Crazy Squirrel Night

We have this palm tree next to our driveway, and there is this family of squirrels that live in the top - a mommy and 3 to 4 babies (I would guess they are about 3 to 4 months old now). Tonight while playing baseball with Jonas outside. I hear this commotion coming from the top of the tree. I look out, and see this "baby" squirrel barely hanging on to a slick palm frond about 30 feet off the ground, making loud screeching noise. The mommy squirrel is going up and down the tree, unable to help. I was trying to thinking about how to help the little guy and took 2 steps toward the door to get a towel or something to catch it, and heard the fall. I go back and see what happend and I see the baby squirrel hanging upside down caught in one of our rose bushes, about 8 inches off the ground. The mommy squirrel is already trying to get the baby out of the bush, but it's foot is caught. It is trying to chew through the rose bush branch, while watching this Jonas wants to see so he opens the door and scares the mommy back up into the tree (the mommy squirrel is very scared of us). I take this opportunity to try and help out, I get my pruning sheers and a pair of heavy duty gloves, and quietly go to see what I can do. I take a look, and the baby squirrel doesn't look very happy. He is still hanging upside down with his eyes closed, but still breathing. I make the first cut, and the squirrel plops down in the flower bed, it's tail falls over it's head, still playing dead, and its foot is still stuck in the branch. I go back and make a quick quarter turn of the branch, and the squirrel is free. Now I see that the baby squirrel is not hurt at all. It springs up and stares at me for a second. Letha is downstairs now and standing in the doorway watching me. We are about 10 feet away watching, then all of a sudden the baby squirrel takes a couple steps toward us (looking very friendly and thankful), Letha and I look at each other, thinking 'uh oh'. Then he runs over to us, right up to the door. Letha screams, and closes the door. The squirrel just sits there, about 2 feet from my feet, and stares at me. I tell the squirrel that he is welcome, and that I am not his daddy. Then I go inside. Over the next hour, the mommy squirrel tries to talk the baby into going back up into the scary palm tree. It got dark so I don't exactly know how this story ends, the last time I saw the baby squirrel it was about 8 feet up the tree - still not wanting to go any higher.

It's Hard Work Turning 5!

I told my Mommy and Daddy that I wanted a chocolate, round cake with trucks and candles. When I saw it for the first time, it took my breath away. I exclaimed: "It is beautiful, I just LOVE it!!!" I had a great party, and received great gifts. I love being 5!

Graduation Show

One year of school down...quite a few more to go. I had a great time this year, had a lot of fun, and learned some things too!

As some of you may know, my class and I have been practicing our singing for the last couple of months, and I wanted to share our final product. In my opinion, this was a really good show, and I think all the Mommy's and Daddy's really liked it!

So here we go! Presenting the graduating class of Ms. Hamdun's 2012 Pre-K:

I Learned To Swim In Hawaii!

We recently came back from our summer vacation to Hawaii! We had a lot of fun - eating, swimming, eating, building sand castles, eating, swimming some more, and sleeping. Then we would get up the next day and do it all over again.

I wanted to share a couple videos of my first couple of successful swims. I still don't see the need to get my face wet while swimming, so I have developed a doggie-paddle-treading-water technique. It works pretty well, unless I do get my face wet, then I can lose focus, which can be a problem when you are 1 inch away from being under water.


Mommy and Daddy were really excited to see me keep my head above water. The week before, i needed daddy to hold the back of my swim trunks or I would sink straight to the bottom.


I also found out how much fun it can be to do a big jump into the pool off the 'high' dive!


A couple other things I tried while in Hawaii include snorkeling, eating pineapple, going to the potty while standing up, and taking a shower.

My First Art Show

Today at school, my class had an art show (and they had cookies too!). We showed everyone all the art work we have done over the last few months. I think I have some real potential! Daddy was really impressed!

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Pablo Picasso
"Girl Before a Mirror"
October 2011

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Matisse
"Colors"
November 2011

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Andy Warhol
"Marilyn Monroe"
January 2012

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Claude Monet
"Water Lilies"
February 2012

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Jackson Pollock
"Number 1"
March 2012

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Georgia O'Keefe
"Poppy"
April 2012

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Graduation Show Practice

Well, it's almost been a whole school year for me, and I have learned a lot! All my letters, I'm even starting to spell some small words. My numbers (I was already pretty good at those). Daddy has even started teaching me some advanced math (plus and minus). I am getting much better at writing and drawing and coloring too, but today I wanted to share my singing and dancing with you. I think I'm supposed to keep these a secret, but I can give you a sneak peek. Here are three of my songs my class will be singing at our graduation show.

Pineapple Princess



The Hukilau



Three Little Birds

Well, there it is, let me know what you think! Talk to you soon!

Buzzzzzzzzz!

The other day my neighbor said she saw a large swarm of bees flying over her backyard, I didn't think much of it at the time but, while doing some yard work today, I heard this buzzing noise. I look up and see this:



There were thousands of bees in my back yard. It lasted about 20 minutes and they were gone, or so I thought. I went out and took a look at the tree they were swarming around. Now there are a couple of bees flying around a huge clump of bees (about 18 inches in diameter), hanging on to the under side of the tree branch.

Soccer At School!

Mommy and Daddy signed me up for a soccer class at my school. It's once a week on Friday's and I have a great time!

Sometimes Daddy shows up early to watch me practice, I do like soccer, but Daddy can be very distracting.



This was from my practice last week. This is right after a running drill where me and another classmate ran into each other - Head-to-head. We both went down, and had pretty big lumps on our heads, but I must really have a hard head, because he had to go sit down for a while. So, for those new to soccer, always look in the direction you are running or have a really hard head!

Well, I put it off for long enough...

Not only writing some blogs, but going to the dentist too...

Mommy & Daddy made me go to the dentist for the first time today. Everyone kept telling me it would be fun, but when your my age, if someone tells you something is going to be fun too many times, I start to have my doubts. I was able to get out of school for a day, and I had mixed feelings about that too. I do like school!

Anyway, Daddy and I made it to the dentists office, they had a rocking horse in the waiting room. I hadn't been on a rocking horse since I was 2, so I was a little rusty, but it came back pretty quickly. When the hygienist called us back, she explained all the tools she and the dentist would use. I was fine with all that, she then asked me to sit in her captain's chair. I did as she asked. Then I laid back and saw...TA-DA, a TV hanging from the ceiling and Tom & Jerry was on - I like the dentist. The hygienist turned this bright light on, she was so thoughtful, she asked if the light was too bright. I said 'yes', and she hurried off and brought back these.

Yep, sunglasses for my sensitive eyes, and headphones for Tom & Jerry. I was set. The hygienist started flossing my teeth, which was a little weird, having never flossed before. In the middle of my flossing I realized Daddy and the hygienist yelling at me to open my mouth. Then I realized I was biting down on the lady's latex covered fingers, OPS! I don't know what I was thinking about, mostly Tom & Jerry I guess. She said I had some nice chompers, and was much more careful for the rest of my cleaning. She finished cleaning my teeth, and then it was time for the dentist. He did a quick exam, counted my teeth, and gave me two high fives, for no cavities on the bottom teeth and no cavities on the top teeth. Then since I did such a good job, I could pick out 2 stickers, one pencil, and a toy, I went for the race car. He also said I could keep the sunglasses. Turns out the dentist isn't that bad. Maybe I will go back in about 6 months.

My School Holiday Show

Hello, and welcome to our Christmas show! Here are a few pictures of our holiday show we put on for all the Mommies and Daddies. We have been practicing our holiday songs for weeks, I know Mommy and Daddy are probably tired of hearing me sing, but they don't say anything. My favorite songs are 'Jingle Bell Rock', and 'Frosty the Snowman'.

Here we are coming in and taking our positions. Oh, and my friend to my right is not really that short, just a little camera shy.


I think I see Mommy!


Daddy, are you out there too?


Yep, I see you now!


My big moment with the microphone. I introduced the poem 'A Christmas Star'!


Now, it's time to SING!

My Pledge

I pledge alliance to the flag at the new knighted states America. And to the progress we stand, one nation, under god, invisible liberty, just us for all. Amen.

Happy Halloween!

Well, we had a great Halloween. First Jonas got to wear his Halloween costume to school. Halloween is a BIG deal at his school. All the kids, 3 years through 5th grade all get dressed up, and have a big parade all around the school grounds. Plus the parents club serves coffee and donuts for all the parents that show up to watch the parade, and there are a lot of parents - we had to park about a mile away. The rest of the day at school was Halloween themed.

On the way to school. To march in the Halloween Parade.



Caught him in the middle of a yawn, thought it was funny...



Here are some quotable quotes from Jonas during our Trick-or-Treating...

After trick-or-treating at a house, Jonas on the way down the driveway, yells back over his shoulder 'Thank you, I like your new house!', after hearing mommy tell the owner at the previous house, 'Thank you, I like your house (Halloween decorations)!'

On the way home, it was a nice night so we rolled the windows down to watch the kids trick-or-treating. Jonas yells out the window 'Excuse me, do you know where our house is?'


His costume was not very photo friendly at night, due to all the highly reflective material.


No, this is not a flashlight I'm holding. It's just my highly reflective firefighter's jacket!



California Trick-or-Treater count:
2010 - 0
2011 - 0

Picture Day At School

Well, I have been going to school for about a month and have I learned a LOT!

After the first few days of school, I was ready to call it quits, but Mommy and Daddy said it would be good for me to keep going, so I gave it another chance, and I came to the realization - School is Fun!

This week we had picture day at school. I had so many complements on what I picked out to wear for picture day.



I have been making new friends at school too. Mommy and Daddy always ask who are your friends at school. I always say "Russia". Mommy and Daddy finally got the class roster this week and told me it's not "Russia", but "Raja". Oh, well, everyone at school knows who I'm talking about.

I have also come along way with my art work and penmanship. Here is an example of my work from the first week of school.

From Week 1


As you might be able to tell, by the big black crayon spot in the middle of the page, this is what happened when I got frustrated, and didn't want to try and draw 3's anymore.

But I have been working really hard, and practicing at home, now I am doing pretty well. I still don't get coloring, but I tend to hurry through these tasks (I'm more of a technical soul), but I guess a little art culture never hurt anyone.

From Week 3

First Day of School

Well I made it through my first day of preschool. I started a few weeks later than the rest of my classmates, and I need to do a little catch up, but I think I will be fine. Today I met some new potential friends, did some coloring, I tried to trace the number 3 (I really need to practice this one!). We also played inside, played outside, and had music class. It was a full day!

My Last Few Days of Freedom

That's right, Mommy and Daddy have signed me up for preschool. I am not that excited yet, and Daddy keeps telling me that he cannot go with me to school. But I am making the most of my last few days of freedom. Today we went to my favorite dining establishments - Ronald Donald's. I could only talk Daddy into a buying me a chocolate milk, but I was happy. Next was on to the park for a picnic.





Daddy and I had a nice lunch, then I played on the jungle gym for a while, but then it was on to my favorite sport, soccer. I have to admit, I'm getting pretty good, I think Daddy likes being my coach! Here is a video of my header practice.

We are Tough Mudders!

Well we went to Squaw Valley, and conquered the Tough Mudder this past Sunday. It was a perfect day for this race, it was about 70 degrees, and sunny which helped dry you out after the water obstacles. We went with several people from Letha's work, but they left us pretty early on, so it was just Letha and I left to conquer the Tough Mudder by ourselves. The race started at an elevation of 6200 feet and at the top of the mountain is 9050 ft.

My favorite quote of the day about 2/3 through the Tough Mudder, Letha looks at me and says, 'I know why I married you, you are crazy enough to sign up for something like this with me, and nice enough to not leave me behind.' We had a good time!

Here are the obstacles. There were two missing obstacles, the Fire Walk, probably due to fire danger, and a rope ladder climb obstacle not sure why that was missing. Not sure of the exact order, but this is close:

1. Brokeball Mountain – This was kind of weird, there were a bunch of guys throwing extra large and heavy beach balls at you as you run up the mountain. After this one, I was hoping all the obstacles were not this cheesy – they were not.

2. Kiss of Mud – A 10 to 15-yard obstacle where you get down on your stomach in about 1.5 foot of muddy water and crawl through. Don’t get up to high; barbwire is less than a foot over your head.

3. Mud Bath – This one was pretty gross. Muddy water fills a garbage dumpster shaped pool. A plywood obstacle blocks your path. You must go under the obstacle to continue. It was full of stuff from other competitors. I saw chap stick, a hat, and a couple energy bars.

4. Chernobyl Jacuzzi – This is very similar to the Mud Bath, except there is less mud and a lot more ice. The water temperature is 33 degrees, you jump in and it’s pretty cold, but you go under the plywood and come up on the other side through about 6 inches of ice cubes, and you wait on other competitors trying to climb over and out of the ice, probably the longest 30 seconds of the race.

5. Everest – This one was pretty cool and this one was much easier if you were tall. It was a 14’ high quarter pipe; anything goes to get over obstacle. There were human ladders, or you could run and jump and try and grab someone’s hand at the top, and they would help pull you up. I made it on the first try, but I saw plenty of people try over and over, without success. Letha tried twice, and came close, but decided to use the side of the obstacle where there were some foot holds to use.

6. Death March – This is a long trail straight up a ski slope - it was long and hard in the high altitude…

7. Funky Monkey – This one took you back to your playground days. First there were about 12 to 15 monkey bars on an incline. Then you go back down another 12 to 15 monkey bars, if you fall, you get wet. This is the one I wanted to finish without getting wet, I almost lost it about 4 bars from the end, but I was able to ignore the pain and finish. Letha made it to the second bar, before the big splash, but lots of people were falling in.

8. Rope a Dope (the mystery obstacle) – This rope climb obstacle was right after the monkey bars, so your arms were already tired. Luckily for most of the competitors, the ropes had knots. Letha made it with a little help, she hung on to the top of the rope for at least 60 seconds before we figured out how to get her up to the top. I had to lean over, and pick her up and lift her the last foot.

9. Devil’s Beard - This was a stretchy cargo net that you had to crawl under. The trick on this one was it was built on top of snow from last winter. It would have been hard alone, but there were about 20 people going under with us, that made it much easier.

10. Log Jammin’ – After running down a steep section of hill, you came to a log obstacle, here you had to climb over and under several log structures. Be careful on the under sections, they are wrapped in barbwire.

11. Hold Your Wood – On this obstacle, you were able to choose a section of log and carry it down a hill and back up again. The path was only about 400 meters (quarter mile), but it was pretty hard.

12. Rock Slide – Careful on this one, this is a steep decline, and your path is covered by ankle twisting rocks.

13. Berlin Walls #1 – 12’ Walls – These obstacles were also pretty difficult for the shorter competitors. There was one 2X4 step about 3’ off the ground to help get you to the top. Here is how Letha and I got over. I would help Letha up to the top, she would wait there until I got over to the other side, and I would help her down. Each time someone would ask if she needed help getting down, she would say, ‘No thank you, I am waiting on my husband.’ We did see someone break his ankle on this one, he was not happy.

14. Walk The Plank – This was the one I was a little worried about, not because of the 15’ jump, but the landing in the 40-degree water. I saw this temperature somewhere on line, not sure of the true temperature, but it was COLD! Letha actually sucked in a big gulp of water, because of the shock of the cold. She did not look comfortable on the 50-meter swim, but we made it.

15. Under Water Tunnels – Just after the swim of the Walk The Plank, there was a structure made of barrels, in the middle of the pond. The objective here was to go under 3 sets of barrels. But don’t get too far out of the water, because there is barbwire overhead between the barrels.

16. Boa Constrictor – AKA “The Cut and Bruise Maker”. This one was painful, there are two large pipes leading into and out of muddy water, again with barbwire over your head. For some reason they felt the need to fill the pipes with sharp rocks and mud. This is where I got most of my cuts and bruises.

17. Berlin Walls – 7’ Walls – These walls were easy compared to the 12’ walls.

18. Bale Bonds – There wasn’t much to this one by the time I we got there, the huge hay bales, were beat down to a much smaller pile of hay.

19. Turd’s Nest – A big rope net spans a 30’ long by 10’ high structure, the key to this one is to roll down the net to the bottom, then climb to the top on the other side. Probably would not have thought to roll by myself, but seeing others do it made it look easy.

20. Twinkle Toes – Basically a balance beam, this is a 4” beam that spans a 30’ pond, and if you fall off, you get wet, again. The trick to this one, once you get to the middle of the beam, it starts to shake back and forth. This is where I almost fell off, but I was able to stand still for a second to stop the shaking, and continue on.

21. Electro Shock Therapy – This was a little disappointing, in our group of 12, only one was shocked. I even ran through at full speed. It probably helped that I didn’t fall in to the last water obstacle, so I was dry when I went through. Letha was wet however, but she was able to avoid the shock.

Sorry, I didn’t get many photos, because I didn’t carry a camera. The one guy in our group that brought his phone, cracked the face on one of the obstacles. But if you want to get an idea of some of the things I described, here is a link to some pictures.

http://gudphoto.com/2011/09/18/tough-mudder-norcal-2011-photos/

There were also some funny signs along the path of the Tough Mudder like:

“REMEMBER YOU SIGNED A DEATH WAIVER”

“WARRIOR DASH FINISH, BUT YOU SIGNED UP FOR A TOUGH MUDDER” – At the 3.1 mile mark.

“CHUCK NORRIS NEVER RAN A TOUGH MUDDER”

“NOT FINISHING THE TOUGH MUDDER IS NOT EMBARRASING, SIGNING UP FOR A WARRIOR DASH IS”

“CAN’T FIND YOUR LOVED ONES? THE NEAREST HOSPITAL IS: …”

We had a fun time, and everyone in our group got through with out a major injury. A successful Tough Mudder!

My First Camping Trip

Last weekend, we decided at the last minute, to try to go camping. Mommy and Daddy have been wanting to go to Yosemite National park since we moved to California. So on Friday evening Daddy went onto the Yosemite camping reservation page, did a search for any camping spot, anywhere in Yosemite - nothing, and nothing for the next 4 weekends.

30 minutes later, another search, still nothing.

Another 30 minutes later - got one! Oh no, it was a camper/trailer only spot.

Alright, one more try, YES! Spot #75 in Wawona camp ground.

So the camping trip was ON!

We spent the rest of the evening and most of the next morning deciding what we "needed" to take because we were roughing it.

It was nice and clear when we arrived on Saturday afternoon. We stopped for a quick picture on our way to the camp site.



We really lucked out on the camping spot, it was pretty nice. It was a corner spot, right by a river, and spot #76 had been decommissioned, so it was actually the size of two camping spots.

After we unloaded the car and set up our tent, we made a nice fire to cook our dinner. I had to warm up by the fire (Mommy and Daddy told me to do this, not sure why, it wasn't even that cold out).



Since I'm not a big fan of scary stories, I decided to try and start my own camping tradition - Funny Faces!



There were also lots of good rocks to play with.



Last one in the tent has to deal with...



ATTACK JONAS!!!



This is what I look like in the morning after sleeping outside, on the ground, with leg growing pains all night...



Jonas needs his beauty sleep.



I'm all for roughing it, but I still need my Ugly Doll and Blanket!



More to come from my first camping trip soon (when I download the pictures from Mommy's camera)...

Minnesota 2011

Well we had a lot of fun in Minnesota this year! I did realize one thing during our trip this year - I really like fishing!

This year on our trip, we:
- Were witness to the construction of the new porch addition. It was really hard to take a nap, with all that banging, but I was still able to manage.
- Went to Hart Lake to try the fishing over there. Everyone said it had been 30 years since they went to Hart Lake fishing, and I can see why. It was hot with lots of bugs and no fish. Well we will have to try it again in 30 years or so.
- Were impressed with the Creepy Shed clean out project.
- Heard a bald eagle fight, Grand Bob was the only one who saw it, but they were loud, and not very happy.
- Caught some fish. Mommy caught some good size perch, Daddy caught a small walleye, and some perch, and Grand Bob finally caught a keeper walleye.

Here are a few photos. My serious fisherman pose.



Shhhh...don't scare the fish.



Mommy caught some good size perch! These were the biggest perch we have seen in the lake in a long time.



Here are some videos of my fishing skills! I didn't catch any fish this year, but that didn't stop me from having a lot of fun. I am a lot better using my fishing pole this year, and I didn't even practice.

Potty Quotables

"MOMMY, DADDY...
I went Number One, and Number Two...and Number Three...
That's a LOT of potty! "

- Jonas McLaren

I had a bad bean experience...

"What happened?" you ask. See for yourself...



Don't worry, i was able to keep it down in the end...