Ready, Set, Kindergarten!

It's here. The day I've been dreading and dreading. M starts kindergarten tomorrow. How did that happen so quickly? Sigh.

Too Funny!

I just had to put this up!  I thought it was clever, creative, and funny.  Best of all, it features one of my all-time favorites stores--Ikea!  It is a serialized soap opera filmed by a group of actors in Ikea itself without the store's knowledge.  Be ready for low quality filming, cheesy soap opera acting (but I kind of thought that was hilarious), and lots of intrigue.  You may find it a bit silly, but I have a warped sense of humor.  I have yet to finish the "season," but enjoy....

Simple, But Sweet

It was birthday time yesterday (look at the blazing cake!). Seems like birthday celebrations get smaller, but so much sweeter as you get older. K and M have been whispering and planning since last week, and they pulled off a very thoughtful little gift. Ate yummy dim sum with my family (parents included), got treated to delicious frozen yogurt, and received phone calls and emails with good wishes from family and friends. What a wonderful time!

Gold Country!

K learned all about the California Gold Rush last year in fourth grade. She was itchin' to try her hand at panning for gold in the same rivers where the rush began. So two weeks ago we planned a short trip to Sacramento and Coloma. It was actually a lot of fun (I figured the summertime valley heat would put a damper on the fun part). We visited Old Sacramento, the California State Railroad Museum, and Sutter's Fort. Then on to Placerville (Hangtown as it used to be know) and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park where we saw Sutter's Mill (where gold was first found in 1848) and got to try our hand at panning. No "Eureka" for us (we just found some really pretty shiny flakes), but the man next to us found a big nugget--and he didn't even have a pan!! What a memorable trip for him! We still dug (get it?) the experience and had a great time.

M's favorite part had to be the "fancy" mermaid statue at the hotel in West Sacramento. My favorite part had to be our stay at the historic Cary House Hotel in Placerville. It houses the second oldest elevator west of the Mississippi and we could only go in it two people at a time. I think we will have to plan more "theme" trips in the future. There was something for everyone in this trip!

Growing Up

Look what happened today. Sigh. So very exciting that M is growing up, but also a little bittersweet to realize she is not a baby anymore. Kindergarten starts in two weeks. How can the last five years have passed by so quickly?