End of Summer

Our local school district started classes much earlier this year, so the last two weeks of summer were kind of weird, since we hadn't started school but everybody around us had! 
  

"Kind of Weird?"

  
We attended our church back-to-school picnic the Monday after we got back from Utah.  We met a new family that had just moved in, with five kids under six!  Ryan told them they won the kid contest.  Corinne just stole their grapes.
  

  
We made one last trip to the beach, and experienced the lowest tide we've ever seen.  The kids were able to collect all these little clams down by the water line.  They had plant-like appendages that stuck up out of the sand in the water.  We tried to figure out what they were on the internet, but the closest I could find were "bean clams."  Maybe the plant stuff is just algae?
  

  

  
During those last two weeks of August, Connor and Elise went to Spanish camp at Berlitz in Pasadena.  It was by far the most expensive Spanish camp we've tried, but, I have to admit, it was the best.  There were only five kids in their group, they used an established curriculum, the teacher was loving and awesome, and they came home with homework each night.  Elise, especially, made a lot of progress, so I guess it was worth the money!
   

Senora Isabel, with Claudia, Lula, and Daisy

  
Part of getting ready for Joy School with Evan was taking a picture for the Joy School house.  This was the one we picked, although we ended up cropping it to just his face.  Cute boy.
    

And Corinney, well, she started walking!  At 13 months, she's my earliest walker ever!  I think the other three didn't do it until fifteen or sixteen months.  She played around with it for a couple weeks, then decided one day to make it her new mode of travel.
    

She also learned to climb - wicked little monkey!

  

One day, during Spanish Camp, Connor got to leave early to go to Magic Mountain with his friend, Isaac.  In order to pacify Elise, I promised to take her to Chuck E Cheese, expecting it to be awful (I'd never been there for anything but birthday parties.)  But, since it was the middle of a school day, it was practically empty, and super relaxing!  Plus, the fact that it was air conditioned on a 100 degree day made it especially awesome.