First Day of Kindergarten

Where oh where does the time go.....

K had his last day at MDO a week ago. I can't believe he's been there since he was a little baby. I feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful place for him to grow. And i love that he will get to go back there in the summertime.

But now we are off to new adventures - Kindergarten!!!! K is headed to Emery Elementary with his four besties from the neighborhood. I have to say i was very proud that we all managed to hold it together. I can't wait to see how they grow this year!

 

Summer vacations

If you know anything about our family, its that we love to travel. This summer, we took two vacations. Our first vacation was a 5 day trip to the land of trees (oh no - trees!)

We started off our adventure in Mammoth. Neither Jeff or I had ever been here and i can see how much fun this would be in the winter time. I'm thinking this year might be the year to try skiing with K. But it was absolutely beautiful in the summer time. It's amazing to remember that the sky can actually be blue - or at least more blue in the land of clean air compared to what we get in the city on the average day. We stayed at a friends condo which was great. 

In the village, they had a great area to listen to concerts at night and just wander around town. I even got K out on the dance floor to boogie down.

We went on our first family hike to Rainbow Falls. Now after our last adventure, you can understand how we might be a little concerned with cliffs and things of the like, but K managed to stay away (he was very aware of his surroundings that way). I had just got a new fitbit to track our walking on vacation and lets just say we got in lots of steps. 

Here's some beautiful views along the way.

The finish line - Rainbow Falls!

After two days in Mammoth (which included a ride up to the top of the mountain in a gondola), we headed off to Yosemite. I hadn't been since i was a kid and Jeff had never been, so i was super excited to go back and check it out. We drove in from the east side, which was nice because then we got to see the entire park. We stayed in the heart of the Valley floor at Curry Village. It was a bit too glampy for Jeff, but perfect for me. Next time, i'm hoping to stay in Housekeeping camp. 

We didn't see any bears, but got to see a few deer, a bobcat and tons of squirrels.

I was pretty bummed that Yosemite Falls was all dried up. Consequences of the drought. But there was a nice hike up to Vernal Falls that we did. Man, K was such a trooper. He never complained the whole way and was totally kicking our butts. We were beat after all this exercise and K was ready for more!

So we rented bikes and rode around the area. Just as we got started, the skies opened up and after a few tummy rumbles from God (otherwise known as thunder), we got some rain, which was so much fun!

 

A few weeks later we headed out for our annual trek to Vegas. This year, we brought the Greenlee's with us. The kids had a blast playing at the pool and checking out the Vegas strip together. And the adults enjoyed some of the best food ever at night while the kids stayed with Becky. Seriously, bringing her with us to Vegas is the best idea we've ever had!!! Family time during the day, kid free zone at night. Genius!

This is by far my favorite picture ever!!!

Memorial Day Vacation

With the end of the semester over and summer classes just a few days away, we took the opportunity to get away for a few days. We usually like to try and go down to San Diego during Memorial Day weekend since it's our anniversary. This year, we celebrated our 6th anniversary! Wow how time flies!

Keegan has been very interested in life events lately, especially weddings and dying - why these two, i don't know! So he will see pictures of our wedding and comment that he wasn't there, so we need to get married again so he can be there. So off to the Prado we went! It was crazy on Sunday! I always forget that they have this huge food festival during the Memorial Day weekend. But we eventually made it to the Prado!

Just a little family selfie!

We first headed down to our "I Do" spot....which is where my heart stopped for a minute.

Here's Mr standing behind the wishing well, which is where Jeff and I said our vows. You know how they say things like your life flashing before your eyes and how things can happen in an instant....

So in one moment, he's standing here. And the next moment, he was gone. Did i mention this overlooks a green space? In some places it falls straight down. So i make a mad dash to see where Keegan had fallen too. Luckily, this particular spot was only a 6-7 foot drop. So he was just a bit rattled, but it could have been so much worse - thank you God! Of course, i'm crying my eyes out and Jeff looks like  he's about to have a heart attack and K says "That was Awesome!!!!"


So after that little adventure, we headed over to the Paradise Point Resort in Mission Bay. We didn't even scratch the surface of all the fun things that there was to do here, but here's some of our fun times!

Checking out the beach

Digging on the beach with Daddy

Racing trucks into the water

We also rented a FunCat - which was a little battery powered catamaran that we drove around the bay. I think that was actually one of the best new memories that we made on this trip.

Just chillin

Checking out the fish!

Time to relax!

On our way home from SD, we decided to grab a few hours at Disneyland. We rarely go during the day, what with work schedules and all. And i actually thought we would stay longer since we finally had the opportunity, but evidently 4 hours is our max. But being the daytime, we did actually do a few new things. We went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (which was new) and played around on Tom Sawyer Island (i don't care what they call it now, it will always be Tom Sawyer's Island to me - this wasn't new, but we rarely get to go since its generally closed at night) and of course, Autotopia (K's favorite ride)

We got the ride at the front of the Monorail. 

Traveling through the jungle!

We also got to do the canoes around the island. I didn't even think they still had this attraction. I hope this one never goes away - some things should never be moved to Yesteryear!

And we finished off the day saying hi to the birds at the Rainforest Cafe!

And now, back to reality. Boo!!!

Bad Mommy Blogger

So i am literally the worst blogger ever. I always say that i am going to update this, but truth be told, im much better about posting stuff on Facebook. But i still keep this around and every once in a while i'll think about it and then i fall in love with the idea of it because it's so easy to look back at how my little guy is simply growing up too damn fast.

So gee, given that my last update was, what TWO YEARS AGO!!!!! Well needless to say, alot has gone on since then:

1) He learned to ride a bike - literally in 5 minutes when Grammy and Pops were in town for his 4th birthday.
2) He got his first Disneyland pass (4 1/2)
3) He knows how to write his name (P-K school year)
4) He finally sleeps in his own bed....oh wait, who am i kidding. At least he will start at night in his bed and i can walk away while he is still awake, but he always ends up heading to our bed at some point in the middle of the night
5) We've had lots of adventures - trips to Grammy's house, Johnathan's house, cousin sleepovers with Alex, camping, a cruise to Florida, Mexico and Grand Cayman...and many more adventures planned this next year!
6) He graduated from preschool and starts kindergarten in August (pause while i wipe my eyes)
7) And he's simply the funniest, silliest, crazy boy i know!

Here's some of my favorite pics over the last few years.....

 The Neighborhood Crew: Keegan, Mollie and Lauren 

First time riding a bike - no training wheels! (June 2013)

 Silly Ice Cream Face on our Cruise (January 2012)

Mommy and K (June 2013)

Rockin the Freestyle (April 2014)

Cousin Trip to Disneyland (Spring 2014)

Trip to Grammy and Pops (April 2014)

First NASCAR Race (Spring 2014)

First Camping Trip (August 2013)

Xmas Family Pictures (December 2012)

Meeting his hero, Captain America (Disneyland, Spring 2014)

So here's my pledge to update this more often, which we all know that i will break. But at least i'll set an alarm in my calendar to remind myself that i am forgetting to document all these amazing things. Because my brain is getting old and full!

When Mommy is away...

The boys will play....

So i've had the opportunity to leave K for a few days here and there over the past year. It's weird to think that for the first 2 1/2 years of his life, he was with me every day. The first time i left him was so hard. But i'm getting better. Plus it allows for K and Jeff to have quality daddy time, which is equally important as mommy-time!

So back in April, i left for a girls weekend. I came back home feeling totally rested and rejuvenated. It...was...awsome! And so necessary. I'm thinking a yearly girls trip is required for all mommas.

So while I was away, Jeff took K out on big brother's old scooter.

Of course, i had to be a "mom" and give the hubby crap for K's lack of helmet here.

This past month, i've been in Washington DC as part of our summer scholars program. So it's 2 1/2 weeks without my bubba (and 4 weeks without the hubby - thanks to Grammy (my mom) she's coming to DC next week with K for the last week and a half that i am here). It's been good - i've gotten lots of work done and had some me time without feeling too guilty about it, plus K has been able to have some  quality daddy bonding time without too many meltdowns about missing mommy.

And what do Daddy's do when mommy's not home....i can't help but think about that Brady Bunch episode here...."Mom always said don't play ball in the house"!

Mommy Day photos with JeniRae

Today, K and I spent the afternoon at Fairview park with a mommy friend, JeniRae. She took some really amazing pictures of the two of us... Just in time for mothers day! Jeff always thinks I'm strange for always having K's pictures taken...ok so maybe I did have his pictures taken every month when he was just a baby, but now it's just a few times a year. He is just growing up and changing so much all the time that I want to make sure I remember things... Or at least be able to document how he grows and changes. You see, I see him every day, so he doesn't really look all that different to me. It isn't until I see pictures of him over time that I realize that my baby is growing up!

www.jenirae.com

The Beauty of Iphone

Ok, so I get that I'm a bit slow on these things, but it just dawned in me today (as we were searching for apps for Jeff's new IPhone - yup that's right folks, he's come to the apple team!) that maybe... Just maybe..... There might be an app for blogger where I could post blogs right from my phone or iPad, and maybe, just maybe, post in my blog more than once a season. Voila! Of course there's an app for that. And here's the proof- I'm typing this entire blog on my iPhone....,as if I needed something else to do on my phone.

So over the past few months, there's lots of things going on in the Mallicoat-Randolph household. Perhaps the big thing is that I'll be headed back to Washington for the month of June. I'll be on my own for the first two weeks and then "Grammy" will be flying out with K - just in time to celebrate our birthdays.

Last month we went to NYC and Rhode Island. Jeff and Tay joined us for a few days and we did all the tourist things. Then K and I headed up to visit the McGrady's. We had so much fun that K still asks to "go on airplane and see me friend" - he can't quite wrap his tongue around "Ethan"
Here's some fun pics from our trip...