His mom, Angelina, asked if I would design the invitation. So I designed an invitation. And then Mike re-drew it because I suck at drawing. Angelina loved it. And I loved Mike’s cows. I think I may redesign this website around those cows.

Jacob/Jenna’s birthday was a huge affair with over 80 invitees. They had a jump house:

And they had a train. Of course that was a big hit:

Peter’s preschool friend, Laird, also celebrated his 5th birthday this summer. He threw a pool party. Peter also got to see some old preschool friends he hadn’t seen in a year.

Peter swimming with Ryaken and Kaden:

Even Jacob got into the water:

That’s it for summer birthdays this year!

Besides swim class, we’ve also been going to the pool almost every weekend this summer. Next year, I’ll definitely invest in a family pool pass. Mike and I have enjoyed the swimming as much as Peter. And we all have tans now to boot.

Last day of class:

Weekends at the pool:

The group picture from swim class:

(Jacob ended up not attending any swim class)

Mike and Mark:

On the kayak:

Peter’s first ride on a jet ski:

At the play pool - I so wish our pool had this when I was a kid:

Peter’s swimming skills so far:

Another class Peter is taking is cooking. He’s always enjoyed helping me cook so I thought he would really like this. It’s a class just for 4-5 year olds. As soon as I signed up, his friends quickly followed. He’s taking the class with Nicholas, Hunter, and Ella.

On the menu: Pot stickers, chicken chow mein, rice soup, beef with asparagus, and almond cookies - they really do make the food themselves, as well as learn about manners:

I’ve also been driving Hunter and Ella to class. I’m glad the class only lasts 1 week:

And we still have a week-long music class to look forward to.

As for dealing with the school schedule, the early wake-up time for me (and Peter) began to take it’s toll during the last 2 weeks of school. I started having a really hard time getting Peter to just eat breakfast in the morning. He would just sit on the couch and say he wasn’t hungry. I eventually had Mike take a later train into work so he could solely focus on getting Peter to eat breakfast while I got ready.

By mid-week, I started to drag myself. I’m not a morning person, no matter how many hours of sleep I get. So waking up an hour earlier (at 6:45am) slowly drained my energy level and every night I would go to bed a little earlier - by Thursday I was in bed before 10pm. Shocking! I guess this is my life for the next 13 years. Sigh. Well I don’t have to think about that for the next few weeks at least. Our earliest summer class starts at 9:30. Yay!

Video of last day of summer school:

As usual, since the nation joins in our celebration along with fireworks, we don’t do much else except exchange cards. This year was no exception. If money was no object, I would have loved to have celebrated with an international vacation, spared no expense. Well we settled for a weekend trip to Vegas instead. And to save money, we are traveling in August instead of our actual anniversary.

We are staying in the same hotel we did 10 years ago, the Excalibur. We’re taking Peter with us. I think he’ll get a kick out of the castle-themed hotel. So for the next month, I’ll be planning what we can do there that doesn’t involve strippers or gambling. Hmm, kinda wish we got married in Hawaii now.

Click for a trip down memory lane

First, we ate some BBQ:

Then, the kids played outside:

Then, they played inside:

And finally, it was time for fireworks:

Hope everyone had a fun holiday!

The class:

He even has a cubby:

Heading to class with Jacob:

They look so cute with their little backpacks:

Heading home after celebrating July 4th with a parade:

Also, I did find out Peter got morning Kindergarten so I’m happy about that.

Watching Charlotte’s Web at the movie theater:

Piano trial class - we’ll start lessons in the fall:

Jacob came home with us from school one day and stayed for 5 hrs. It felt like the longest day of my life! Peter had a blast of course!