Jonah's Preschool Graduation

At the end of May, our little Jonah bear finished preschool.

He is a social creature, so he has loved going to school and making friends. They weren't very academic, more focused on cultural norms--things like manners, taking turns, following rules, and learning about holidays and other customs. 

He can be shy about dancing, but eventually he has to let loose. He knew all the moves and we listened to the songs a few times at home so he could show me.

His class waiting to be called up, where the teacher talked about the award they chose for each child and why.

Jonah was awarded two--the Mr. Manners and A+ award. Ms. Nicole said he's very bright and was first to complete the 1000 books before Kinder program. He takes his time and is the last one to finish his work, but he does it really well and makes sure he does everything thoroughly. He's the only one in the class that they never had to remind to say please or thank you. When Jonah grows up he wants to be a construction worker.

He told me about their plans to move the tassel over and throw their hats in the air like they do in Zootopia.

It's the perfect representation of things Jonah says--he listened aptly to the teacher's instructions, remembered something small and specific from a movie he's seen a couple of times, and was excited to do something silly. 

Jonah can be a handful for me at times, so it's always a relief to see he's behaving well for others and enjoying himself. His teachers and classmates love him, which is the best feeling as a parent.

Jonah and Perry have had some great bonding time this year. I don't know what Perry will do next year without his buddy.

Jonah and his sweet teachers. 

One of my favorite things about where we live is the diversity, which was easy to see in Jonah's class. His teachers are Mexican and Filipino and his best friends are Indian and Australian (Eli, below).

Jonah was excited that Daddy could come over during work and see him. Anything John comes to makes it feel like a special occasion.

It's still hard to believe he's old enough for full-time school already. He's still only four and short for his age, so that's not helping. But we're proud of him and excited for his future--in Kindergarten, construction working, and beyond!

Memorial Day at the Beach

We had an exceptionally hot memorial day and headed to the beach to cool off.

Scott dug in the wet sand and found little crabs.

I bought Jonah a minions kite at the dollar store and he's been begging us to try it. Natural Bridges is always windy, so we brought it along.

He loved it. Then he buried the handle with the string so he could go play.

Surprisingly, his solution worked great and he was free to run around, but could still admire his kite.

Perry ran to and from the waves.

Then they buried each other in sand.

Perry fell in the water, so he was cold and our sun exposure limit was reached. As we headed out we saw how crowded it had become. There were tents going up everywhere, busier than I'd ever seen it.

We all had the same idea, but thankfully we beat the rush there and left before traffic started up again. It was a great family day at the beach.

Fammatre Walkathon

Scott had his first real walkathon. Last year, the boys did a few laps around the quad with the preschool, but they didn't have school the day of the walkathon.

I stayed with the younger boys, but was planning to just walk a lap or two then take them home. Perry took off after the big kids.

Then cut across the field, little cheater.

Jonah was in heaven. He loves being with the big kids and fit right in with the t-k and kinders.

They had obstacles along one side of the track for a little variety.

Perry insisted on doing all the obstacles himself.

Even though they were all bigger than he was.

Scott ran lap after lap. He did 22 and after lunch did a few more, for a total of 6.5 miles.

Thankfully it was overcast for the most part, which kept the heat at bay. There was a dj with fun music and water to keep us going.

After their hour was up, they had popsicles and headed back to class.

Jonah did at least half of the laps that Scott did and Perry ended up doing several as well.

He had a good, long nap that afternoon.

I love school activities like this. It wasn't a carnival-style big to-do like I was used to, but just a simple walking event and the boys all had fun.

Mother's Day Disney Cruise

For Mother's Day this year, my mom took all of us on a Disney cruise. We drove down to San Diego the night before and picked up this Sleeping Beauty at the airport down there.

 We stayed in a hotel across the street from the boat, so we saw it outside in the morning.

Dressed in their Mickey shirts, ready to go!

We counted down the days on Alexa for weeks and had multiple character calls before going, so we were excited to finally be there.

After waiting a long time in line, Mickey left and the boys melted down. Sorry, Goofy, it was lack of sleep, not you.

Cedric was cool about it.

As anticipated, the boat had Disney everything everywhere. Perry found "mee-mo" fish.

Four little boy cousins.

As soon as we boarded the boat, we went for lunch. And dessert.

Then we checked out the kids play area. Perry was too young to be dropped off, but he loved it.

The Toy Story room was perfect for him.

After the life boat drill we met up for a embarking dance party. And hot chocolate, since it was windy and overcast.

Despite the chill, we went swimming and tried out the water slides. Then got ready for pirate night dinner. They gave us bandanas and my mom brought the boys matching shirts and accessories.

Our first dinner was at Tiana's, which John and I were excited to see and try the food.

And, of course, meet Tiana.

And Louie.

We made sure the table had all the desserts covered so we could try everything. The beignets were the best.

We were feeling a little seasick as we took off, but the waiter brought Jess gingerale and soup.

The boys got Mickey ear ice creams after dinner.

Ced going to town.

Back in our room we had some chocolate coins waiting of us.

After we put the boys in bed, Amanda stayed with them and my mom took Cedric to a show while we went to see Black Panther in one of the theaters. The pirate party didn't start until 10, so we were bummed to miss it, but I wanted the kids to get some rest to avoid being crabby the next day.

In the morning, Jonah woke up at the crack of dawn. Once the Oceaneer's Club opened, John dropped him off. Then I took Perry so he could get more sleep. We went up and had Mickey waffles.

Then we went in to Ensenada. 

There was a playground

and we walked around the city a bit.

It was as unappealing as the last two times I'd been there. But John had never seen it and now we can say the boys have been to Mexico. Hopefully one day we'll take them to real Mexico and not a cruise port. 

Amanda, Rick, and Jess went to get some authentic food and we went back to the ship.

We went to a drawing class. Jonah did a great Stitch.

Scott was upset at missing the beginning and wouldn't try it. Instead, he found a Star Wars Sorry game and played with John and Jonah after the class.

Then we met my mom for lunch. The big boys ate quickly and went to play at the kids club. 

We had a delicious, leisurely lunch. And dessert. 

The best chocolate molten cake. Next time we'll go to restaurants for every meal. They serve the kids quickly, so it's just as fast as the buffet, but the food is so much better. And relaxing.

We went to pick the boys up and they were playing an Avengers video game.

Tons of activities in lots of big rooms, but they were glued to the screens. At least they were happy. 

We went swimming some more and watched Lion King on the deck. Amanda watched the boys while we went in the adult-only pool and it was heavenly. I didn't want to leave. We came back and Perry was conked out on her.

We pulled them away by promising more hot chocolate. The other great part of Disney was the bath tub in our room. So convenient with little kids.

We met up again for dinner, but dropped the boys off.

While we went to the upscale restaurant upstairs.

It was super fancy and the best meal ever. An anti pasti plate, then caprese, cioppino, and gnocchi.

A palate cleansing sorbet

then the main course--the best butternut squash agnolotti (and possibly the best course ever) for me, and scallops and lobster for John.

Then a chocolate souffle with cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. Which was amazing, but the molten cake earlier in the day was actually our favorite.

And a little grenadine frozen treat for the road. It's hard to justify buying dinner when there's delicious food available for free, but this was definitely worth the upcharge. 

Back to our regular programming after that delicious detour. I love the little details all over the boat, like the elevator hands.

We rolled our way out from dinner and went to get a picture with Mickey. It was still Minnie, but the boys decided that was satisfactory.

Amanda and I waited in line with them while everyone else saved seats for the Frozen show.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Animator's Palate, which was a fantastic venue. Fantasia Mickey performed and the lights coordinated with the music and his dancing.

Perry went to everyone to mooch their bacon.

Success

Jonah was mesmerized by the walls. They had sketches of characters and did a show with the coordinating movie music. 

All while eating. It was one of the best parts of the whole weekend. 

Before we knew it, it was time to debark. We had to say goodbye to family and the cruise and had a full day of driving to look forward to. Obviously for so many people, the expense was prohibitive, so we only went for the weekend.

We were hoping we wouldn't love the Disney line so much so we could keep going on cheaper cruises and enjoy our blissful ignorance. 

Instead, we had an amazing time and there were some aspects of Disney that made it absolutely worth the cost (much like Disneyland vs. other amusement parks). Once Perry's 3 we'd love to go again, but longer, and maybe a destination we'd like to explore. Meanwhile, we'll try to work off all the treats we managed to eat in just 2 days.