Everything Jensen

Shortly before our trip to Universal, Melinda put in her two week's notice with Infantino. After six years, she'd learned a lot and made many great memories. But, it was time to move on. In September she'll be joining a new team as the Marketing Director of tech-start up GoShare.  Goodbye team lunch at Opera This cubicle has been repurposed As usual, the first week of school for the girls is a pre-school in-service week for the boys. So, Melinda timed her job to start later, so she could hang out with Jefferson and Steven all week. The boys were SO excited to spend a week with Mom. SO EXCITED. Little did they know it would involve so much grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, and even a stop at the DMV. And, poor Jefferson had to have eight cavities filled. This is on top of four we had filled last year. (Yes, he does own a toothbrush, we're still working through problems from poor dental care in China). Finally, after getting so many errands fini...

Welcome back Barnard pandas! We've got a third grader and a first grader now! Hard to believe. Adelaide danced in the morning assembly, both with the hula troop and the lion dancers. Eleanor, no longer a kindergartener, was so happy to run and embrace old friends. Cute little panda girls!  Ready to roar!  Welcome to 3rd grade! Off to 1st Grade! No homework for the first night of school so Adelaide decided to make banana bread. She did almost all the work, with Mom only helping for the "hot" parts. Great job Adelaide!  Well... there was a little homework the first day. School requires 20 minutes of reading a day. Eleanor could think of nothing... nothing she'd rather do less. So, inspired by Eleanor's love of the Owl Post, created an Owlery reading chart. Twenty minutes a day, but the steps. At 1,000 minutes, they each earn a stuffed owl. The girls are excited to start climbing. They should get those owls right before Thanksgiving. Go ...

After our trip to Universal Studios, we planned to spend the weekend resting up to prepare for the first day of school on Monday. But, by Saturday morning all the kids were bored, bored, bored. So, we loaded up the mini van and headed out to the Festival of Books downtown. Free kids books galore! Authors to meet! A petting zoo! It was so much fun. This is definitely one we are adding to our annual calendar.  Let's Read! KPBS sponsored free book  Even Sith Lords like Reading

So, we did do things OTHER than Harry Potter at Universal Studios. Though, sometimes we had to drag the kids away from Hogsmeade to see the studio tour and try the Transformers ride. Our honest assessment, a lot of the rides were pretty jerky and fast-paced. The kids will probably like them more as teenagers. But, they were a little much for little ones. Even the Minions ride, which was definitely meant for kids, set both Melinda and Steven to feeling queasy. At one point, we promised the kids a nice easy ride and boarded them on the studio tour. After the tram was attacked by dinosaurs and almost overturned in an earthquake, they were demanding a return to the safety of Hogsmeade. Sorry kiddos!  Taco!!!  Little Minion  Studio Tour Selfie Taking a break from the rides to  play on the Minion playground The boys were very excited to take a break from the rides and meet the dinosaurs and transformers... until they met the dinosaurs and trans...

We haven't been able to do much in the way of vacations this summer, so we decided to surprise the kids with a quick trip before the school year started. We booked 2-day passes to Universal Studios, so the kids could drink butterbeer, say hello to the Hippogriffs and learn a little magic! Adelaide almost exploded with excitement when we told her. We were some of the first in line, and the first to reach the top of Hogwarts castle to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The boys were too small to ride, but enjoyed walking through the castle and seeing all the special effects.  We arrive bright and early and were some of the first in line.  To Hogwarts! Found it! Oh no! The cry of the Mandrake! Boys were determined to break into Dumbledore's office. Just popping in to say hello at Hagrid's hut. After a few rides through Hogwarts, and on the smaller Flight of the Hippogriff coaster the boys could go on, we headed over to...