Integrity Counts

Beyond proud of our big boy today.  He received the game ball for being honest about a play at first base where he didn't quite make the potential inning-ending out and the coaches were debating the call (which was in our team's favor).  Preston was asked if he got the out.  He said, "No." And he was right.  It was super close, though!  Ultimately, this changed the direction and tone of the game and we lost.  But, most important, the life lesson was not lost at all. 

Monterey Getaway

By far my favorite thing we did on our trip.
All three kids loved it... all three.  And, I will readily admit that I cried under my sunglasses multiple times during our ride.  It is one of those kind of things that we've always wanted to do,
but never have been able to do with Gracie.
Serious bucket-list type moment... it was beyond fun and so very special. 

We kicked off our two week spring break with a quick family getaway to Monterey.  We spent two nights and three days... just the perfect amount of time to really enjoy ourselves and not overwhelm Gracie, who often has a difficult time transitioning when we travel.  She did great the first day and night, had a really hard time day two (but did have a good couple of hours while we were at the aquarium) and then rallied for our third day!  Overall, a HUGE success in our family for getting away like that in the first place!  The boys had a blast, too, and, I have a feeling, will be asking when we are going back for a long time!

Three happy kids on our drive down.

Little Miss Thing all excited and happy in the hotel room...
that was a good start considering how stressful a hotel room can be for her.

We stayed at the Portola Inn and they have a kids' pirate program. 
Preston took their treasure hunt very seriously.

Walked all down the Pier and the kids fell in love with the parrots!

 We took a long walk along the water. 
Gracie was not thrilled with the constant stopping to look and take pictures.
She wanted to keep moving!

We had a great dinner at the brewery at the hotel. 
Since we were able to eat outside, Gracie didn't stress out at all!
John had to get a picture of the fire pit and his beer sampler!

The hotel's breakfast buffet... way more than we could possibly eat!
Gracie was not thrilled to be at breakfast... thankfully she perked up at the aquarium. 

Monterey Bay Aquarium
Gracie was a huge fan of the Aquarium in Long Beach and this one was no exception.
We did, however, have to forego our plans to eat a late lunch in Cannery Row as she wanted no part of anything that afternoon.

Love this shot of our littlest man soaking up his first moments at an aquarium.

While Gavin and Gracie were zonked out (one napping because he needed it, the other crashed due to being stressed out), I took Preston to the pool to play.  He had the whole place to himself.  It was freezing... our boy is crazy!
For dinner that night, we took a chance that Gracie would snap out of it and had dinner at an AMAZING Italian place not too far from our hotel.  Turns out it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, too! 
The Lasagna and pies are so good. To.Die.For!!

Swanns on a surrey ride! 
By far, the best part of our trip - - a surrey ride along the coast on a stunningly beautiful day.
We all loved it... and the fact that Gracie loved it as much as she did made all the rest of us love it even more!
PERFECTION!!!
We even had the suction bungee-corded across the backside of the basket since it was too big to fit inside. 
It all worked out!

One of my most favorite days!
(This was the first collage I made on a collage ap on my phone and posted to Instagram.  Not loving that barcode in there!)

100 Days

Today is the 100th day of school... and this boy pretty much blows my mind.  He is getting so big, so fast.  Who said that was allowed?!

I don't think he really had to duck down much last year.



I made him turn around so I could see his face...



He peeked through one last time and told me he loved me. 
I hope he will always do that.

Three Generations at "The Yard"

Today, Nana treated Preston and me to a Giants game.  It was so fun to watch Preston's excitement for the second time and to see my mom enjoy all of his enthusiasm.  He is tons of fun to watch a game with - - he is a loud, rowdy, spirited fan... and knowledgeable. Even the people around us were getting a kick out of him! 

So many fun moments!  Love the shots of him with Nana... they make my heart super happy!
Nana got him his Panda hat and the day's giveaway was an orange Sandoval jersey, so we was totally decked out from head to toe!

After the game, Preston got to go down on the field and run the bases.  After he finished, staff at the park were high-fiving the kids and handing out Sees Chocolate Suckers.  He LOVED every bit of that! 
It was a bummer they lost, but because they were playing the Diamondbacks, Preston was happy for his cousin Jack's team!  (I don't even know if Jack likes the Diamondbacks, but Preston says that's his team because they are from Arizona!)

Celebrating Six!

Preston had so much fun on his sixth birthday. It started with school and popsicles for his class. Nana and Papa were here when he got home from school which made him squeal with joy. He had a baseball game and it was our turn to bring snack again, so he had pizza and cupcakes with his team. Then it was back home for more pizza, presents and cake. Pretty much a perfect day for a brand new six year old!

Having so much fun opening presents!
 Look at all those joyful expressions!

Playing "hot or cold" to find his very own suitcase (with the iPod inside).
Kissing on Gracie to thank her for his new books.
Checking out the new guitar.

Make your wish, Bubba!

Licking frosting from the candles



Happy to be SIX!!!

GIANT Suprise!!!

Today was a day that I have anticipated as long as I can remember.  I could barely sleep last night knowing that John and I were going to surprise Preston with his first Giants game! 

Here was my facebook status:  "Cannot WAIT until tomorrow! Taking Preston to school and picking him up just over an hour later to surprise him with his first Giants game! So excited to see his face!!!"

John took Preston to school and when we picked him up just over an hour later, he was puzzled as he walked into the office... and then he saw our shirts and asked why we were dressed in Giants clothes... and then did everything he could to keep from screaming with delight when he heard we were taking him to his first game!  It was so much fun! 

First BART ride... First time in San Francisco... First Giants game... Awesome LAST day of being five!  As a lifelong Giants fan, I have waited to take our boy to his first game since the day he was born!  The fact that they got the win in extra innings made it all even sweeter! 



Waiting for the BART train



As we walked into the stadium and he got his first glimpse of the field, I felt like I was seeing a major league ballpark for the first time, again, too.  Wide-eyed, mouth agape and, "Wow... this is SO cool" repeated at least five times!

The staged commemorative photo complete with a giant finger (that's ours... John bought that beast!)
This picture is now framed on Preston's wall. 



He loved the giant glove and the slides in the Coca Cola bottles, but was a little bummed he was too tall to take batting practice in the mini-field.  I have a feeling that coming back on a Sunday to run the real bases will make up for any disappointment he felt about that little field!



LOVE this.
LOVE them.
LOVED this day with them.

After the extra-innings win with a pinch-hit appearance by Buster Posey.

Celebrating TEN!

From the moment that she started getting ready for school until the moment she fell asleep, Miss Gracie knew the day was all about her! She had so much fun celebrating at school and loved that when she got home in the afternoon, Nana and Papa were here to help us keep the fun going.

Gracie's goodies for her classmates and teaching team

Make a wish, pretty girl!



Having so much fun opening her gifts!
Miss Thing got an entirely new spring/summer wardrobe, some flashy sunglasses and new books.

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, enjoys cake and ice cream she can't actually "eat" better than this girl!

Fairyland Family Fun Day

As a fun family outing to celebrate Gracie's birthday, we went to Fairyland in Oakland. It was a beautiful, warm (but not too warm) Sunday and everyone had a wonderful time. So thankful to Nana for the great suggestion... it was a perfect day for Gracie.
(It can be really difficult to plan a party for Gracie as her health is so fragile and unpredictable. We decided that we'd do a family outing that she'd enjoy instead of hosting a party that could, quite easily, fall right in the middle of a migraine cycle for her. It wouldn't be about her if we were having a big shindig that she couldn't/wouldn't enjoy or would cause her undue stress!)
 

Our beautiful birthday girl!
Gracie thoroughly enjoyed all of the varieties of plants, shrubs, flowers and trees at Fairyland.  She spent a ton of time inspecting leaves and flowers as we strolled through the many gardens on the property.

Hilarious to me... Preston was being a ham after watching me take a gazillion pictures of Gracie with a dandelion in the parking lot before we'd even entered the park.

All three kids loved the old, small carousel.
Gavin is not pictured as I couldn't manage to hold him and take a picture at the same time!

Snippets of the Gav-man enjoying Gracie's birthday outing.
It just so happens that the baby girl in the top left picture shares the same birthday as him.  Gavin was trying so hard to talk to her about the "mama" aka, Snow White.  He was adorable looking at the various character and animal statues.

Gracie enjoyed the magic show for about ten minutes.  Unfortunately, the first ten minutes were mostly really corny jokes and, by the time the action started, she had totally lost interest.  Preston, however, had a blast. I'm not sure who had more fun, Preston watching the magic show or John and I watching him while he watched the show.
At one point he terrified us by moving seats when the man was about to juggle "blades" and told the kids in the front row to watch out for their lives.  He moved so fast that it took us about three minutes to realize where he had gone... still near the front, but way over to the side!  LOL!  He LOVED the juggling and fire-eating.  His facial expressions were priceless!!
 

'Nuff said.  We have to get better about making sure we are in pics with the kids! 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words... so here are several thousand about how much our girlie loved her special day!

Gavin... all smiles with rocks in his pockets, rocks in his hands, rocks in his mouth... that about sums up what's going on anytime he is outside right now.  Well, that and one of his brother's hats if he can get his hands on one!

If it can be climbed up and jumped off, Preston will find it!

Star of the Week (or "Best week EVER!")

The week of February 25th was, according to Preston, "the best week EVER."  (Except, of course, for some not so great stuff for his sissy.  More on that soon.)

On Friday the 22nd, he learned that he had been chosen as the "Star of the Week" for the following week.  This meant that, over the weekend, we had an "All About Me" poster to work on and the entire next week would be filled with special little things for him to do at school, including a special chair to sit in, special privileges and special duties.  He was beyond excited.

Here is the poster, which now hangs in his room, that he presented to his class on Monday:

On Tuesday, he got to fill the guessing jar with items.  The class had to guess/estimate how many of that item was in the jar.  He chose jelly beans, so after they guessed, they got to eat them! 
And, that same day was the pizza party that the class earned from their teacher!  For filling the marble jar three times, she treated them all to pizza, juice and cookies. 

On Wednesday, he received his Star of the Week award and sticker... and ... during the awards ceremony for the second trimester, he received a Shooting Star Award for excellence in AR (Accelerated Readers).  We are so proud of him!

On Thursday, he took in a favorite book to share.  This was hard for him - - he had so many he wanted to take in and finally narrowed it down to a Captain America book because "it talked about some things we are learning in class."  (Not Captain America, specifically, of course!)
Thursday was also John's 40th birthday!  So, birthday cake was on the menu and that is always a good thing!

On Friday, he got to bring in a treat to share with his class.  He took in cookies.
It was also the day the class celebrated "Read Across America" and Dr. Seuss' birthday.

Preston with some of his classmates wearing crazy hats and socks to celebrate Dr. Seuss.

And, he was also chosen as "Coyote of the Day" on Friday which carries its own special privileges.  He thought he was pretty darn cool to be both at the same time!

AND... Gavin took his first steps.
AND... Preston got to bring home Clifford for the whole weekend.  (Clifford goes home with each star of the week and gets to participate in all family activities.)  We had to report back to the class what he and Preston did over the weekend.  This is the page we added to the book about Clifford's travels:



A fun, busy weekend for Preston and Clifford!
(The ranch trip was also Preston's first hands-on gun safety lesson and target shooting... all in the presence of many law enforcement officers, so he couldn't have been taught better!)