by Papa K on December 18, 2013
Tuesday through Friday, Maile takes after school classes at her school. She’s taken soccer, gymnastics, Lego class, art – but lately her favorite is the Chinese Dance class she takes on Fridays with Lily Lao Shi.
Our little Chinese dancer...
Last week, Christine and I were invited to attend the last class of the semester – a performance! It was pretty awesome – and Maile did a great job listening to the teacher and it was clear she had picked up some of the moves over the past couple of months.
Maile Girl is pretty good with the ribbon!
Fair warning, the videos below are a bit longer than normal, but I think you’ll enjoy 🙂
Bring on the ribbons!
And, of course, Maile’s solo:
Proud daddy!
And Mommy too!
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
(Click here for the third video.)
by Papa K on December 17, 2013
It’s definitely been on the chilly side here in San Francisco. (I know east coast/midwest family/friends – cry me a river!)
Brrrr....
Don’t worry, Lauren Girl, things are looking up – t-minus 4 days until Hawaii!
On Sunday, Mommy and I went on a special date to go see the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet! I was so excited all week – every day I counted the days and it got closer and closer. When I woke up on Sunday morning, Mommy helped me pick out a special dressy to wear – I decided on the purple one I wore at Auntie’s wedding – it felt like it would well at the ballet.
BTW – Guess who was at the Nutcracker!!!
Apparently, a couple Sundays before Christmas, Santa hangs out at the ballet!
Okay, back to the show. It was amazing. I was a little scared at some parts, but Mommy was there. My most favorite part was the Waltz of the Flowers. It was magical.
Every year for Christmas I get a new ornament for our tree (it's a tradition Mommy started when she was a girl). This year I got three dancing fairies at the Nutcracker so I can always remember!
Do you think one day I might be able to be in the Nutcracker? I think so – I’ll keep working at this…
Thank you Mommy for such a wonderful adventure!
(Dad note: Special thanks to neighbor Bill for getting us the tickets!)
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 15, 2013
Maile Girl wrote her first letter to Santa on Friday morning. Maile told Mommy what she wanted to say and then Mommy helped Maile write it by dictating each word letter-by-letter. (A good mommy indeed). She even (at the slight urging of Mommy I’m told) included a plug for her little (not yet able to write) sister.
The proud letter writer!
The letter itself
In case the photo is too small:
“DEAR SANTA
I HAVE BEEN GOOD
FOR CHRISTMAS PLEASE BRING ME
A BALLERINA BARBIE
A RAINBOW LOOM
AND SOME ART PROJECTS
LAUREN WAS GOOD TOO
PLEASE BRING HER A NEW BOOK
A HELICOPTER TOY
THANK YOU
LOVE MAILE”
She also wrote the number 1-29 in the right margin – just to impress the big guy 🙂
Her choices were kind of funny. The Ballerina Barbie came out of left field – we’d been purposely trying to avoid Barbie. She says she saw it in a store – I’m guessing she saw a commercial for it. The Rainbow Loom is something we’ve been talking to her about and she received a bracelet from her older friend Jennifer when we were home in Swampscott. No idea on the helicopter toy – maybe Lauren mentioned it to her 😉
After putting the letter in an envelope, we addressed it, put a stamp on it and then brought it to the mailbox.
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 13, 2013
Closing out the week with a picture of Lauren going mobile. I love the look on her face – she loved racing up and down the halls…
Lauren is loving the carpeted hallways in our new building!
by Papa K on December 10, 2013
Never one to let photos go to waste, here are some shots that we chose not to use for this year’s holiday card…
Ahh, Maile's fake 4 year old smile...
Banzai!
Help.
And I'm done.
Hard to believe that Maile has already been in preschool for 3 years and that next year she heads to Kindergarten!
Maile's school picture for 2013 (4.5 years old)
Check out how much she’s grown up!
Maile's First School Picture (2.5 years)
Maile's School Picture 2012-2013 (3.5 years)
Lauren Girl here! On Sunday afternoon, Mommy, Daddy, Maile, Grandma and Papa took me to get my first Christmas tree! I was pretty overwhelmed by all the trees, so Maile took the lead on picking out the tree – I think she picked a really nice one.
My very first Christmas tree picked out my big sister Maile
Guess what? I wasn’t the only one getting a Christmas tree for the first time. It was Papa’s first time too!
Papa was excited too!
This is pretty cool – Papa had a fun idea to get a picture of me getting a bird’s eye view of the trees.
Lauren's bird eye view (11 months)
And it’s almost the same picture that Maile and Daddy took the first time she went to get a tree!
Maile's bird-eye view (5 months)
The house we rented was on a vineyard and actually had a decent amount of land that we could hike around and explore. Maile went on several explorations over the week – was nice to stretch the legs and spend some quality time outdoors in nature for a city girl.
Which way should we go first?
Quality time with Grandma Jill
Maile and Grandma went on a scavenger hunt to find some statues that were hidden around the property...
Follow me Grandma!
Girl on bridge
Thank you, Grandma Jill!
On Friday, Mommy, Daddy and Papa Mike took me on a safari! Do you know what a safari is? It’s basically a zoo without any fences! At first I was a little nervous and thought maybe the animals would eat me, but they were really nice. The guide told me that if we are nice to animals they will be nice to us … usually anyways. That makes sense to me.
The safari was super cool. I liked the pink flamingos and the giraffes the best. I took LOTS of pictures.
Papa Mike and I ready to get our safari on!
What's that Daddy we should look behind us?
Woah.
Look how close we got! So cool!
I took pictures.
Lots and lots of pictures...
Say cheese!
(Dad note: The safari was pretty cool. I’d say Maile was a little too young – she was great, but it was a long day – ~3 hours. The guides were super knowledgeable, we learned a lot!)
