Kid Swap!

This morning, my niece McKenzie was getting an award at school, so Rachel and I went and watched the little ceremony. Following the ceremony, we went to lunch with my brother and sister-in-law and it came down that Rachel would spend the night with them. Hannah has a birthday party to attend to on Saturday, so she was going to need to be home for that. Long story short, we kid swapped and I brought McKenzie home with me. We totally surprised Hannah when we picked her up from school this afternoon.

Once they realized it was just the two of them, the possibilities of what they would do all afternoon and into the evening were endless. It started off with a tea party and movie in Hannah's room. They also did some beading and did each others hair, etc. You know, 'older' girl stuff. After dinner, we went to a new park that opened recently a few miles from home. Whoa! What a park. We'll definitely be packing a lunch once or twice and having friends meet us at this park over summer break! After the park, a detour was made to Costco and a quick run into the grocery store and then home for ice cream and a little TV watching. By 9:00, both girls were nodding off, so off to bed they went, and by 9:30 the giggles and chatting stopped all of a sudden and they were out!!!Tomorrow morning, I'll be taking McKenzie home shortly after breakfast as Hannah has a birthday party to attend, but they'll be back late tomorrow afternoon for dinner and more fun!

Camping at San Elijo

Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone and our camping trip is now behind us. The camping gear is all put away, the laundry is all done. The only evidence of having been at the beach camping are the tans we're all sporting!

The car was completely loaded and the bikes were hitched to the back of the van and we were off for the weekend once we picked Hannah up from school. Once again, our camping destination was San Elijo State Beach Campground with church family. There were five families on two sites right next to each other and we had a great time.

We arrived to the campground shortly before 5:00 and got our tent pitched and the rest of our stuff put in it's proper places for the weekend. Following dinner, a walk to the top of the steps was in order. The tide was high which didn't keep Rachel and Daddy from walking the beach a bit, but Hannah and I hung out on the steps for a spell. As you can see here, she's trying to let her bangs grow out, thus the need for the barrettes. The evening that followed was one filled with games around the picnic table, fellowship around the campfire, and yummy treats. As always at the end of the school week, Hannah was tired and was the first to go to bed. She got a good nights sleep and was up and raring to go come Saturday morning. While we woke up to overcast skies, the sun broke through each morning by 9:00 and it made for a beautiful day. Late Saturday morning, we packed up our chairs, our umbrellas, sand toys, and lathered everyone up in sunscreen and headed down to the beach for a few hours. Last summer when we were camping, Hannah tried out boogie boarding and loved it. Except that night, and the days to follow, she had a really bad neck ache from holding her head up as to not get water splashed about in her face. That detoured her from trying when we were here in October, but somehow she got up enough courage and gave it another try on Saturday...and loved it! She didn't do it as much as last July, but at least she got back on the horse and gave it another whirl. On Sunday afternoon, Steven and Hannah spent a couple of hours making this sandcastle, which later Rachel came long and destroyed in a matter of seconds. LOL. Sunday evening, Uncle Bart came and visited us and had dinner with us. He's always so good to provide a truckload of wood for our campfires when we're camping here and it was nice to have him come and join us for dinner that evening. Everyone enjoyed having him and talked about how nice he was, and how appreciative we were for the wood for our fires. I snapped this picture of Hannah when her and I walked Uncle Bart out to his truck parked on the Coast Highway. I'd never noticed the sign before and was grateful Hannah cooperated for a picture. As our camping trip got closer and closer and I began realizing who had campsites and who didn't, I started to panic in thinking that none of the regular friends who have kids our kids' ages were going and there would essentially be no one for our kids to play with. But the week before our trip, I learned that another friend and her two boys would be pitching their tents and joining us. Which gave our kids other kids to play with! In addition to these two kids, all our friends were GREAT with out kids - bringing surprises, special treats, inviting them into their trailers to watch movies and then popping them popcorn. Our kids were spoiled and very well taken care of this weekend by all our friends. The girls also enjoyed the three dogs that were also camping on our sites, Hannah especially loved walking them and petting them and just being around them.Another great weekend away. With each passing camping trip, our camping adventures just get easier and easier with the girls. Hannah was a HUGE help this weekend in a lot areas and that also made it nice. And as always we look forward to the next time we can go camping with our church friends!

Preschool Open House

This evening was the Spring Open House for the preschool. It's a time where all the families can come and see all the crafts and and neats things the preschoolers have been doing, as well as a time in which the in-coming families in the Fall can come and check things out. Tonight was our very last Open House for the preschool. I'm a little sad about that.

Hannah had such a great time playing about on the playground and visiting the classrooms. She loves going and visiting her very first teacher, Miss Stalder. Here Hannah is with her on the last day of her first year in preschool in June 2004.
And here she is with her first teacher this evening. What a difference five years make! Look at how grown up Hannah's face has become in the last couple of years. Let alone how much taller she is! Miss Stalder is standing up.It's fun to look back over the pictures and see how far the girls have grown and matured in their looks, etc.

Totally Unexpected...Kinda

Hannah had a dentist appointment this afternoon after school. The appointment was to put sealants on a few of her teeth. However, upon check in, the receptionist said she had paperwork for me to sign. I didn't think anything of it, until she mentioned the words 'doing extractions today...and this is your part". Huh?

Two weeks ago, Hannah had a consult with an orthodontist to have her look over her xrays and consult us on what the future holds for Hannah has far as braces go, etc. Her having missing adult teeth, adult teeth starting to come in crocked as seen on xray, etc. She recommended that some teeth be pulled and a spacer be put in to save room for these adult teeth coming in. But she wanted to talk to Hannah's dentist first to see if it was something she wanted to do, or wanted the orthodontist to do it. The orthodontist was supposed to call me and let me know what was decided.

She never did. But apparently had talked to our dentist and recommended four teeth be pulled and a spacer put in. After consulting with Steven over the phone, and quickly calling Gramma to tell her to start praying, I proceeded to break the news to Hannah. Of course she cried (I almost cried telling her) and I assured her that Dr. Hoffer was going to take good care of her and I assured her that it wouldn't hurt. So off we went into the procedure room...

Quick, one last picture of you with all your teeth! Hannah chose a 'grape nose' for her procedure.
This is how they administer the nitrous gas. A mold of her teeth for her spacer, some polishing, sealants applied to three teeth, a little soft spot drilled out, and four teeth extracted later. Here she is with a mouth of gauze. After the 'sleepy' medicine had worn off and she was feeling fine.She was sent home with all four of her teeth in these cute little treasure boxes. She tucked them safely under her pillow this evening and the tooth fairy, aka Mommy or Daddy, left her some green stuff in exchange! She did such a great job! I'm so proud of how she handled it. She did a lot better than I would have done! We go back in three weeks for her spacer to be glued in place.

In Celebration of Star Wars Day...

...We had dinner guests - 2 Jedi's, Darth Vadar, and Princess Leia.