Kindergarten

Further evidence that Ezra’s having a good time in Kindergarten:

Pants

Pants

He put these on for school this morning. His hair was a bed-head disaster, his shirt was too big and these pants are stained beyond belief. I chose my battle and asked him to change his pants. Luckily, he complied so he only looked like a ragamuffin from the waist up.

Tour of California 2011

We met Bob, Vanessa and Thomas today in Thousand Oaks to see the final stage of the Tour of California. It was a much-needed fun day after a tough week.

We got a spot not too far from the finish line. The cyclists rode five laps around so we got to see a good bit of riding. Here are Ezra and Finn anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Anxiously awaiting the cyclists

Finn is an avid Team Radioshack fan. Obviously.

Avid fan

These were the leaders in the first lap, although there was at least one rider ahead of these guys but my iPhone camera was a little too slow to catch him.

The first lap leaders

Thomas wore his helmet the entire day which caused a lot of smiles from the other onlookers. Here he is with Ezra waiting for the final lap.

Ezra and Thomas wait

And here’s a video of the peloton riding past us in a blur and their support cars. I liked the Jelly Belly car at the end the best.

“Camping”

Bruce set up the tent on the balcony Friday night so the boys could do some camping. Here’s what it looked like from the backyard.

Camping

And here Bruce and Finn discuss logistics.

Camping

Bruce was going to sleep with them but Ezra stole his cot so only the junior Moisions ended up in the tent. They fell asleep pretty quickly with no shenanigans (but an hour after regular bedtime), but they woke up (and woke us up, of course) at 5:30. Ouch.

Ezra’s Latest Creations

Ezra has done a couple of fun projects lately — one at school and one at home. First, the one at home: Wire Vine Man.

Ezra's Wire Vine Man

Inspired by our beloved gardener, Vivien, and the loads and loads of merciless wire vine that she pulled out of our yard. It’s strong, hard to pull out, and strangles the plants around it. Perfect for a superhero.

Second is Blu made from potatoes, tissue paper, and feathers (among other things) at school. He told me about this project all week and couldn’t wait for take-home Friday. His teacher told me that he “stayed true to his design” throughout the whole week.

Ezra's Blu

And here’s the real Blu.

Blu

Pirate Song

I worked at Cottage yesterday and took this video during music time. I don’t know what the actual name of the song is, but Finn sings it at home all the time and calls it the Pirate Song. Clearly, it’s a class favorite.

Van-pires

Last night at bedtime there was some discussion about vampires. I was a little worried that, this being bedtime, the vampire talk might cause nightmares, so I wanted to make sure the boys understood that vampires aren’t real. Here’s the conversation I had with Finn after he shared his not-so-extensive knowledge on the subject.

Me: You know something else about vampires?

Finn: What?

Me: They’re not real.

Finn: Yes, they are. I saw a van-pire.

Me: You did? Where?

Finn: When I came out of my Batcave.

I couldn’t help cracking up, and then neither could he, and I figured we’d be OK in the nightmare department. And we were.

Carnival!

No, we didn’t go to that Carnival (although Ezra now dreams of going to Rio since seeing the movie). On Saturday I took the boys to Sierra Madre Community Nursery School’s annual Spring Carnival and they had a blast. They played some kids’ carnival games like the ball toss.

Ball toss

And the sucker toss (tossing rings onto suckers).

Sucker toss

They really liked this bouncy slide.

Bouncer

Bouncer

Bouncer

But they mostly liked eating sno-cones and cotton candy. And, of course, smashing the confetti eggs. Ezra had a crocodile technique.

Confetti eggs

Confetti eggs

But mostly they just tried to get as much confetti on each other (and me) as possible.

Confetti eggs

Confetti eggs

Ezra’s Mother’s Day Card

Ezra came home from school today with a lovely mother’s day card for me.

Ezra's Mother's Day Card

Ezra's Mother's Day Card

It reads: Dear Mom, I love you because you let me watch shows. He said he didn’t have room to finish — he wanted to also write “in the car.”

He loves the new minivan with its sliding doors and, more importantly, DVD system. This morning he got to watch a show on the way to school, mainly because I didn’t know how to turn it off and we were already late so I couldn’t stop to figure it out.

Change

Goodbye sporty and fun.

Goodbye Mini

Hello roomy and practical.

Hello minivan

Happy Birthday, Jamma!

We made you a card, but not in time to mail it. So here’s the next best thing …

Everyone say "Jamma!"

And a video of them explaining it.

Much love from all the Moisions! We hope you had a great day!