Summer school

Today was my first day of summer school. My friends Ella and Abe were there too. I go to a different school with different teachers and different classmates than my other school. This is only for the summer. This is why it's called Summer School. Daddy has a new job too, working for a place that's named after a kind of fruit that begins with the first letter of the alphabet. It's a summer job though. So he only works during the summer. When summer is over, it's back to my other school for me. It's also back to school for Daddy. Mommy continues to work at her same work, Akemi Designs. Sometimes I pretend that I work for Akemi Designs too. I cut up all of Mommy's paper. I sometimes also call my work Lennon Designs.

At first I felt shy in this new place. I felt comfortable after a little bit. When Ella came, she also was very shy and clung to her daddy. I asked her, "Ella are you shy?" Ella said, "Yes I am!" and then she didnt' say anything else. Later, after our morning snack of juicy oranges, apples, and crunchy crackers, we played in this big table-box thing that had dried beans, rice, and pasta. It was sort of like a sandbox without the sand. Ella looked happier. I asked her, "Ella, are you talking now?" She said yes and so she and I played.

Summer school is really fun. There are lots of friendly kids in my class. Today we walked to the park. Summer school hours are not as long as my regular school, so Mommy picks me up before nap time. I don't really like napping much these days though. I'd much rather play in Mommy's office so I can see her make her no-no face. Works every time.

Oh, I have this really neat lunch box. It's in the shape of a robot! The food goes in the tummy. His head also opens up to hold extra goodies. Today Mommy made a card with a "Y" on the front and a drawing of Daddy, Mommy, and me on the inside with a heart in the corner. Yay! Another boy in my class has a robot lunch box too. He accidentally took my robot. He thought it was his. I pointed out his mistake by showing him my name on the back. He gave it back to me and he found his own robot lunch box. Lunch sure is yummy when it's eaten from a robot's tummy!

Class portrait

Last day

Today was my last day at preschool with Fong, Marie, my other teachers, and my friends. There was a party, but a lot of the other mommies and daddies seemed a little sad. I had a good time. I ate watermelon, pink and green cookies, drank lemonade and played with my friends.

My teachers made a nice photo album with lots of pictures of taken at school during my 9 months there. Fong wrote a lot of journal entries about my days there too. Mommy has read some of them to me already.

The parents gave Fong and Marie gift certificates to buy a tree for their homes. Once they pick the trees out, we will come over and help plant them. They will be able to see them grow. I drew on a card for my teachers. One of my other teachers Vivian gave me a green bear. It's really cute. Vivian is moving far away. When will I see her again?

I noticed my cubby was all cleaned out. The picture of me was taken down. Someone put it in my photo album. Will I ever use my cubby again?

Soon I will start summer school. Daddy tells me it's not at the school I've been going to. It's at a new school. I hope everyone there is nice. I'm nervous. Luckily two of my friends will be there too so we can play together.

When summer school is over, I will go back to my other school, the one where Fong and Marie teach. Marie isn't going to be my teacher though. Fong might, but she doesn't know for sure. I hope so. I really like her. I will get to be a student in the bigger kids' classroom. Neato!

Here are some pics:

Paula gives good hugs:


Fong hugs me:


Marie says bye:


Vivian gives good hugs too:

Camping at Pinnacles

On Wednesday, Mommy, Daddy and I drove to a place called Pinnacles National Monument. We camped. This was my second time camping, but I honestly don't remember the first time. It all seemed new to me. We got to the camping place when it was already dark. Daddy built a fire, but it's not like building a building. He took a big knife thing and chopped some wood logs and made a pile. He took a lighter and made fire. Neat stuff. But it's important to stay away from the fire. Even though the flames are pretty, it is NOT to be touched. HOT!! Dinner was cooked on the fire. We had baked beans and hot dogs. For dessert we had 'smores. I just like to eat the marshmallows raw. Good stuff. A raccoon, which is kind of like a big cat with a stripe on its face wanted to eat our food. Daddy told it to go away.

Mommy put up the tent. I helped out by making sure she did everything right. The tent did not fall over so that must mean she did it right. I would have given her sticker for her good work, but I forgot my stickers at home.

We slept in the tent. I slept in between Mommy and Daddy. They slept in sleeping bags. I brought my Elmo bed that you blow up with air and slept on that. Mommy slept on my left side and Daddy slept on my right. But then I moved onto my tummy and then Mommy was on my right side and Daddy was on my left. How did that happen?

I counted the stars before I feel asleep. There were at least 5... million scabillion!

When it was morning, I turned to Mommy and said, "Mommy wake up! It's a beautiful day!" She looked up at the blue sky and said, "You're right! It IS a beautiful day!" We giggled. Daddy got up and made another fire. I got dressed and helped him while Mommy put the sleeping bags away. I noticed that there were footprints on our car. That raccoon walked on our car. Hey!


We had a yummy breakfast--bagels, cheese, sausage. I drank hot cocoa. Mommy and Daddy had coffee, although Mommy said something about how it was sludgy. I saw really big birds (but not the yellow Big Bird) fly overhead. Mommy said they were California Condors. Neat!

We heard rustling noises in the bushes. "Look! It's a deer!" Mommy and I investigated. We kept our distance, but we watched a pretty deer looking for breakfast. The deer saw me and watched me for a while. I didn't do much though except look back.

After breakfast, Mommy made sandwiches for our lunch and we broke down camp. That means we cleaned up and put everything away. Leave only footprints. Take only photos and memories!

Soon we went on our hike. It was hilly. It was hot. And it was pretty! Luckily there were lots of trees that shaded us. We passed by bat caves. We also walked through a rocky tunnel. "Tunnel!"

We ate lunch at a thing called a Reservoir, which looks like a big lake. There were tons of dragonflies flying around. Big red ones and small blue ones. We hiked some more. Then we hiked back. We stopped along the way to look at the pretty views and climb on some rocks.


We left the park and then drove to get ice cream! Yummy. I had a banana split with a scoop of cherry ice cream and a scoop of mocha almond fudge. Hot fudge syrup was poured over it, then whipped cream, then topped off with a bright red cherry. Delicious!

I had a good time camping. I told Mommy that next time I want Uncle Eric and Auntie Wendy to come with us. Mommy tells me that Uncle Eric has never been camping before. I told her that I will help him out if he comes.

Children's Fairyland

Last weekend, I went to a place called Children's Fairyland. I hear that this was the very first theme park made, and that some guy named Walt Disney based his park on this one. I like to watch a lot and really get a feel for things instead of blindly venturing into the unknown, so I didn't go on many rides. I just watched the other kids. I didn't like the spiral slide because it was dark and I couldn't see. I did go on a train. I rode in the caboose. That's the last car of the train. It was orange. We went in a tunnel. Tunnel!! I also played a lot in the sand. Oh, and animals! I saw donkeys, roosters, an alpaca, ducks, rabbits, a pony, and a sheep.

Updated!

New photos and videos are being updated at this very moment!

Jamba Juice!

Usually on Tuesday mornings Daddy goes on a walk with me and my classmates at school. We walk up and down the sidewalks, looking at all sorts of neat things. Sometimes Daddy, me, and one of my friends will hide behind a bush and then jump out at my other friends and yell, "Boo!" We all laugh.

This morning Mommy came with us on our walk. We went to the post office. We helped my teacher mail out letters. We put them in the big blue mailbox. We also went to Jamba Juice. We watched some people make smoothies. It's not too difficult, but you need a grown-up's help to use the blender. We all shared a big smoothie. A smoothie is a really cold, icy fruit drink. It's sort of like ice cream, but melty-er. It's not soupy like soup though. It's very yummy. Sometimes I drink too much and it hurts my head.

Sometimes Daddy makes smoothies at home. I help pour in the orange juice and frozen strawberries. I will eat some banana to make sure it tastes okay before putting it in the cup. Daddy uses the blender, but sometimes I will push the button to make it go. I love smoothies!

I still remember

I have not forgotten my trip to the doctor where the two men stabbed me with a needle. They took my blood. I wonder if I'll ever get it back. I still cry and get very sad and very angry when I think about it.

Today, Daddy had a bandage around his arm. It was the same place where I had my owie. I asked Daddy, "What happened?! You got an ouchie?" He told me that he also had blood taken out from him. "For running tests?" I asked. He said that the blood that got taken out is going to someone who doesn't have enough blood of their own. I gave him a hug and a kiss, patted his arm and said, "Oh, you'll feel better, Daddy."

Eight Eyes

Yesterday Mommy and I played dress up. Here we are wearing glasses. Notice we both have the same look on our faces. I don't know how glasses are supposed to make you see better. Mine are really dirty. And Mommy's only has frames. No inside part. Hmm...

We made another little video while playing, so stay tuned to my photo/video website for that!