We got to watch Tyler for a little while the other day and I think the kids like it as much as I do. Jake LOVES to hold him...here he is reading him a book about monster trucks. So lucky to have more cousins in the family!!

First day of school

Jake started his last year of preschool.....sigh. And when I looked at the picture of him standing next to Mia, he looked like a GIANT! Amazing how quickly he has become a little boy! It was the first year that he didn't cry on the first day of school, so I was happy :)

Girly girl?

Well, I think she's still far from a "girly girl", but I was painting my toenails the other day and she wanted hers done too. She notices all "pretty toes" now and seemed to have fun with it. She has also recently become interested in princesses (or "fincesses" as she calls them). If she wears a dress or anything with ruffles, she calls herself one....and if ANYONE in a store, etc. is wearing a dress, she calls them one!

Pig Tails

I managed to get some pig tails in Mia's hair the other day and could not stop taking her picture! She barely has enough hair to do it (and it's like wrestle mania trying to keep her still), but I couldn't resist!!

Tee Ball

Jake is doing his 2nd year of tee ball and liking it.....for the most part :) He is still a bit hesitant with some of it, but looks forward to it each week....he prefers to be hitting vs. out in the field and does NOT like when he missed the ball. Mia and Charlie are pretty cute as his fan club!

Little Gymnast

Mia has started her gymnastics class and it was too cute.....she loves to climb on anything and everything, so it should be right up her alley!

A's Game Extravaganza

We were invited to a birthday party that Jake could not have been MORE excited about! Shaun and Karen rented a party bus to take Colin and all of his friends to the A's game....and then we got to go onto the field after the game and watch a special Star Wars fireworks show. Too much! Here are some pics...

Jake was smiling ear to ear.....snack bag on the party bus....life doesn't get much better!

COTTON CANDY!

Classic Shaun.....foam fingers for EVERYONE!

The Braga Crew!

Sugar high!!!

On the field with my little man, waiting for the fireworks!

Soccer!

Jake had his first day of "Kids Love Soccer" today.....it's not a formal soccer team, but they run little drills and kick the ball around!  I was SO proud of Jake......he has been really excited about the start of soccer, but as usual, when it came time to actually load up and GO, he was hesitant.  He does have a tough time transitioning with new things, etc.  For the first time that I can remember, he pulled it together, got out on the field with the other kids, and participated WITHOUT whining, crying, etc.....may not sound like a big deal, but it was HUGE for Jake.  He was not super enthusiastic when it started out, but was getting into it as the session went on.  He was having FUN (as I promised him he would......and he finally let go and did it!!!).  Having heard the story quite a few times about MY first day of soccer practice (I locked myself in the car), I was even happier that he chose to get out there and have fun!  Who knows how next week's practice will go, but I'm happy about THIS week!

Disneyland 2011

We just returned from our first family trip to the happiest place on earth....we all had a great time! Jake was a total dare-devil on the rides.....I'm pretty sure he did every single ride he was tall enough to board, including Tower of Terror (really glad Brian was there to go with him, because even I didn't want to ride it!). He loved it....but his favorites were Star Tours and Space Mountain. Mia liked all of the rides that she was able to go on....but Ariel was a big hit (even though she hasn't seen the movie). Here are some photos from our quick week....

Jake chose the first ride and it was a laser beam game/ride from Toy Story.....we all like it.  It was one that we were all able to ride together, which was fun. 

On top of the HUGE Mickey Mouse carousel at California Adventure

Gotta do the Dumbo ride......it was the longest line we waited in the entire trip!

Mia LOVED all of the characters.....and surprisingly, so did Jake!

Photo isn't great, but it captures the expressions on their faces.....Splash Mountain!!

Waiting to see World of Color

My little princess.....I think the crown really completes her look with the black eye, bruised forehead and skinned nose :)  LOVE her!

This is how she rolls.....she crashed both days at Disney but woke up rearin' to go some more....we closed the park both nights!

Ice cream dance!!

Brian and the HUGE turkey leg he'd had his eye on all day!

Our little daredevil, Mia....riding the tall waterslide solo.......both times she ended up all turned around!

Breakfast with Mickey and friends was  really fun....the kids loved it.

Mia grabbed Minnie's hand while she was doing a small performance and led her over to our table....she was in heaven!  Funniest part is that she doesn't really know who Minnie is, but she knows she likes her!!

As is the case with most "on the road" vacations, we ate junk food a lot during our trip.....our "lunch" today (if you could call it that) was from an Arco mini-mart.....and we had to top off the last leg of our road trip with one more drive through.....Foster's Freeze.  Now we're back home and going through detox.  Not sure how the kids are going to feel about their healthy meals tomorrow :)