End of Kindergarten Performance - June 24, 2011

Here are all of the Kindergartner's at Alston Ridge during their end of year performance for all the parents and teachers! It was the cutest thing ever! Ayden is in the back row (he is tall!) middle.

We went back to his class after the performance for photos. :) Can't believe Kindergarten came and went so quickly! It was an amazing year! :)

End of Kindergarten Performance! June 24, 2011

Before the Heat Set In! - June 19, 2011

It was plenty warm in mid June when the boys decided to play some baseball outside, but not yet to that point when the streets become barren and you start to sweat the minute you step outside. This was probably the last hurrah before the heat of Summer set in! :)

Granny & Papi Visit - June 17, 2011

Just a usual visit with Granny & Papi for a couple of weeks this Summer and we grilled some yummy dinner in the backyard!

Kindergarten Snapshots! - June 12, 2011

For an end of year gift for Ms. Todora and Mrs. Woodruff, I took several group snapshots of the kiddos to see if I could come up with a frame worthy photo!

Amberly Spring Soccer League - June 6, 2011

Ayden and Lucy after receiving their medals for the Amberly soccer league. Ayden got his share of soccer this Spring! :) Coach Caleb was great and very dedicated!

Here is a group shot of some of the neighbor friends that participated as well! :) Ayden in in the back row.

Money Obsession! - June 6, 2011

I want to call it an interest, but it is more like an obsession! Ayden has been very interested in money for the last few months and has been saving all of the money that he earns or receives and re-counts it everytime he receives more. His savings baggie has a little sticky note in it that has the total amount written down. It must have been all that money counting in Kindergarten (math skills). He is financially minded just like his Dad! :)

End of Season Soccer Party! - June 3, 2011

So, team Sweden has now completed five season together and still going strong! :) I signed myself up to bring a dessert and randomly decided to make cupcakes the morning of the party. In true Cindy fashion, I was working until the last minute and missed the last game due to it. I made some trader joe's cupcakes in chocolate with vanilla frosting with some fun customized cupcake toppers. I had done the cupcakes for Lindsay's party and thought the kids would get a kick out of it and they did! :)

I made a batch with "Team Sweden, Spring 2011" and then some others with their names of them.

Ayden had a hard time waiting to eat them as ususal. :)

For some silly reason I cut off the heads of the coaches and only took a photo of the team of kids. I must have been tired that day after all the cupcake escapades. :) It was a great season!

Boosterthon Fun Run! - May 25, 2011

Miss Todora's Turtles! Here is Ayden's awesome Kindergarten teacher in the red shorts and blue hat with her team of Turtles behind her ready to run!

The big fundraiser in the Spring at Ayden's school, Alston Ridge Elementary was the Boosterthon Fun Run! The kids collected pledges for a couple of weeks (family and friends pledged per lap or one single donation) prior to the running event. They received lots of motivation and prizes from the Boosterthon staff. When the Fun Run day came, the kids ran as many laps as they could (there was a cap of 35 laps) with lots of excitement, spirit and motivation from the school staff and Boosterthon people. It was beyond exciting!

Here is Ayden coming through the tunnel to enter the event with his team of Turtles! :)

Here he is running the laps. Not that it is a pleasant thing to happen to a child, but Ayden ran so hard and fast for the capped 35 laps that he vomitted when he was all done! Poor guy, he didn't know what pacing himself meant. He probably learned his lesson! :) It was a really exciting day. Ayden helped to raise over $300 towards the cost of the new shades for the playground that the PTA purchased not long after the event!

Spring Soccer! May 21, 2011

Just a little shot of the Spring season of soccer. Julio is head coach again along with Eli and Sean who are always there to cover him when he is out of town or out of the country! The kids have really bonded and are continuing to work well as a team. They have a lot of fun most importantly! :)

Mount Vernon - May 16, 2011

So, on our last day of the DC trip before we had to drop Dad off at work, we drove over to Mount Vernon, old residence of George Washington that is now a museum. I think this was my favorite part of the trip.

Statues of the WA family inside the museum lobby. The kids thought it was interesting that they were life size.

Here we all are at the front walk to the old residence.

A closer shot of the house. It was completely amazing to be there...you simply felt transported back in time to an amazing part of our American history!

These men help show the visitors what the iron tool shed was like.

Ayden hanging out by a tree overlooking the Potomac River! It was beautiful!

Here are the boys posing on the back lawn of the residence.

Rolling in the grass in Washington's backyard. :)

Checking out Washington's tomb.

Playing with the dolls and dollhouse that are a replica of the residence.

General George Ayden Washington!

DC Trip - May 14-16 2011

Julio discovered that DaVita's Nationwide event was planned for mid May in Washington DC, so we made a family trip out of it the weekend before he had to be there. We couldn't find a hotel in downtown DC, so we booked one in Alexandria, Virginia, which was fine by me because it was great to explore another new city in addition to DC that had some great history as well!

Here we are on the first night we arrived on our way out to dinner in the downtown area of Alexandria. We found an old cobblestone road and some brownstone homes...charming!

The next morning we went out to brunch with some old friends who live in DC now. Anne and James Church. Anne actually introduced Julio and I back in 2000 in Chico. She was married about a year ago and moved out to DC. We had not seen Anne in a number of years and had never met James before. It was great to see them and they were so sweet to meet up with us for brunch and show us a cute part of the city. I wish that I had snapped a photo of us all, but I neglected to. After brunch, we headed over to the National Air and Space Museum. The boys loved the place, especially Ayden who is old enough now to really participate! He took part in a demonstration in the photo below.

This was our next stop, the National Museum of Natural History.

There were lots of life like animals and a great display of the evolution of man!

Posing in front of the Washington Monument!

Snapped this shot of the White House on our walk to the WA Monument and Lincoln's Memorial.

Here are the boys (sitting on the cement block) and Julio outside of Lincoln's Memorial.

It was AMAZING to finally see this in real life! I had never been before and of course the kids hadn't either. They loved it!

Four score and seven years ago...

Ayden with the WA monument in the background as well as the Reflecting Pool (which was under construction at the time).