First Day of School

MaeMae starts kindergarten, Elias a new preschool, Caleb registers for his classes at UCSD.

It's been an eventful summer, now the school year begins. MaeMae has adjusted well. A few months ago, I would not have imagined such as easy first day of school...no anxiety, no nerviness, just the excitement of learning. Fairfield has an intimate rural country-like setting a few mile out of town.

Elias starts Applegate with Christian and Timmy. He has never had a problem adjusting to new situations, so I don't anticipate any problems.

For the next month, on the days that Pearl works, Caleb will be driving his young siblings to and from school. I sometimes wonder if these responsibilities will convince him not to have kids :-)

He signed up for classes on-line today. Overall, he got most of his classes with the exception of SE-1 (wait list). The only downside is he has classes from 5-7pm every MWF.

Pearl started her classes as well...a new grade (1st).

Bikers and Drivers

Caleb (hopefully) gets his driver's license tomorrow. MaeMae learns to ride a bicycle. Two milestones I vividly remember in my own life, I re-live again through the eyes of my children--at two vastly different stages in their lives.

Maelin's face lit with exuberance and pride. She immediately wanted mommy to see her, repeatedly saying "I can't believe I can ride a two wheel bike." I see her confidence growing in so many ways: riding a bike, swimming, learning her letters, easily moving into new settings.

Neither of us, Caleb and I, are shoppers, yet yesterday, we bought dorm stuff for the future: comforter, desk lamp, fan, some clothes, electronic charging station. We also set up some financial accounts: an ATM/credit card, online banking, so I can transfer money to Caleb as needed. After Mt Herman, I thought to myself how relaxing it is to be with a responsible college student as compared to two lovely (but needy) little kids.

Mount Herman

We just returned from a week of family camp at Mount Herman. I found it a relaxing time, despite the flurry of activities for our varied group. Watching after my mom (85) and our little ones MaeMae (5) and Elias (3), I am the sandwich generation. Yet, it was joyful to see Elias and MaeMae greeting my mom, the first one up, in the morning and playing with her cane--their favorite toy.

Our experience at Mount Herman has been one of community as our extended group included David and JoAnn and their boys, Christine Lee and her kids, and JoAnn's friend Tanya and her two kids. 17 in all--a cacophony of voices, people gathering for meals, children laughing, crying, and joyfully playing.

The ropes course--a high wire series of balancing tasks-- was exciting. Philip and Joshua took the canopy tour, a collection of zip lines through the beautiful redwoods. We spent one day at the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, where we all enjoyed a acrobat show. Elias also enjoyed a "dragon" ride, while my mom walked the boardwalk.

This was the first year that Caleb (18) did not attend because of a summer job. His absense was felt. In one month, he is off to college.