Our little Math Magician

At school Garrett had been doing math worksheet so I printed a few for him at home.  I was amazed at his adding skills as a 4 1/2 year old!  I printed up some kindergarten worksheets and got out the counting cubes I had bought this past summer and showed him an example problem two different colored cube sets.  He followed my one example and completed the entire page all by himself! He can had vertical or horizontal problems with the sum up to 20! Seriously crazy in my book.  He loves doing math and has almost finished the kindergarten math workbook that I picked up at the bookstore after printing 10 worksheets.  Everyday as soon as he woke up and came home from school his workbook was the first thing he would ask for.  I LOVE it!

Riverbank Wine and Cheese 5K

Where do I start....In June when I was hired at Merced High School I decided I deserved a personal trainer!  I had been working out for about a month on my own and wanted to learn more about full body workouts vs my typical cardio routine.  I meet once a week with my trainer and love the workouts.  I can say I haven't really lost much weight, but can tell the difference in my body and strength.  I had talked with Dave about running a 5K and really wanted my first one to be the Dragonfly run in San Ramon, but it was on the same day I had to take the CSET so that was out. 

My friend Gretchen has been running and losing weight for about 6 or 7 months and she is such an inspiration!  At our scrapbook retreat she was going to go running and I thought I would join her to see if I could actually run 3 miles outside.  Ah, piece of cake!  It was a little challenging at parks because there were so hills that were a little steep, but we did it. 

Gretchen was registered to run a 5K in Riverbank a few weeks out and I thought that would be a good opportunity for me to run a race and not be completely alone.  Gretchen, her sister in law Amy and I met up a few times over the next couple of weeks to run 3 miles and our time improved each time.  I mentioned to Gretchen that my goal for the 5K would be to complete the race in under 30 minutes. She gave the "you're crazy" look and warned me not to run too fast at the beginning and tire out.  I ran a couple of times alone prior to the race and ran a 9 minute mile which was good enough to put me under 3 miles at the race.  I was confident I could reach my goal.  Dave had his plant sale the day of the race so he kept  the boys.

Another friend that I met from scrapbooking, Nancy, was also running but she was doing the 10K.  Nancy and her daughter rode up with my and Nancy started the race with me to pace me.  I finished the race in 28:42!!! I definitely hated parts of the run, but just like much of my life, put my mind to it and got it done!!!

I'll catch the Dragonfly Run next year!

Charis, Nancy, Gretchen, Amy, and Me

UCLA vs Stanford

Dave bought tickets for him and Garrett to take Papa Dave to the UCLA vs Standford game.  Garrett loves the individual time with Daddy and it's always a treat to get to go alone.  The game was changed from a day game to a night game for television so Garrett and Dave ended up staying the night with Papa! Even more of a treat, a sleepover.  Papa is a good sport to watch UCLA because he is a USC fan!

Fun with Grandma and Taylor

My Mom's friend Dawn had a party for her little girl Payton's birthday and invited Garrett and Gannon. They love parties and the rides at Applegate Park so I knew they would have a blast and they did!!! Riding the rides, hanging out with Grandma and Taylor, and mostly their face painting.  They both decided to have a spiderman web painted around their eyes. They were so cute and sad when they had to wash their faces. 

Daddy Date

Dave, Garrett, and Gannon headed to Modesto to watch the Modesto Nuts play ball.  With school starting and being crazy busy, I decided to stay home and use the time to get some work done.  Garrett and Gannon had a great time hanging out with Daddy and watching baseball.  Notice Garrett is still wearing his Yankee hat - Daddy is still trying to get the Angels hat on and it's just not working!

Golden Gate Bridge

After the Exploratorium we took the 5 mile - 1 hour drive! to the Golden Gate Bridge.  I really don't know the exact distance, but it's not that far, and boy did it feel like the longest drive ever!  Perfect in a way so Gannon could take a little nap, traffic on a holiday weekend was crazy.  We lucked out and got a really good parking spot, loaded the boys up and took the short little walk on to the bridge.  As you can see it was foggy and a little chilly, but Garrett and Gannon were SO excited to see the "real" Golden Gate Bridge.  Garrett made a quick connection from his puzzle and loved the bridge.  It was so crowded that we only walked to the first lookout and started to walk back to the car.  Both boys were very upset by this!  "Go back Mommy" is all we heard. 

Wanting to get the boys in a picture with the bridge we found this stump and Garrett would have nothing to do with it.  I really think the older he gets his fear of heights comes out more.  The stump was on the edge of a small cliff so Garrett wouldn't get close to it.  Mr. No Fear, Gannon, of course could have cared less and jumped right up for his shot!  Garrett watching him very closely and ready to yell at us to get him if he made any sudden movement!  Funny to watch his expressions.  All in all they loved the bridge. 

We Love to Explore

With our love to explore and to have the boys explore what better place to visit than the Exploratorium!  

This summer we bought a new floor sized puzzle for Garrett and we explained where we live based on the icons on the State of California - the Golden Gate Bridge.  So Labor Day weekend we asked Garrett if he would like to go see the big bridge.  Of course he answered yes!  We decided to visit the exloratorium because the boys would love to touch and play with all the gadgets and Dave had never been. It was fun to watch the boys get excited and make things out of the different exhibits.  Each fascinated by their own choices.

Both loved the magnet station.  Not far from the entrance it was hard to pull them away after playing for a bit.  Trying to explain to them that there are lots of other things to see. 

Gannon listening to sounds of the world.

Both loving to bang and make music!

Garrett mainly interested in the bubbles

The various sized chairs - he looks so little in this gigantic chair.

And Garrett looks so big (and starting to get grouchy for lunch!!)

This little machine was a HUGE hit with both boys.  A rope that is controlled by a handle that goes up into the sky.  

 And the most fun of all - Dave drinking water from a toilet!!!

Another highlight was the artist making custom paint for the kids in whatever color they wanted!  Gannon picked red and Garrett of course wanted purple!!!

And finally the crazy room!  Boy was it crazy... kids running around bouncing off the walls!