First day of 4th grade!

Today was Caden's first day of the new school year. We all - Mama, Dada, and Finn - drove him to Turtle Rock this morning, and Mama even snuck into his classroom to see his new desk. 

Big Bear

Late last week, as the reality of Caden's rapidly disappearing summer break really hit us, we decided to head to the mountains for a one-night escape. Big Bear Village is a mountain town at 7,000+ feet in the San Bernadino Mountains a couple of hours from here. It's really amazing that you can go from sea level (Irvine) to that elevation in about 60 miles.

We had fun wandering around the village, swimming in the hotel pool, and (especially) eating a yummy dinner at an Indian restaurant. We already knew that Caden loved Indian good. It quickly became apparent that Finn shares that trait.

Then, on Friday, Auntie Sally arrived in Irvine for a fun weekend of favorite foods, kayaking, the farmers' market, and the beach.

Tomorrow is Caden's first day of the new school year. He can't wait!

Loud!

This evening, Finn decided to see how loud he could be ...

Cricket

One of the first things Caden saw at the Auckland airport after we arrived in New Zealand in February was a big sign promoting the ICC Cricket World Cup that let you pose as a cricketer. He immediately gravitated toward cricket due to some similarities to baseball, which he has played for several seasons, both in Massachusetts and California.

We watched some cricket in NZ, and followed the final games of the World Cup even after our return to California in March. And we even brought back a plastic bat, balls, and wicket, the cricket equivalents of a wiffle ball and bat.

It turns out that cricket is actually played in So Cal, and Caden just signed up to learn the game with Irvine Parks and Rec. Today was his first practice. Not knowing exactly what to wear, he showed up dressed to play baseball. And he apparently played pretty well for his first time; the coach - former coach of the Sri Lankan and the Maylasian national teams - complemented his hand-eye coordination. Of course, there are some pretty big differences between cricket and baseball. One lesson that Caden took away from today's scrimmage: don't drop your bat when you hit the ball!

Caden defends the wicket.

In other news, Finn has now transitioned to a toddler bed. When we returned from Oregon, Dada tried to put Finn down to sleep in his crib, but the little climber, who ended up balancing with both feet on the top of the side rail of the crib, holding on to the end piece, quickly put an end to that. He slept on the floor that night, and Dada assembled his new big boy bed the next day. 

Early in the week, we brought dinner to our friends Jess and Riley, who (with Maia and little baby Leo) are moving into a new house down the street. While we were there, Caden helped out by doing the most important job of all: keeping Leo happy.

We've been picking up around the house this past week and weekend. On Saturday morning, Dada, Caden, and Finn pulled the tumbleweeds (and other huge invaders) out of our backyard dirt patch.