Back in School - September 10, 2007

On September 10th Jacob went back for his last year of preschool. It is hard to believe that next year he will be in Kindergarten. He was very excited to go back to his classroom and see his friends. He has some of his buddies in class this year; Jack, Kai, and Thomas. He also has a new friend named Jenna that he talks about A LOT! His other buddy, Connor, is going 5 days this year but they still hang out on the playground. It is fun to be back in the swing of school, with all of the crafts, sharing, and practicing writing Jacob's name.

Playdough is one of Jacob's favorite things.

Jacob and his buddy Kai.

On the play structure

Jacob with his teacher, Mrs. Silva.

Splashing in the Rain

One of the things the kids loved best about Costa Rica was all the rain. We were looking at pictures of Sophie Orlando in her rainy season boots and Jacob was bemoaning the fact that San Diego is dry and brown, not pretty, green, or wet like Costa Rica. Low and behold the very next morning we had a freak rainstorm that lasted about 15 minutes. The Catanzaro kids have their own rain boots that see a lot of dirt in Ramona but never any rain so it was really exciting to throw them on and run outside. Yep they're in their pajamas but who cares! They had a great time running in the grass and splashing in the puddles. They were soaked by the time the rain stopped but it was so warm it didn't matter. Who knows when we will see rain again so you have to have fun while it's here!

Camping Out - The Real Thing This Time

Back in June we shared the Eastlake campout pictures. That campout sparked the idea that we should really go camping complete with woods and a campfire. We decided to stay local for our first family campout and went up to Lake Cuyamaca. We stayed at the Paso Picacho campground and brought Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean along for the fun. Thank goodness they came because camping is hard work with two little kids. Jacob had a great time playing in the dirt with a boy from another campsite. Olivia had a good time too but it was difficult to keep up with her constant falling over rocks and rolling down hills. We think it will be easier when she's a little older and a lot steadier on her feet!

We left Friday, August 3rd and just spent the weekend. We got our campsite all set up and Brandie and Sean had the site next to ours. We explored the campground and had our first marshmallow roast. Saturday we made a big breakfast and then went hiking at Green Valley. We took the Green Valley Falls Trail up to a rock waterfall. Being August there wasn't a lot of water but there was enough to cool off and splash around. It was a perfect pool for the kids to play in and chase water bugs. That night we had another campfire complete with smores and roasted hot dogs. It was a great adventure to watch a family of raccoons wandering around the outskirts of the camp right before we headed off to bed. Sunday as we were packing up we got to see a hawk that flew right into the middle of our campsite. It grew quite a crowd of neighboring camper.

We arrived home Sunday afternoon, covered in dirt but already talking about our next trip. It was fun to spend some family time without television and all the distractions of home. It was a lot of work to set things up and take it all down again but well worth it. (Brandie has all the pictures of the campsite so hopefully you'll see those later!)

Jacob found the perfect tree to climb on!

The squirrels suddenly vanished when this camper appeared.

Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean on our hike.

Cooling off after a hot hike.

Daddy's girl!

Olivia loved the water best if somebody would hold onto her.

The boys took a drive up Mount Laguna to see the view!

(Brandie and I lounged around the campsite reading while Olivia took a nap)

Our Costa Rican Adventure - The End

Friday, July 13th, brought our vacation to an end. We woke up early and said some pretty sad goodbyes. Jacob was pretty sure that we had made a mistake and we hadn't really been there all 8 days. He tried to convince us that only, maybe 5 days had gone past. You know it's been a great trip when nobody wants to go home. After some last pictures at the Orlando house, Amy and Sophie jumped in their car and we followed them to the rental car drop-off. We said some more goodbyes and then headed for the airport.

The trip home went smoothly and the kids did a great job. We ended up with the same wonderful flight attendants that brought us to Costa Rica. They remembered Jacob and he was in heaven with all the special attention. We had dinner in Dallas and then boarded for home. Upon arriving in San Diego Jacob got the treat of a lifetime. He got to make an announcement on the plane loudspeaker and then met Captain Dave. Captain Dave let him sit in the pilot's seat, wear his hat, turn all the lights off, and then actually shut down the whole plane. It was a great end to our vacation.

Saying goodbye on the steps of the Orlando's house.

Jacob took this photo so we could have one with Mom in it!

Here is Captain Jacob!

Jacob getting ready to shut down the plane!