Erik's First Day of Preschool

Erik started preschool today at the Merage JCCOC.  I can't believe he is already 2 1/2 and starting preschool.  He will go two days a week, mondays and fridays, from 9 - 12:45.  He will have lunch there.  He has two teachers Ms. Lindsey and Ms Muhta.  There are 15 kids in his class.

It wasn't a difficult day for either one of us since he attended their summer school for 10 weeks during the summer.  It was our way of trying it out and he seemed to enjoy it.  He came home each day and said "Erik has new friends."  

For the first day he wore one of his favorite Thomas the Train shirts.  He got a new lunch box or as Erik would say "munch box" with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars.  He also got a new Thomas back pack.  Erik refers to it as his new "Thomas jacket."

Here are a couple of pictures with his new munch box.

He had no interest in standing for the picture.  The tradition of first day pictures has begun!

Hike at Crystal Cove State Beach

Today we went for a walk along Crystal Cove State Beach.  It was a beautiful warm summer day.  Erik found a bridge.

And a waterfall.

He had fun splashing around in the ocean too.  Sorry no pics of that.

Cool Sunglasses Dude

Erik in his sunglasses on our way down to a walk along Dana Point Harbor.

It Was a Hot Hot Last Day of August

It was a hot and humid day today.  So to get some relief Erik splashed around in his pool.

He played with his trucks in the fountain.

Daddy joined in the fun.

Here's Erik running under the water bridge.

August at Grandma's

Erik and I went to Grandma's for a couple days.  I think it was the two hottest and by far the most humid days of the summer.  It was over 100 degrees and we had a thunder storm so it was 100 percent humidity.  Erik had fun playing in a little pool and helped to water the grass.

Eventually we decided to abandon the clothes.

 Then Erik and grandma decided to relax on the easy chairs with Tabby and have a few snacks.

It was a fun couple of days.  During the thunder storm we lost power for approximately 5 hours.  We cooled down and went to dinner at Islands where Erik got his favorite, a turkey burger.  Power didn't return until nearly 8 pm.  The weather and lack of power didn't slow Erik down.  In fact I think he thought it was fun to actually need a flashlight to play by.  Erik had so much fun, as we drove away at the end of our stay he kept crying "Grandma, Grandma" until he fell asleep approximately 10 minutes down the road.  We look forward to Grandma's visit to our house in a couple of weeks.

Olivia is Off to College

Hard to believe but Erik's cousin Olivia is off to college at Gonzaga.  So her family and Grandma and Papa joined us at our house for a farewell dinner.  Beth made a yummy spaghetti and meatballs.  I only took a few photos.  Here are the cousins.

I wish I knew what they were laughing about...

Grandma and Erik.

Good luck Olivia.  We will miss you and look forward to many stories.

Erik Rides His New Bike at Irvine Terrace Park

We went to one of our favorite parks today and Erik rode his new bike - a 2 wheeler with training wheels.

It Can't Be Over Yet - Two Weeks Flew By

Wow 2 weeks flew by!  We have had so much fun with our Danish family during their visit.  We went to Sea World, La Jolla beach, Big Corona Beach, Balboa Peninsula Pier and Beach, Balboa Island, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Fashion Island, South Coast Plaza and so much more.  We have so many great memories and are so grateful for our time together.

Unfortunately today was the last day of our wonderful visit.  We had another great day.  We shopped and went to Irvine Spectrum for lunch.

Erik went into the water fountain for the first time...

And good news as you might have noticed in the video, Erik got his cast off this AM!  Yippee!  We survived 3 weeks.  Post cast X-rays showed he was all healed.

This afternoon we played in the sandbox with Aunt Birgitte. She makes the best sandcastles!! Mommy could learn a few things from her.

Erik got a new bike!  His first two-wheeler with training wheels!  Daddy and he were so excited.

A push from daddy...

 A push from Aunt Birgitte...

And he was off to the races...
With Rasmus rooting him on...

A push from Maja...

After a long bike ride and some dinner it was time to kick back on the couch with Rasmus

and Maja.

A hug from Auntie.

Mojo will miss Maja too!

Thanks for staying with us.  Hopefully next time we will see you in Denmark, or as Erik says "Dendark!"

Balboa Peninsula and Pier

Today we all went to the Balboa Peninsula.  We started by walking across Balboa Island and took the ferry across to the peninsula.  We had lunch at the park by the pier.  Frank took this picture of our picnic.  Erik slept through lunch today.

The waves were really big today so we walked out on the pier to check them out.

We left the Danes to check out the waves at the wedge.  Frank, Erik and I decided to go back to Balboa Island and do one of Erik's favorite things, check for the crabs.  We found lots today.  The Danes had a great time trying out the waves, especially Rasmus.

Trip to Sea World

Today was Erik's first trip to Sea World in San Diego.  Maja joined us for the ride down.  She was great company for Erik.

I forgot to take any pictures while we were at the park.  Frank did take one of Birgitte, Rasmus and Maja on one of the roller coasters.

We had a good time.  Erik did not have a lot of patience for the shows so we only saw 1 1/2 shows all together and Frank and I each saw an additional one.  Erik did love looking at all the sea life and especially the killer whales.  We will definitely have to come back again.

The Danes Have Arrived

Yippee! The day finally came.  Frank's brother Jens and his wife Birgitte and kids Rasmus and Maja arrived yesterday for their 2 week visit with us.  Erik and I had been practicing their names for approximately a week.  Erik bonded with them right from the start.  Fortunately the are staying with us so we will have lots of time together.

Here is Erik and Rasmus bonding in the sandbox.

Erik still has his cast on and is due to get it off the day before they leave.  Oh well, we will have a great time in spite of the inconvenience.

First Official Haircut

Erik is nearly 2 1/2 and has never gone for an official hair cut.  I'm not saying he has never had his hair cut.  Daddy gave him his first few hair cuts during his first year of life.  Erik was never a fan and would not sit still and would scream as if we were torturing him.  Needless to say they were not the best cuts and I was often embarrassed to take him anywhere for a few days or weeks.  Then, approximately a year ago, my friend Laurie a hair dresser, started coming to the house to give hair cuts.  Erik was not a fan of those hair cuts either and screamed and cried through most of the session.

So I finally decided to try out First Cut a children's salon down the street.  The stylist Lulu was very good with Erik who slowly warmed up to her.  She played with him for nearly a half an hour before she even attempted a snip. Much to my surprise there were very few tears.  He even sat in the airplane chair and wore a cape.  It took almost an hour but we accomplished our first hair cut with only a few tears.

July 4, 2013

We are still on Balboa Island for a few more days so we decided not to go off the island today.  Erik practiced riding his bike one handed in the morning.

In the afternoon the Halton's, Kristin, Jim, McKenna and baby Aspen came over.  Unfortunately we did not get any pictures.  We did have a great time.  We wrapped a plastic bag over Erik's cast so he could play in the sand and splash a little around the water.  In spite of the cast it was a great July 4th!