The Big 3!

Shaye's birthday falls on the weekend that our Oregon relatives are in town, so we decided to throw a pool party, mainly to get the family together for a fun afternoon in the sun.  Ryan's cousin Kevin, his wife Heather, and their 2 1/2 year old daughter, Emmery stayed with us over the weekend while Uncle Craig & Aunt Margo stayed with Rick & Joyce.  My parents and Grandpa joined in the fun along with Shawn and his family.  The 3 girls were entertained by the dad's and grandpa's in the pool and had a blast (lots of screaming)! 

We enjoyed lunch & cupcakes of course.

Then time to open presents!  Shaye told me today was "the best pool party ever!".  She had a fantastic birthday and we are glad that our Oregon family could celebrate with us!

More fun pictures at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/bnetro/ShayeS3rdBirthday?authuser=0&feat=directlink 
Check it out!

First Birthday Celebration at School

Since Shaye shares the exact same birthday as another kid in her class, his parents and I  (at Back to School Night) discussed the best way to celebrate each birthday.  Shaye would have her celebration today and Samuel would get his on Friday.  So, I made her favorite muffins, carrot-raisin, for all the kids to enjoy at snack time.  Ryan commented that I am probably the only mom that will be serving up a healthy treat for birthdays, but I'm ok with that!  Plus these muffins have been a hit during playdates, so I'm sure they will like them.  Shaye got to bring Birthday Bear with her to show off her favorite birthday friend and got to wear a beautiful crown made by the teacher.  I'm sure she loved hearing the Happy Birthday song being sung to her!  Mrs. Kinslow texted me the pictures from the morning.  Looks like they got to wear the princess dresses too! 

Here's a picture from last week on the playground, right before I picked her up.  What fun!

Big Bear Adventure

Ryan and I got the chance to get away overnight with some friends and I was especially excited to get up to Big Bear after 3 years away from the mountains.  Jeff and Tamme's family have owned a condo at the base of Snow Summit ski area for 15 years so they invited us up during the Oktoberfest weekend.  We headed up Saturday morning, met them at the condo for lunch, and then headed out (along with Jeff's brother and wife) to go ziplining.  I have never been ziplining before so I was super excited to check it out.  They have 9 ziplines ranging from 120 ft.- 860 ft in length.  We all had a blast and had a great 3 1/2 hour experience, heading up to the site, ziplining, and we made it back in one piece.  I would have liked it more if the lines were longer, since 7 of 9 were quite short, but all in all, a good time with friends.  In the evening, we went to the Oktoberfest that has been an annual event in Big Bear for 60 years!  It was a hoot!  We saw everything from stein holding contests, to log sawing contests to polka music to bratwurst, sauerkraut, beer and more! 

On Sunday, we went to breakfast, shopped around the Village a bit and then headed home.  We had a great time and were happy to see our Shaye, who had spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa Flower's beach house.  A getaway for all but glad to be home together!

First Day of Preschool

Shaye has been excited for 3 months about starting preschool and has talked about wearing a backpack, riding the bus (although not this year), playing with kids all day, drawing a dinosaur picture for mom and dad, singing her ABC's and eating snacks.  With great anticipation for us too, Ryan and I took Shaye to school this morning and it went really well. 

She will be with Ms. Kinslow Monday through Friday from about 7:45am when I drop her off on the way to work until 1pm (when Grandma and Grandpa Netro or Flower pick her up) at Calvary Christian school in Tustin. 

I was able to get approval from my bosses to work half days on Wednesdays, so I will pick her up one day a week.  Since preschool is quite expensive, my additional half day will pay for school and we think it is worth it to have her go to school everyday because she thrives in this environment. 

Ms. Kinslow said Shaye's first day went very well - she met her classmates, painted a dot picture, rolled play-doh, had muffins and chocolate milk for snack ("no milk for me, Mom, I just wanted water"), listened to guitar music played by another teacher, and ate most of her lunch.  She was happy to see Grandma & Papa Netro pick her up, but she can't wait to go back tomorrow!