Author: amyewhitelivecom

After a tearful trial run the other day, the first day of kindergarten went off without any tears (from Quinn at least).  His class starts at 8:30 am but they recommend getting there about 15 minutes early to let the kids play before going in to the classroom.

I can\’t say that I would have imagined Quinn\’s first day of kindergarten would start with an elevator ride, but so be it.

When we got out of the car he told me that he would miss me all day.  My sweet boy.

On the first day of school the bell rings and all the kids congregate on the basketball court for assembly.  Each class is called out and it was fun to hear some of the higher grades give a big \”hooray\” when their teacher/grade was called.  Quinn has about 15 kids in his class and you can see he is still the tallest.  What a bunch of happy kids! Ha!

Getting ready to give my kisses goodbye 😦

A look at Quinn\’s stuff.

Circle time with Mrs. Chanduri.

After dismissal at 3:30 pm the kids can play outside on the kindergarten playground for a while so I gave Quinn about 15 minutes before I picked him up.  He was happily playing and then gave a great big smile and ran to give me a running hug when he saw me.  He said the favorite part of his day was playtime.  He didn\’t make any friends today but will make some in 8 days (so he says).  

A better start than expected and we\’ll go from here.

 

On Wednesday Quinn and I visited his new school and met his new teacher.  It was a special appointment just for Quinn and it was a good thing because someone isn\’t quite so sure about his new school.  Notice the look on his face 😉

On Saturday we did a walk-through of our new home and we are still more than happy with our decision.  We learned even more great things about the home that make us love it even that much more.  We also found out that there are miles and miles of hiking trails right off our street.  We can\’t wait.

A plant arrangement of succulents hanging off the fence that I photographed so that I can duplicate it if they take it with them.

 On Saturday night we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Kings Fish House.  It was fun to be back and enjoy.  And I had forgotten about the big sways in the weather in all the different micro-climates.  As we were leaving the restaurant which is in the San Fernando Valley around 7:30 pm the temp was 95 degrees and when we arrived back at the hotel in Thousand Oaks the temp was 14 degrees cooler.

Venice Beach never fails to entertain.

We are settling in to our little one bedroom \”apartment\” at the Marriott which will be our home for the next 20 days or so.  First order of business, swimming!

Sunday we headed to Ventura for lunch on the pier and a boat ride.  Not something you see every day.

Loving life eating oceanside.

When we left the hotel in Thousand Oaks, it was sunny and warm.  I thought to pack a jacket just in case and it was much needed.  The area was socked in with fog and it was pretty chilly.

Getting ready for our boat ride out to the Channel Islands.  We did the wildlife tour so we stayed on the boat the whole time.

The Anacapa Arch that has been much photographed.

We were disappointed in the number of dolphins we saw on this trip.  We saw maybe 30?  Usually we would see hundreds, if not thousands of dolphins.  Humpback whales have also been spotted in the area although we didn\’t see them.  We did see sea otters, sea lions, and a bald eagle.  This was my best dolphin shot (with the phone).

On Monday the little guy was not feeling so well so we spent much of our day like this in our room.  We had to hang out anyway to wait for Don\’s car to be delivered.  And Don had to start work after a 4 week \”break\”.  Although last night he mentioned he could probably use a real vacation 🙂

Funny that he perked up for an evening swim.

Does it get any better than this?

My car was delivered on Tuesday and it was nice to have something familiar.  Even Quinn was pretty excited to be back in the car.   Can\’t you tell?

Adjusting the GPS from region 8 to region 2.

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