Whales in the OC

Each grade at St. Paul's has a major field trip. In Kindergarten it is the "Crab Lab" in Dana Point. In 8th grade they take a week long trip to Washington DC.

But 1st grade's trip is Whale Watching.

Our trip was schedule for 2 weeks ago, but was cancelled at the last minute (the morning of) due to rain. Few things are cancelled due to rain here in Orange County, and there were many VERY disappointed 1st graders...not the least my own. She was teary, and so disappointed. Even though it was being rescheduled, when you are 7 years old 2 weeks seems like a lifetime!

Because Avery's teacher is almost 8 months pregnant right now she was not able to go on the trip. She traded places with Mrs. Cobb, a former 1st grade teacher that is now teaching 3rd grade. She has been on this trip many times prior, and with her sunny disposition she was an easy fill in for Mrs. Peyton. Avery has always really liked Mrs. Cobb, so she was happy that she could join us.

Honestly I was skeptical that we would see any whales. Both Rob and I took the day off for Zoey's whale watching trip, and there was not a whale in sight. We saw lots of dolphins, but no whales. I have heard that to see a whale is almost more the exception than the rule, so we were prepared and excited just to see some dolphins. But we were in luck, and it was not long before the captain saw a spout off in the distance. We followed that whale and ended up coming upon not one but 2 whales. The captain told us it was a Mama and baby "Fin" whale, and the Mama was 80 feet long!

We followed the pair for almost an hour and watched them surface, take a breath and go back down several times. After we had followed them for quite a while we left them, and went to look for dolphins. We ended up running into two other whales (they might have been the same pair??) and got quite a show. It was an awesome day...and wonderful to see God's amazing creatures, so big and powerful, but yet so peaceful and beautiful.

The kids were all really good, and just had a wonderful time. The sun came out as we were pulling into Newport Harbor, and it made for such a beautiful sight. The gorgeous homes, boats, and just the surroundings as a package. We had a nice picnic lunch at the park (Andrea and I snuck into a Mexican restarant next to the park and got some yummy chips and guacamole...if we could have managed a margarita we would have done that too :-) ), and then watched the kids play in the park before piling into the cars and heading home.

I love 1st Grade!

She's Bold

This picture was taken on the first day of first grade, about a month ago. Avery's hair had gotten so long, and most days we ended up putting it in a ponytail at her request as she didn't like it getting in her face while she was playing, or at soccer. A few weeks ago she decided she wanted to get it cut...and not just a trim. She wanted a bob. I kept thinking she would change her mind, so I didn't rush to make an appointment. But she asked me about it almost daily, so finally since I had an appointment myself this Saturday I decided to just take her with me and have Sebastian cut it while my color was processing. While we were waiting I had her look at some magazines and point to how she wanted it.

This is what she chose. She saw a magazine with a picture of Katie Holmes on the cover with a chin length bob, and immediately pointed at her and said that was what she wanted. She was SO EXCITED sitting next to me waiting for it to be her turn. Sebastian took a few big snips of hair off to start, just to remove the length. I picked up a huge clump of hair that he cut that was over 10 inches long and showed it to her, and she just smiled.

I sat watching him trim and shape her hair I had such an emotional response. I thought about how much this new cut suited her petite features, and for some reason I just kept thinking that Mom would have loved to see her with this haircut...and I was so wishing she could. By the time he finished she was so proud, and smiling from ear to ear. She kept asking me what I thought Daddy would think of the cut, or Mrs. Peyton, or her friends/Aunties/Uncles/teammates. I kept telling her they would love it.

A young girl with waist length hair, probably about in her 20's sat waiting for Sebastian to finish working on us as she had the next appointment. She overheard what we were talking about, and saw the long pieces of hair on the floor under Avery's chair. She asked her about her haircut, and when Avery told her what she had done she sat with her mouth hanging open and told Avery, "You're REALLY BRAVE to cut your hair like that, I wouldn't be that brave! You're BOLD!" That struck me as just the perfect description of Avery...Bold. I love you my bold baby!

Halloween through the years...

I started to look back at some old pictures and as the discussion of our Halloween costumes is a hot topic around our house these days I took a little walk down memory lane. Of course what I need to do is print these and put them in a scrapbook...but here is a start. I don't have all of the years here, the first few years we did not have a digital camera and I need to go digging through some boxes to find the pics and scan them. So for the ones I have on hand, here goes:

2001

As you can see, Zoey was a SCARY WIZARD. My good friend Haven has a daughter about a year older than Zoey, and she is infinitely more creative with costumes than I. So for a few years I borrowed her daughter's "last year's" costume and away we went. Zoey is such a total Harry Potter fanatic that maybe this was responsible? Hmmm...

2002
I was 2 weeks away from delivering Avery,and I honestly don't remember what Zoey was...I have to look through the picture archives. I think Rob just walked her around our complex...it's all very fuzzy.

2003

Another beautiful "hand-me-down" costume from Haven...Zoey was a blond Snow White. Avery was a SCARY BUMBLEBEE complete with a "stinger" on her bottom. We went Trick-or-Treating at Mike and Annette's, and this started a tradition we have done every year since.

2004

This year we went very last minute and very "what we had on hand". Both of the girls were kind of a princess/fairy princess. We had some dress-up clothes (Zoey is wearing a Cinderella dress) combined with sparkly shoes, fairy crowns and wands and voila! I put a little lipgloss on the girls and with their rosy cheeks I think I have never seen a more beautiful sight. I'm expecting to see this when my life is flashing before my eyes.

2005

Not only were these costumes so meant to be, this has to be one of my favorite pictures of all time. We were in Target a few weeks before Halloween and these two costumes were hanging side by side. The angel costume was the right size for Zoey. The devil costume was the right size for Avery. They were both on sale. It was MEANT TO BE. Avery was at the time, very "spirited", "strong-willed", and all of the other words people use to describe a 2 year old child that is making her parents crazy. The day we brought them home they were so excited to put them on to show to Daddy when he got home from work, so they put them on and since they had done so I asked for a quick picture. Zoey's angelic smile and Avery's snarl were just too perfect, and so right on. Probably my favorite costumes of all time, and the angel costume had a new life for Avery years later.

2006

As you can see we don't deviate from the whole princess theme too much this year. The Barbie movies were the hot time around our house around this time, and everything Barbie was cool. So both of these costumes were dress up clothes from the latest addition to the Barbie movie family and we just added the pink boas and the crowns. We had such a fun year at Mike and Annette's this year, Annette dressed as a witch from head to toe and their house was decorated beautifully. This was the last year I could suggest a costume and they were okay with it, after this we have very serious ideas about what we wanted to be...and why.

2007

The Year of the Wig

This year both girls had very definite ideas about what they wanted to be. Zoey wanted to be Hannah Montana, which of course meant a big blonde wig (after all, doesn't Hannah wear a wig?) We bought a Bedazzler and ''bedazzled" her white jeans jacket and complete with a cool microphone she was Hannah. Avery wanted to be Ariel from the Disney movies and of course that required a bright red Ariel wig. Combined with her Ariel costume she had gotten the year before for Christmas we had a cool costume going on. I, however, had no idea what a pain in the rear the wigs would be! They would not stay on, they were itchy, scratchy, and just plain icky! I vowed that night that we would never do another costume that required a wig.

For any of us. I don't know...Rob looks like an aging Rocker...

2008

This year was a repeat of angel meets devil...but wait...our devil is...a LAWYER! Zoey was determined to dress as her future desired career, a lawyer. Avery was in Kindergarten, and at St. Paul's they do not celebrate Halloween, but instead dress as a Bible character on Halloween and have a fun parade. So Avery revived Zoey's angel costume from a few years back, and Zoey and I went to the GoodWill and got a dark suit...went to WalMart and got a shirt and tie, and went to Claire's for some fake glasses. Her Trick-or-Treat bucket was a laptop case donated by Auntie Lo...and there you have it...a Lawyer! Personalities are coming out, and I can't tell you how much fun it is for me to watch as a Mom. Just wait until you see what we have on tap for 2009...