It's going swimmingly!

Dominic started his swim lessons this week. He is officially a "guppy". Donovan will start lessons in July with a parent in the "shrimp" class.

I was a bit nervous with Dominic's class, as it is the first time he's been in a swim class without me there with him! I was afraid of the lack of attention he'd give toward the instructor. I'm glad I waited until this summer to put him in this class, since he seems to have that structure down now. In past swim classes, he's resembled a human pogo-stick in the water and often refused to do what the instructor requested. He's catching on and doing quite well (for Dominic) in this class. Yeah! He has one more week of lessons left and he'll be a "graduated guppy"!

If Dominic is a Guppy
and Donovan is a Shrimp....
What am I? Shark bait?

I just don't get this "Pokemon" craze. We got Dominic the electronic Pokedex, which is a "rolodex" of all the characters with facts about them. I could sit there and scan through each one, but frankly, that thing has already annoyed us. I will first figure out how to turn the sound off! And this is only ONE of TWO electronic consoles he got.

We also got him a "trainer kit". I sat down with Dominic this afternoon and set out the game play area, dealt the "cards" and read the directions of how to play. Could any other game have more instructions? There's just WAY TOO MUCH information shown to figure out how one pokemon attacks another. It says to start with the "BASIC" mode of play - and that was over my head!

Baseball cards.... I can do that! Why couldn't he find interest in baseball cards???

Anyone with me? I think I need to spend more time at The Parents' Guide to Pokemon site.

A Poke-Party

I'm Poke- partied out! What a blast we had... I think? After a busy Friday and Saturday preparing BBQ Pulled Pork for sandwiches and making cupcakes, by Sunday's end we were whooped. The boys slept great last night after all that sun and fun. After we got home, Dominic pretty much opened all of his Pokemon stuff and consistently plays with his electronic game that he got. He luckily got no duplicates and is beyond tickled with each gift.

We hope everyone else had a great time too. Once again, Grandma Gertie and Tio Phil outdid themselves with the photography. I managed to take.....SIX! I did shoot a little bit of video too. I look forward to seeing other pictures as well (Kristie!!).

Donovan kept track of the sports equipment, since Dad couldn't!

Vinny, the Nature Boy Wonder

Addison

Paulina, Gilda holding Addison, Amanda and Donovan

Cousin Amanda with Donovan

Amanda and Ana

Silly Peyton (Sydney was out "taking care of business" at this time)

"Married....with Children"
(...that's all that I could think of!)

The Three Amigos: Alonzo, Garrett and Dominic

Dominic takes a whack.

Ana releases the 15 lbs. of pinata filling.

Thrilled to bits!

I survived Kindergarten!

Phew! We made it! And thank goodness it's over and he's on to 1st Grade. Yikes.

Dominic and Mrs. Hooper

Our day didn't start out so pleasant. I was getting a little "tude" from the "turd" and was getting perturbed! Before we left the driveway this morning, I caved and took away Dominic's TV rights (which are too many) for the afternoon/evening. What was I thinking? This meant it would be ME that would have to entertain him, keep him busy and out of trouble once again. After an early dismissal, I got Dominic from school, took the above picture with his teacher (he didn't want any photos with friends - TURD!) and got home to a quiet afternoon without TV. It was quite productive though. Dominic filled his pinata for his party on Sunday, helped me with goodie bags, started making cupcakes (that ended when the egg he cracked went everywhere but the bowl) and sorted our recyclables.

First of all, we gotta make Devin happy.

...and he's whooped!

Mr. Happy

Safetyville USA

Last night Dominic went to a birthday party for his classmate Nichos. It was held at Safetyville USA, inside the capitol building. Very cool!

"The 1/3 scale town is complete with real sidewalks, crosswalks, streetlights, a police, fire and sheriff station, and businesses that can be found in any city."

There were plenty of head-on collisions and many traffic violations occuring, but that didn't stop the kids from having the entire place to themselves. They were worn out and had sweaty heads (the few that wore helmets!)

Cruising right along.

Dominic was born at Sutter Memorial Hospital and was under
the care of Sutter for his first two years.

First Violation: Leaving your vehicle unattended!

Has any 6-year old ever seen a phone booth?
(notice the receiver has been duct taped!)

There's no drive-thru at this McD's....just a drive-by!

Today is 2-month Tuesday!

(I'm a huge fan of alliteration, can you tell?)

Devin is now two months old. Wow! He had his well-child appointment today which included vaccinations. Ouch! Those didn't go over so well, but he's doing just fine. Weighing in at 11 pounds, 13 ounces, he has gained over 4 pounds above his birth weight (after losing some the week after birth). I don't think he'll have any problems staying on the charts for his age. I'm always a little concerned when the "dot" is placed below the average curve line. We're on target!

He's becoming quite the "ham", which is a very fun age: flirting with the nurse, cooing and wriggling with excitement. That lasted until the doctor came in. But really, he's quite the talker. He's good to go for another 2 months.

Meanwhile, it's going to be a crazy week. I had a dental appt. yesterday, Devin's appointment was today and Dominic is finishing up Kindergarten this week with lots of activities planned at school, a birthday party to attend after school on Thursday and finally ending the week (or starting the next one) with his birthday party. It looks like we'll have great weather, not too hot, but nothing to stop the kids from playing in the Splashground at the park. I have to psyche myself up to remembering to take pictures and use the video camera - it's always the last thing on my mind.

I took quite a few cute expressions of Devin today, however they came out very dark. I tried to "brighten" the photo above, if you hadn't noticed. Oh well, still a cute kid, don't you think?

**I replaced the original posted photo. Grandma Gertie put some magical touches to the sweet baby boy. She made his picture look like he does in person....CUTE!!! Thanks Mom!