Belt Test

Alex took his purple-black belt test today.

Mid routine.

Breaking the board. It is hard to see, but his foot is up by the blue ball in the background.

Crab Cove

Zachy's class had a field trip to Crab Cove today. Crab Cove is a familiar spot for us, since our pre-school explores the center every year, and it is right down the road from us. But, this was the first time we've been on an official, guided Crab Cove tour. In addition to playing some games, and getting a little bit more information from our guides, one of the biggest differences was a short lecture about Crab Cove and Zachy had the opportunity to become a crab!

Here's my group and the whole class.

 Crab hands at the crab tank!

 A tiny crab,

And a little crab.

3-Square

A Day at the Beach

We thought we'd have a nice weekend for a little fun at the beach, but it stayed cloudy. Which kept the crowds down and didn't dampen our fun. We went to the coast and found a nice, empty beach near Half Moon Bay. (Not the main beach...quieter.)
Although it started out cold and rainy...

the rain stopped and we found a tide pool behind the main sand dunes.

This beach, like so many other California beaches this year, was covered with these blue jellyfish-like creatures. They are called Velella, and I don't think it is clear why they are arriving on our beaches en masse to dry out and die.

If you look closely, you can see the little tentacles on this one.

We used our buckets to clear a path between our building zone and the water so that the kids wouldn't hurt their feet or have to step on the velella.

Mady even surprised us by wanting to play in the sand. This is the first time she has willingly walked on and touched sand! And, she had a lot of fun!

Guess who's 3!

Happy birthday Mady!

Mady was all ready for her birthday breakfast, but she had to wait because we were going to eat at the diner down the street from hockey.

After cheering for her brothers, Mady tried to pose with the zamboni, but it is tricky to look at the camera when you are trying to watch the zamboni.

For her birthday dinner, Mady chose macaroni and cheese. So I made a special baked mac and cheese and extra yummy chicken fingers.

Quick! No one look at the camera!

 Mady's main cake request was "red".

Red velvet cake with plenty of red sprinkles!

And don't forget the presents!

A couple of days later, Mady surprised me with this fancy ensemble.

For her school celebration, we made more red cupcakes with sprinkles. With red fruit punch, red pepper slices, red jello and multi-colored goldfish. Not surprisingly, red is her new favorite color!

Spring Concert

Tonight was the school's spring concert. Alex and Zachy both performed. Alex introduced the songs.

This picture is from the grand finale.

Cinco de Mayo

Later in the day Mady celebrated Cinco de Mayo at school with songs, a taco bar, and a piñata!

Frocking

The boys were late to school today. But they had a good excuse. This morning they had the opportunity to promote Daddy to Captain!

Somewhere there is a family photo from the event...I'm trying to track it down.

Artsy

Alex's artwork was entered into an art fair/show! Since we had the day off from school, we drove out to see the display.

Great job Alex! We are proud of you!