Fist Day of 1st Grade!

Well, here they are on their 1st day of school! Both have been crying all week not wanting to go to school. Carissa even cried herself to sleep a few days ago because she was so upset. So I was worried about Carissa more than Maia. This morning Carissa woke up and actually said she was "sort of" excited to go to school. When we got there I noticed Maia had a half smile for all these pictures. Then they had to wait in line with their class on the playground until they were cued to walk into the classroom. All of sudden Maia started running towards me and big alligator tears. The photo is below...

Above they are waiting in line with their classmates.

Below Maia is making her way over to me as quickly as she can with big tears. By the way, she told me to delete this photo. So don't tell her you saw it. The cutest part of the photo (if you click on it to enlarge), Carissa has a genuine look of concern for her sister.

How lucky! The 3 Amigas get to sit together. The teacher had assigned seating with their names at the top of their desks. Here Maia seems a bit happier.

What you don't see in these photos is Maia crying again and me running for the door.
On my way out I heard, "Mommy please don't leave me."

So what happened when I picked them up?
Both had big smiles on their faces and both liked school. Maia said, "Mommy, school was fun!"

Back To School Night - August 16

Here's their 1st grade teacher who we met on Back to School night: Mrs. Fadelli

Carissa completed her very first 100 piece puzzle all by herself.
This was actually a gift from their Kindergarten teacher: Mrs. Feins

For FHE we were invited to the Henrikson's house to have a little good-bye get together for Candace. She's off to college this week. We even brought Charlie! Scott threw him in their pool for the first time. I was nervous he might drown but he knew how to swim. Pretty amazing.

Josh & Donna in San Francisco - Aug. 15

Josh called us on Saturday and asked if we could meet them in San Francisco. Felt guilty about going to the city on a Sunday but we don't get opportunities like this to see them. They were here for the weekend celebrating their 10 year anniv. We went to the Cable Car Museum, which is free. There are exhibits and actual machinery working the cable cars that are used today. We went to the crooked Lombard St. and to Coit Tower. We did a lot of walking It was warm nice day in the city. Thanks Marlina for watching the girls so we can have a double date.

Animal Day at Discovery Kingdom - Aug. 9

This was our last trip to DK for the summer. So instead of going on rides, we fed the animals and went to as many animal shows that we could. Had a lot of fun! In the photo below, the giraffe is licking Carissa's hair. There was a baby giraffe that was so cute.

Capitola - Aug. 12

Marlina and her family invited us to go to Capitola for the day (Thanks Marlina!). We had Pizza My Heart for lunch on the beach. As you can see it wasn't super hot, but warm enough for Carissa & Hailey to go in the water. Maia stayed bundled up most of the time. It was warm enough for ice cream. We spent the night at Marlina's parent's house in Los Altos (Elena, Marlina's Mom, is such a good cook!) and then went to a farmer's market street fair that night. It was a lot of fun. Carissa & Maia were wiped out! This was our last big outing before school starts. So sad.

Lemonade Stand - August 7

We had our annual garage sale the first weekend of August. This is their second time having a lemonade stand. They love it. They each earned $15. Their trick to making money: you give them a $1 for a 50cent cup of lemonade, they give you no change (what some customers told me). Scott was suppose to help with the change, so I'm not to blame. I was too busy running the garage sale. I'd like to think it was their cuteness that helped.

Swimming - July 30

We have been generously invited to the private pool in VV by Marlina and her family (Thank you Marlina!!). The girls LOVE swimming. If we had a pool they would be in it everyday. Carissa and Hailey can be in the pool for 4+ hours straight. They are like little fish. It is so fun watching them jump off the diving board with no fear. Huge difference from last year. I played around with my telephoto lens this day and took photos of them splashing each other. Carissa got Maia and Hailey really good in the last two photos.

Larsen Family Reunion - July 18

Every year Scott's Dad's family plans a family reunion at Howarth Park. All the cousins, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandma & Grandpa (they drive out from Utah) meet for a picnic in the park. Most of them live in Santa Rosa or Sacramento Area. I took this big group photo with my camera. I set it on timer and ran. Came out pretty good considering the amount of people. The girls love horseback riding. It really is one of the nicest parks I've ever been too.Great Grandpa & Grandma Larsen

Carissa & Maia aren't the only twins in the family. Here they are with their twin boy cousins, Jake & Josh (they are 2 years younger than mine). Unlike my girls, they are identical. Their father is an identical twin too.