st. martin's school was closed yesterday.  max got to spend the morning with karen and luke!  they went to the park and to sports basement for new shoes for luke.  karen said that when they were ready to leave, max looked down at his feet and didn't want to leave.  she asked him what was the matter and he showed her that his shoes were ripping apart and that he needed shoes too!  they left with new shoes for luke and max both!  i think max could have asked karen for pretty much anything  and she would have made it happen!  thank you karen for taking such good care of max (will pay you back for the shoes of course) - you are awesome!

and yes, for those of you reading this now, wondering why max has to ask our friend for new shoes, please know that max HAS other shoes.  he certainly needed an additional pair though!

what a week...besides hectic work schedules and evening routines including dinner making, bath giving, playing, reading, laundry upkeep and cleaning, we had a busy week...

wednesday; potluck at kindergarten - all the kids brought a fruit or vegetable beginning with the letter of their first, middle or last name (max brought a mango).

thursday evening; back to school parent meeting at st. martin - meeting with the teachers to learn what's planned for the rest of the semester and view what our children have worked on so far (i went together with the grumplemeeses while brent stayed home).

friday; mrs. davis' (kindergarten teacher/helper) birthday was celebrated - all the kids brought a card and a flower from their garden.  the gift wrap fundraising sale for the school ended and all the orders and money turned in.

friday night; brent and i attended a party and emeline watched the boys (great party and the boys had so much fun).

saturday morning; CAbi event at my place - soraya presented the fall collection which was supercool.  a great group of ladies hung out and shopped and had a nice time.  the weather was amazing.

sunday - it is 12:30 pm and the kids are still wearing pajamas.  we have just played and relaxed and hung out all morning.  the weather is amazing, the music is playing and i'm sitting in our backyard.  the kids are taking turns riding the skateboard under supervision of brent.  it is time to serve up some lunch and thereafter, finn will need to nap.  who knows what's in store for the rest of the day and evening.  maybe a bike ride or walk around the neighborhood.

tomorrow, it all starts over again!

friday officially ended the third week of kindergarten and preschool for max and finn.  it has been an adjustment to say the least.  our friends who already have experience with having kids in kindergarten told us it would be hard.  it has been.  max starts school at 8am sharp.  quite different from central nursery school when we arrived whenever it suited us.  we have tried to get max to bed earlier and earlier but it isn't easy.  almost impossible to fit everything needed into a few hours at night with dinner, play, bath and the bedtime routine.  max enjoys kindergarten and is having lots of fun.  the after-school program at st. martin is great and often, he doesn't want to leave...  finn is doing great at central nursery and has taken to saras, his teacher.  last friday was the first day i could leave without him crying.  such a relief!  hopefully things will go great going forward.  brent and feel we have made the right decision for our boys as it relates to school.  they are safe, happy and will receive a great education.  what else can i possibly ask for?    

our little finn loves music and dances to pretty much anything; the tune to a kids show, a commercial.. after a couple of weeks at preschool under his belt he is now also showing off his singing talents.  "twinkle twinkle little star" (blinka lilla stjarna in swedish) seems to the the favorite.  he sings it wherever he goes and nobody is allowed to chime in or help.  finn sings (with that adorable little voice); "tinkle tinkle little star" - is he really singing about a star or something else?

we enjoyed a three-day weekend since yesterday was labor day.  so nice!  what a difference one extra day makes.. we fit in quite a bit; visits to the park, playdate with charles and luke, fun times at the uffelmans and even some beachtime. 

charles, max and luke

max recently started playing soccer!  the team is called "wild things" and many of the kids are played t-ball together and have a connection through st. martin school.  practice is on tuesdays and games on saturdays.  so far, we have had two games.  in the first, max tried out as goalie, did really well and loved it!  so far, soccer is fun!

soccer match!

our boys hanging out in our bed

finn at the sf zoo

gigi arrived on august 11 to visit her california grandkids.  one of the days, we met up with scott and masao at the santa cruz boardwalk.  it was a complete zoo with lots of visitors but the boys had fun!  pop pop arrived a week later and brent and i had a chance to get away overnight.  we drove up to sonoma to our favorite b&b to celebrate our 7-yr anniversary.  we enjoyed nice lunches and dinners, relaxed by the pool and got massages.  we had such a nice and relaxing time!  thank you gigi and pop pop for watching the boys!

scott, masao, finn and brent

brent and max rode the log ride...

...and got drenched!

new hat!




new hat!







patio time at "girl and the fig"



a glass of bubbly, beet salad and one of the best soups ever - at "a girl and the fig"



"our" room (#4) at gaige house inn



the boys with their penguins - gift from GiGi after a visit to the aquarium



on august 1st, we left for a road trip to utah!  on the way there, we broke up the trip into two days.  the first evening, we drove and stayed over in reno.  the next morning, we took off rather early and reached midway (near park city) around 4pm in the afternoon.  there, we met up with holly, brian and the cousins from dallas.  we all stayed in the same hotel/condo complex and the kids had such a great time together!  below are some photos from our fun times. 



on the carousel at the hotel

at andy and emily's cabin

andy and emily had a 30' table built for those really large get togethers

ice-cream

holly and i relax while the kids hang in the hot tub

lunch overlooking main street park city during the arts festival

ice-cream...

grounds at the hotel

breakfast after sleepover with maya

dinner out in park city

breakfast at "fill'er up" where the kids can play (and eat)

the cousins (from left - max, maya, ava, lexi and finn in the back)

at the nearby reservour where andy and emily go boating - max went tubing after the boat!

finn starts at central nursery school!

finn has finished his first week at preschool at central nursery school!  he was very excited about going in with his very own lunch bag his first day and got to play with the trains on the train table.  he barely said bye to daddy when he left.  we found out though that he cried after brent left.  not for long, but still.  it isn't easy.  he has cried every morning after being dropped off.  for a little while.  besides that, he is doing great and has really taken to miss saras.  we are so fortunate to have found central nursery school.  max had three wonderful years there and we know that finn will do great too!