Growing Up

Aubrey had her first day of preschool today. Where has my baby gone?

 Because Aubrey's birthday is in December, she still has two years before she goes to kindergarten, even though she is almost four. I'm glad for the extra time I get to have her around.

But, instead of doing three-year-old preschool, and then pre-k, the teachers at her school have decided to put her in pre-k twice. She isn't quite at the same level with the other 4-year-olds on some stuff, but socially she is definitely in the right place. 

Cora missed her so much. She was crying "sister, sister" on the way home after we dropped her off. I'm glad these two are close.

She loved it! When I picked her up, she was playing with a whole bunch of girls.

Aubrey is an incredible girl and I have been reflecting today on how blessed I am to be her mother. When she very unexpectedly was born 6 weeks premature, of course I was worried about her future. Premature babies often struggle, and Aubrey was very tiny and weak. She needed oxygen and I never thought we would get her off that feeding tube :)

But, she is so healthy and talented, and I am very grateful. Here are a few videos of some of the crazy things she has mastered lately. 

The monkey bars. She still loves her weekly gymnastics class.

Swimming. This video was taken about a month ago, and she has already gotten much stronger. She is currently working on the dolphin kick and treading water. I'm currently working on keeping Cora from jumping in the pool during all our her lessons.

And, Steven's proudest moment as a parent. Aubrey learned to ride her bike! I love those balance bikes- she is seriously a little pro and she is only three. It took her about a week to get the hang of pushing off, but she is quick now.

I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I'm sad, but mostly excited. I'm loving the sweet little friend she is becoming. 

Camping

Our family went camping this weekend. A lot of people go camping, and it's no big deal, but this was a big deal for us!

Steven loves camping. I love all the things you do camping (biking, hiking, s'mores)... but lack of showers, the insane amount of stuff you need, gross outhouses, etc. kind of outweigh the benefits to me most of the time.

My family went camping exactly three times the entire time I was growing up. And... I'm pretty sure my dad set the tent on fire one of those times. The Peterson's are not campers. We are hotel people.

But, a whole bunch of families' were going together, it was only for one night, and I don't want my girls to turn out as sissy as their mother, so we went. And, we had a great time. Aubrey cried and cried when we left.

I didn't do great in the picture taking department. In fact, I took just one of us setting up the tent. We went to the Coyote Hills regional park, which was great. It was right near Fremont, so just a quick drive away, but you didn't feel like you were in the middle of the crazy Bay Area metropolis at all.

We had such good helpers.

Luckily, Natalie sent me a few more pictures. We went to the park visitors center where the girls got to pet a snake. I was so proud of Cora. She was nervous and took a few tries, but she did it.

The girls were in heaven playing with all their friends. Cora is normally quite clingy, but she did great going off and playing. Aubrey was in her element. At one point, we looked up, and saw Aubrey running as fast as she could across the field with her sleeping bag trying to sneak it into Elle's tent so they could have a "sleepover." We are seriously so lucky here. There are so many great people.

Can you tell California is in a huge drought? Everything is dead and brown.

I may have promised to go camping again. I honestly wasn't really looking forward to the trip but I had such a good time.

Summer Days

We have been trying to get in as many playdates and fun outings with friends before Aubrey starts preschool in a couple of weeks and our calendar gets more full.

I will miss her, but we are both excited. Aubrey loves social situations and learning so I think it will be a great thing for her, and I'm excited to spend some alone time with Cora. Her preschool is twice a week from 9-12 and a big bonus is it is close enough to walk! Her school got amazing reviews and they have really small class sizes that I am excited about. I'm not excited about how expensive it is but thats what you get living in the Bay Area :)

Banana ice cream and sprinklers on a hot afternoon. Aubreys "best" friend Faith and their friend Princess. Faith also has a little sister Cora's age so our families match up great.

 This is Lucas and Cora. My good friend Natalie has two little boys. Aubrey and Max (below) are about the same age and are the best little buds. Lucas and Cora are not close in age at all, but he is so sweet to her. We looked back yesterday and saw them holding hands. Cora was pretty proud. 

We always love a good trip to the BMX park. I have learned to have us all wear old clothes because we get filthy. 

Swimming and a LinkedIn dinner night with Dave and Liz and their sweet little girl, Olivia. These three giggled like crazy all night. 

A fun morning with my friend from the BYU accounting program, Lisa, and her two little boys. Aubrey and Blake played SO well together that we are going back again next week.

Cora and Miles took some time to warm up, but we will get them to be friends. Cora's classic "say cheese" face. We need to work on getting her real smile.

And... even though we love getting out and meeting up with friends, I also love the days when I just get to hang out with my girls. I love watching them grow together as friends.

 We always visit the duck pond after the library. Our library trips are getting shorter because Cora is at the lovely stage where every time I turn around she has pulled 5 books off the shelf. In about two minutes they completely fill up my bag and we get out of there as quick as possible before she does too much damage. 

At the park. Pretty much daily. Year round.