Ballet Class

Sarah has started her second year of ballet. She takes classes from Erin Fernandez at Common Ground Community Center. She loves it and has moved up from Ballet1 to Ballet2 this year. Her class is going to be working on their Christmas performance soon. We're very proud of her hard work and progress! Here are some pictures from her class last week.

releve' in first position

stretching in first position

the waltz

Sarah and the Violin

Sarah just started taking violin lessons at school and she loves it! She got to learn a few notes this week and when she played for us it sounded great - no squeaking. I'm learning about the world of rossen (sp?), strings and much more! Sarah is excited to learn how to play an instrument and we're glad she gets this opportunity. She will have a concert this fall, so stay tuned!

Justin's Play Date!

Rowan and Justin "playing catch"

Having fun with toys

Justin is pretty shy by nature, and normally when he sees kids his own age he makes a quick escape. The other day we had his friend Rowan over for a play date and amazingly he had a great time! Instead of running away he actually played with her and the two of them got along famously. (Well, except for when Justin hit her with a toy,....in the head....but that was an accident!) They had a great time riding on Justin's little car and at one point Justin even pushed her while she was riding on it - it was too cute! Other highlights included eating lunch together, (and wanting each others food of course), and dancing to some tunes. So, we're happy to say that our boy is coming out of his social reclusiveness nicely these days. :) Thanks Deanna and Rowan for the fun play date! More to come on this topic, so stay tuned!

We Have Lift Off!

On the run!

Justin took his first steps around three months ago at @ 14 months. Since then he has been taking his 'ol sweet time mastering the skill of walking. He is very cautious by nature, has been from the get go, and no amount of prodding or bribing would make him go any faster - thank you very much! In the past few weeks, however, he has decided it's finally time to Go For It! He now walks everywhere and is beginning to gain some speed. It's great to see him getting some wings, but in a way it's hard to see my baby growing up, sigh. Well, I better get used to it!

Sarah started school three days ago and is now a big 4th grader! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Johnson, (does that sound like a teacher's name or what?!), and she loves her. The 4th graders at Sarah's school get to take strings this year in music class. Sarah has decided to go with the violin and we're excited to see her jam out some tunes with her bow and strings! Well,.... once she gets through the squeaky stage I'm sure it will be wonderful!

Alexander Family Vacation - Coffee & More: Part Two

When we were in Seattle we had to see the original first Starbuck's at Pikes Place of course! We aren't called the quad shot for nothing. ;)






While we were in Vancouver we went to the old town area, also called Gas Town. We found a great coffee shop where Justin had his first iced latte - decaf of course. He LOVED it, no shock there!

This is the best shot from the trip by far! I love the indignant look on Justin's face - "What you lookin' at?" Sarah and I were laughing so hard we could hardly breathe. Definitely a Kodak moment!

Alexander Family Vacation! Part One

We just returned from our travels to the far north: Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver B.C.! We had a relaxing fun filled adventure.

Our first stop was Ashland where we hung out at a fun park. Sarah scaled a super tall climber - what fun!

The next day we went to an amazing drive through safari in Oregon. A sign read, "Please keep all windows and doors closed at all times." - yikes! We steered clear of the rhinos!

We headed up to Seattle Washington where we went to the famous Space Needle, Seattle Art Museum, Pike's Place Market, Seattle Bay, and the locks.



Next we went to Vancouver, B.C.; It was our first visit to Canada and we loved it! Our first stop was China Town where we visited the beautiful botanical gardens and did some shopping and sight seeing. We found a great Chinese noodle restaurant. Justin liked "eating" with the chopsticks.

Old town Vancouver was by far our favorite part of the trip. It's called "Gas Town" and has lots of quaint European type shops and boutiques. There were loads of out door cafes and coffee shops. There were even a few pubs! I felt like I was back in England almost. After our visit in Canada we went back to Seattle for a few days then headed back down to Oregon where we hung out with April's family for the weekend and then headed home.