Last Saturday, we met my parents at Liberty Station in Point Loma. From there we took a long bike ride along the airport and harbor. It was a beautiful bike ride. It was so scenic riding by all the boats in the harbor, and it was fun having huge airplanes taking off and landing right over our head.

Our destination was a new waterfront park in downtown San Diego with fun fountains where the kids could play.

The weather was gorgeous. It's been really hot here lately, and I was so glad that it was sunny but breezy. 

Can you tell the kids had a little bit of fun?

My parents took my sister and Ben on the same bike ride while we were in Philadelphia this summer. Thankfully, the fountains were on when we went because Rachel and Ben weren't as fortunate.

There was also a really cool, unusual playground that the kids loved.

The whole bike-riding crew. 

Thanks, Mom and Dad for taking us on this great adventure!

We've had a bit of a weird week. It was announced at Andy's work that they are closing the Carlsbad branch of Yahoo. There had always been rumors circulating around about possibly closing the branch, but it still took us by surprise. The office will officially close at the end of October.

I'm not going to lie, when Andy first called to tell me, I burst into tears. Yahoo has been a dream job in every sense of the word. So many times he has talked about how much he loves his job. I was so sad for him that it only lasted a little over a year.

Although we are disappointed, we are not stressed or anxious. We know that the Lord has a plan, and we are content to trust in Him. It's very comforting to know that He is in control.

Initially we thought we wouldn't tell the kids anything until Andy found a new job or until his six weeks of working was up (which ever came first) because we didn't want them to be worried. Then we realized we were robbing them of the opportunity to watch our faith in action. We want them to see that we completely rely on the Lord during difficult times. We want them to pray for Andy to find a new job and then see the Lord answer it.

So we had this conversation at the dinner table one night:

Andy: So, guys, I found out this week that Yahoo decided to close the office in Carlsbad so I won't be working there anymore. I'll need to find a new job.
Hannah: Will we have to move?
Me: Good question! We don't know if we'll have to move.
Andy: It depends on where I find my next job.
Me: Daddy's last day of work at Yahoo will be October 27th, Joey's birthday.
Joey: My birthday?! So my birthday is going to be during the week?
Andy: Yes.
Joey: Great! That way I can have my birthday at school. Can we go to the Legoland Hotel for my birthday?
Andy, Me: No.
Joey: But they have an elevator that's like a disco party.
Me: Do you guys have any other questions?
Joey: Yeah! So, what do you think I should do for my birthday?

Later, Hannah praying for Andy...
Hannah: Lord, please help Daddy get a new job. One that's purple [Ed: like Yahoo]. Or yellow. Or red. Or any of the colors of the rainbow, like blue or green. Or white. 


In addition to Andy being laid off, we had a couple of other weird things happen. On Monday we were in the midst of a heat wave, so the kids and I met my parents at the beach after school. When we got back to our car, a guy playing beach volleyball came over and told me that someone had hit our car and driven off. Apparently, a couple walking by got the guy's license number and said they would report it. I filled out a police report online, but so far those witnesses haven't called in with the guy's license number. That was a bummer.

Then on Wednesday night I was cleaning the kitchen downstairs while Andy was getting the kids ready for bed. Ellie came downstairs and was running toward me holding her blanket. She tripped over her blanket and face-planted right into the corner of the wall. She busted her lip and chipped three top teeth! We've done stitches before with Joey and Hannah, but chipped teeth was a new experience. It turns out that it's not that big of a deal. We just have to wait a couple of weeks for her lip and gums to heal, and then they can add a composite to her teeth to make them even again.

 Our little hockey player!

Our week had some definite bright spots. Due to an intense heat wave (Weather.com said it was 109 degrees here on Monday!), we had a couple of great trips to the beach. We also got together with an old teaching friend of mine who was visiting with her husband from Albuquerque. Thankfully, they love vacationing in Carlsbad, so we have gotten to visit with them the past few summers.

Overall it was a strange week, although you know what they say, when it rains it pours! Hopefully the same will be true about job offers! ;-)

Me: Ellie, it's my birthday today.
Ellie: Happy birthday, Mom! Mommy two?
Me: No, I'm 34.
Ellie: 34 and a half?
Me: No, just 34.
Ellie: (Laughing) Boogers.


We were visiting someone's house, and their dog got increasingly aggressive toward Joey to the point where the dog ran over and bit Joey when he walked into the kitchen. Joey jumped onto the table to escape and was pretty upset. He yelled, "I'm never coming back here until they kill that dog!!!!"



So last time Ellie was saying, "Bye Alligator!" Now it's turned into, "See you later crocodile!" It cracks me up that she can't get it right.



In rating the "sweetness level" of his different teachers on a scale of 0-100...
Joey: Mrs. ___________ is an 85, Mrs. ____________ is a 90, and Mrs. Barnes (his teacher from last year) is a 150. She's just above and beyond!



Ellie: I LOVE NAKED!!! See my buns?!

I had a few random pictures on my camera, so that means it's time for a "camera dump."

It's not the best picture, but here's Andy driving the morning carpool to school. They are all so cute!

 After waving goodbye to Andy and Joey every morning for two years, Hannah is so excited that she finally gets to have Andy drive her to school. She's also excited that she gets to be sandwiched between two of her neighborhood friends, Chloe and Kaia!

Ellie is slowly but surely transitioning to being the only kid at home. Most of the time she plays very nicely on her own. Then there are the times when she asks over and over again, "Go? Go in the car?" because she's dying to go somewhere. She also asks to watch TV a lot which is pretty funny since we rarely have the TV on around here except for an occasional treat. I joked to Andy that she might be our first kid that I send to preschool! Thankfully, Bible study started up on Tuesday which she absolutely LOVED! Now she keeps asking when we get to go again.

 So, while Ellie is doing a pretty good job of entertaining herself, her favorite part of the day is when we pick up Hannah from school. Hannah is so sweet to her, and the two of them play puzzles or babies from lunch time until nap time. Ellie just eats up the attention!

And now for Joey's random picture: He finally lost one of his upper teeth! The tooth was pretty lose, and he worked on that sucker all day long, but it was stubborn. Andy couldn't even get it out. Finally, at 9:30 that night, Joey came downstairs triumphantly. It was out!

 Then a week later, this happened! Top two teeth: gone!

 Some friends of ours invited us to go to the Palomar Planetarium at the nearby community college last Friday night. The show was only for kids ages 5 and up, so we left Ellie behind with our neighbor.

Honestly, I had fairly low expectations of how interesting the show would be. I thought it could be pretty dry, but boy was I wrong! The show was called "The Sky Tonight" so we saw all the summer constellations that are above us now. The narrator for the night did an awesome job, and the software they use is amazing. At one point we were flying through the solar system and got to look at the ice crystals that make up Saturn's rings. Crazy! The kids' favorite part (and mine too if I'm being honest), was when they shifted our view of the sky from north to south by "spinning the building around." The way the screen rotated, it really did feel like the whole room was spinning. It was cool!

 They also had a couple of telescopes outside. One was a solar telescope, so before the show, the kids got to see the sun. After the show, we got to look through this telescope and see Mars.

We enjoyed our visit so much, we are already talking about going back in six months to see and learn about the winter constellations!

 So, I'm finally getting around to posting about the second part of the first day of school. 

 

But first, another exciting thing happened on that day. While Hannah was having her first day of school ever, my brother Benjamin officially had his last day of school (as a student). He defended his dissertation and got his DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) in Music Composition from Rice University. Congratulations, Dr. Krause!

Meanwhile, back in beautiful Southern California, our good friends from Iowa came to visit so a bunch of us met them at the beach like last year.

 It really does not seem that long ago when we were pushing these three around in strollers when they were a few months old.

And now look that them. They are such goof-balls!

And they obviously like to have their picture taken!

Joey and Cody got some boy bonding time in there as well.

These two were so happy to see each other. It's going to make me sad when they get more awkward around each other.

But, it certainly hasn't happened yet.

Good news for Ellie, we brought her this time! Last year she stayed back with Nana for nap time, but this time we let her come. She loves the beach!

The four of us friends did so much together when Tami still lived here: Mom's Group, Bible Study, Girls' Night Out, Bunco, countless play dates, and pool parties!

 

 And here's all the kids. Like last year I had to blur out two of the kids' faces until they get adopted. Maybe next year for our annual beach get together, they can finally be unveiled!

 

Duck-duck-goose.

And hot dogs!

What a busy, crazy, fun first day of school!