Labor Day in the OC

For Labor Day, we decided to drive down to Orange County to see Jeff's younger brother. Joey just graduated from UCLA Law, and he and Katie bought their first house. The kids had a great time with their cousins. It was hard to leave.

We went to the outdoor mall, played in the water and rode the train. Somehow Katie got the car with all of the kids.

It took Lucas some time to enjoy the water.

Jared and his little cousin Spencer.

Leah with her cousin Hayden.

Claire as usual - unafraid!

I'm a Cub Scout Now!

We are lucky enough to have a Cub Scout Pack at our church. Here is Jared on his first day, looking handsome in his uniform.

First Day of School

Our neighborhood school is one of the reasons that we moved to this house. There is nothing like the excitement of the first day of school.

Leah is in kindergarten this year.

I love kindergarten. The kids all have on their new clothes and we get to go into their classrooms to help them fill our their "All about Me" papers.

Leah was ready! She had no problem with us leaving.

Jared is in third grade this year. As far as he was concerned, we could have left him at the curb. He still allows us to walk him in but he definitely cringes a little when we hug him or hold hands. "Too cool for school," as they say.

We Took Our Animals to the Zoo!

In an effort to enjoy the last days of summer, we went on a family field trip to the San Francisco zoo.



Our favorite animals were the tiger cubs (we were there during playtime).

Our next favorite were the kangaroos. We watched the joey (we love the name because he has the same name as Uncle Joey) and it is hard to believe that his mother can still carry him.

I am going to keep this picture for when the kids are grown up. There is definitely a point when the kids need to leave the nest.

Our Little Mia Hamm

I was very excited for this time to come - Leah's first year playing soccer. Soccer was my favorite thing to do growing up. As Leah continues to look more like me, I couldn't wait for my "Mini-Me" to hit the field.

I volunteered to be the assistant coach for her Under 6 co-ed team. I had a blast with the kids. The memories flooded back.

You may wonder why I included this photo. Leah is number 4. This was one out of the five times that she touched the ball during the season. I started bribing her towards the end of the season. She had to touch the ball at least once in order to get the treat after the game.

The verdict is still out if my Mini-Me will have my same childhood interests. In the meantime, she looked adorable in her uniform.