I absolutely LOVE Kindergarten, especially the homework kits. Each kit comes in different container, and has a theme. For example, a cooler, a sewing kit, a shoe box, and a laundry basket. Each kit includes books and games that teach me math, reading, and geography.

My teacher Andrea is so creative. We’ve made puppets for every letter of the alphabet. We trace, color, and cut our animals and put them on sticks. My favorites are Sydney the Snake and Thai the Tiger. Andrea sends music files home to mom and dad so we can sing a song that teaches the sounds of the letters. And then we practice our handwriting for each letter in upper and lower case.

We even planted a garden at school, with each of us caring for our very own plant. Mine’s kale.

Here’s my Halloween class: Cambrie, Brady, Phoebe, Juna, Madelyn, me, Leland, Tristan, Skylar, and Anjali.

I lost my first tooth at school, and the second in Budapest!

Wendy and Devin came to visit and took me to Jurassic Quest, which all the adults hated it!

Summer always comes late in Santa Cruz, and the Fall has been filled with fantastic beach days, often with Ben and Owen! I had my first sleepover at their house, so mommy and daddy could go to a party in San Francisco.

I’m an orange/white belt now at karate, really improving my focus and even practicing with a staff. The best part of the class is the warm-up because each of us takes a turn pretending to be a creature, while the class has to guess what we are. Daddy took me for a manicure to have my nails painted green so that I could be a peacock!

 

Mommy brought us along on a business trip to Budapest. Here’s what I wore to the airport!

Mom was sure surprised when she got back to the hotel room after work and my long curls were cut!

We went on a shopping spree, and I got a ton of new, hip clothes!

We bought a Hungarian goose down duvet from a famous factory.

The food was amazing, and we enjoyed lots of patio dining, with Hungarian wine and every kind of meat. No veggies though!

Budapest has the oldest electric underground railway system in Europe, second to London! We rode the subway and then bought a gigantic corn on the cob from a street vendor.

The zoo was amazing! I saw Huff the Hippo and Thai the Tiger.

At the circus, we saw animals, clowns, and artistic acts! When I pet the elephant, he squirted water in my face. And I got a kiss from a pretty acrobatics girl.

We saw castles, visited famous monuments, and toured the river Danube.

 

 

 

The Lego store was underground, and a dramatic change from Target!

We spent lots of leisurely time in the spas, including an entire Sunday at the oldest Turkish thermal bath, where old Hungarian men played chess and mom and dad drank champagne and beer. I also enjoyed a couple nights in our luxury hotel steam and sauna (no pics, of course, as Finnish-style nudity is quite normal there). It was such a relaxing vacation, and a welcome break from the demands of Kindergarten.