Last days of school and the start of summer

Kai is now done with TK. He had a great year with Mrs. Bass. He loved school and would come home everyday and set up "school" in his room. Although I wonder if it's just Kai or if Mrs. Bass barked at her students the way Kai barks at Lukas. Kai learned a lot this year and really grew up so much!! I feel so confident about him entering kindergarten after a year in TK. He knows all of his numbers and generally understands place values into the hundreds.  He can read and write (from what I know as a 2nd grade teacher) at the 1st grade level. He knows a buttload of facts about maps, geography, outer space.  He also started taking a group piano lesson near our house and despite my initial reservations, he really likes his teacher, Miss Shelly.  I really wanted Kai to participate in SOMETHING! Every time we'd get a flier in Kai's Monday folder from school, I'd ask,"Want to try soccer? Basketball? Karate?" Kai would say no to everything. But he wanted to do piano! He loves it and practices on his own without my asking.

I had an excellent school year and as happy and excited as I always am for summer vacation, I was also sad to see the year end. (1) I was so fortunate to be part of a wonderful grade-level team. Leah was the cutesy, creative one. Emily was the laid back one. Melissa led the group. Everyone contributed. Understandably, Leah needed to find a job closer to home and Emily will move to kinder next year.

(2) I also had honestly one of my favorite classes to date. My students were generally VERY well behaved, sweet, like able kids. I woke up every day excited to see them and happy to go to work.  I'm sad that this golden year has ended. Such precious memories!

As I left my classroom on the last day, we jumped in the car and drove down to San Diego.  Taylor graduated high school and although I wasn't able to be a part of her life, Jenn will always be someone special to me.  I was glad that we got to go down to support the fam.  On the trip down, we ran into RiDiCULOUS traffic due to construction.  It helped that the boys were content and entertained by a Star Wars marathon in the car.  We also stopped for dinner at Denny's and got to watch more of the Warriors finals.

Jenn was the hostess with the mostest for Tay's grad party, beautiful decorations, a taco guy, cake pops, a slideshow. We stayed in a vacation rental with GG, Auntie Laura, Auntie Nani, Monica, Auntie Brenda, and Jacie.  The boys really enjoyed the bunk and baskets of Legos and the hot tub. We went to the beach although the weather was not completely ideal beach weather. I had a nice walk on the beach with my cousins, Monica and Jacie, with a heart-to-heart talk.

On the way home, we stopped in Valencia to visit Ryuta's college friends, Sunghi and Wongyu.  We had such a nice time. They had a beautiful home complete with a massage chair and community pool! Sunghi was super hospitable. The boys enjoyed playing with their girls, Katie and Chloe. Wongyu opened his own restaurant and they treated us. It was SO nice! We were very impressed. Wongyu is the owner and head chef and pours his heart and soul into his restaurant and you can tell! We definitely plan to stop there again in the future.

When we got back, I cleaned the house for a week and tried selling our baby stuff online.  A huge milestone was that we sold our crib. I cried when I saw the empty space where it sat the last 6 years. I know it's just a material object, but it carried so many memories and took with it all the baby dreams. The new dad who came to get it seemed so fresh and I felt how quickly time had passed. 

I also got down to business and finished an online class to get more units for my teaching salary. All the while, Ryuta's been studying day and night to pass his state board exam (THIS Friday!!! Omg!!) He finished school and saw the Fremont Beauty School close its doors. 

We are so proud of you, Hardeep!!! :) :)

This week, the boys started swim lessons and I foresee lots of time at the watermark this summer. I just can't wait until Ryuta passes his test and can join us.

To be continued...

Star Wars is the new obsession

So, I'm pretty sure that I already mentioned it, but my attempts at the end of January to move on from the Grinch phase was successful. Now it is ALL about Star Wars in our home. I can't say that I totally mind either. Star Wars is cool! The kids are funny though (especially Kai) because he will not go to the movie theater. He said he wants to wait for the new Star Wars movie to come out (in December!!!) oh my. What a kid.

The boys hum the Star Wars theme song all day and play with their light sabers. At first, Ryuta got them swim noodles which became their sabers. Then we upgraded to the real light-up ones at the store with the sound effects as a gift for Lukas' birthday.  Lukas kept talking about his Darth Vader cake during the month of May. He didn't care what we did or if we had a party. He just kept repeating, "June 2nd. My birthday. Darth Vader cake." So, after lots of research...

Lukas was so happy!!! We spent the day at Happy Hallow with tutu and papa and returned home for Darth Vader cake and gifts.

Happy 3rd birthday, Darth Vader!

Our big summer project is converting the boys' room into a big boy room with a bunk bed with Star Wars bed sheets, etc. More pics to come soon!!