy store. Why oh why do they force you to go through a toy store to exit the aquarium?! Oh I know, because they secretly hate parents. We get through the toy store and to the door and then Kloey pumped the brakes and stalled!! She kept saying, ‘Let’s go Mom.’ And that was music to my ears, until I heard, ‘No go, mommy! SLIDE!!’ Yeah, who saw this coming?? If you think you can tell Kloey something and she’ll forget you- YOU’RE DEAD WRONG!! Like her sister, you can make no empty promises. They never forget. NEVER!! So I carried my 32 pound kicking and flailing two year old back to the car- good thing I got a close spot- it’s hot here today!!

 

Here is the progression of our outing. Starts off cute, right?! 🙂

 

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Kayden had her first official day of preschool on Tuesday, August 26!! I know this is confusing because she has been going to preschool since June 23. The private school she is going to has a summer program, and I chose to start her in summer so that she would (hopefully) be ready to do the whole ‘school’ thing by the time the school year rolled around. It did take all summer, but I am proud to announce that Kayden no longer has tears when I drop her off in the morning!! She goes to school twice a week for 6 hours each day. She is working on tracing, cutting, and this year their theme is ‘Around the World’. The kids visit different countries and states within our country to learn about different cultures, foods, and interesting things about these places. Throughout their travels they go on field trips that enrich their learning. First field trip is to the airport so they can learn about traveling.

I was very hesitant to send Kayden to preschool since I somewhat felt that it wass my job as stay-at-home-mommy to teach my children all they need to know for Kindergarten. I am sure most moms can relate, but when it’s mommy trying to do ‘circle time’ on the floor, their attention span lasts for maybe 5 minutes! I also struggled with my decision because Kayden is very shy and is attached to me all day. I wasn’t sure how she would fare being not only away from me, but in the care of strangers. It was a tough first few days, but she is starting to blossom. She (and I) LOVE her teacher, Ms. Ashley. She is from Texas (so of course she is SUPER nice!) and she just has the biggest heart!! She tells Kayden, and all of her kiddos, that she loves them every day before they go home. That melts my heart! I truly know that she is in good hands. And oh yeah, I can watch her throughout the day on one of the many cameras they have installed throughout the school!! Some days she is attached to her teacher, but some days she is adventuring out with the other kids. I am happy with my decision to send Kayden to Carlsbad Country Day School. And I am so proud of my little girl. May she never grow too old that she doesn’t want to be with me all of the time! She is my little BFF!

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21-Aug-2014 18:10
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Disclaimer: With this new site, we are working on some kinks. One being that I can only upload pictures to the top of my post. So here are some pictures that document our fun in the pools!

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Last week our family took our very first solo family vacation to Palm Springs. And what perfect timing it was- it was my birthday week!! The girls did amazing! The weather was perfect! Each day we swam, ate, napped, hung out, ate, and ate some more!! The hotel was great. It had several family-friendly pools with slides and was shallow enough that Kayden could walk across the whole pool! We were having such a good time that we decided to extend our stay while we were there! The girls had fun on their first vacation and are ready for our next adventure!!