Are there cup stacking scholarships?

Tyler discovered cup stacking this week. And as you'll see, he very quickly became very good at it.

Tyler Skis!

We had just pulled out the kids skis yesterday and then we woke up to snow today. Tyler immediately ran to the garage to get his skis. He did great - his favorite part was falling over and eating snow.

Princess Tyler

Anna decorated Tyler this morning and he was enchanted -rings,tiara, the purse. He kept saying, "Look Mom, I'm a princess!" and "The princess is riding the truck!". He took the purse to daycare with him. He hung it around is neck and looked absurd playing trains with his pocketbook dangling in front of him.

I love the Solstice Parade!

And just like that, kindergarten is finished

And what do happy kindergarteners do when school summer arrives? They go to the park -- and work on their new math workbooks! They were all excited that they got to take home their math workbooks.

Many faces of Tyler

They ride!

Anna learned how to ride a bike last weekend. She hopped and figured it out the first try. Way to go!

And Tyler manages his tricycle like a pro.

It's only money

Today was Student Store day at school. It's one of Anna's favorite days because she can buy erasers and trinkets (which she'll promptly lose or break). Today Anna showed up at Student Store with a $50 bill. Thankfully, Student Store doesn't accept bills higher than a $5, and they returned the money to her. So, Anna gave the $50 to her classmate. Thankfully, her classmate's mom knows our phone number.

We finally have a pet

As we were getting ready to go to bed last night, and Anna said, "oh, I almost forgot" and ran to get her jacket, a cup, and a fork. Her jacket pocket was taped up, presumably to keep a treasure safe. She started scooping out her pocket with the fork, and a pile of worms landed on the table. Apparently, she had collected them at recess and wanted to keep them safe. She filled the cup with worms, dirt and water and happily declared, "Finally, I have some pets!"

She skis!

We had a fund long weekend in Whistler - courtesy of my parents who came out and watched the kids while we skied. To our delight (and relief) Anna really learned how to ski this weekend. She can go down the hills all by herself.

Next quiz: where are we?

Italia! Randy and I took a two week vacation in Europe - starting in Vienna, then Venice, Rome, Florence, and Berlin. I was lucky enough to have two conferences in Europe. And have generous family who would watch our kids while we galavanted around Europe. And to top it off, we got to stay with wonderful friends in both Vienna and Florence. Here we are on the Rialto Bridge in Florence, and in the Colesseum in Rome. It was a wonderful trip - I highly recommend it.

Where in the world are the Templetons?

Check out the photos and see if you can guess.


We were back in Maui this week - for a medical conference of course. It was a lot of fun to have my parents join us this time. And, the surf was way up, we watched a surf competition, saw 30 feet waves.

It's such a beautiful place, that we immediately came home and starting searching for real estate there. Don't hold your breath - I doubt we'll have a guesthouse in Maui anytime soon.

First day of kindergarten!

I put my little girl on the bus this morning for the first time. She, and all her fellow kindergartners were all smiles and they eagerly hopped right on the bus.

Hum the song "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof, while you view these pictures.

And then she was gone.

No, I didn't cry, but I thought about it.

Camping

We bought a big family tent, (which makes our 4th or 5th tent now, I've lost track). The kids loved it. Tyler diligently "roasted" his marshmallow for a good 20 minutes, before he realized that he could eat it.

Bedtime

We're so lucky that our kids enjoy each other so much.

Happy Easter

We forgot to take a family photo when we're at church, so here's a photo of us in our Easter finery sitting on the stairs. Although you can't really see it in this photo, my mom made Anna's dress.

Milestones

We (finally) finalized Tyler's adoption in the US. His adoption was actually final in Vietnam, but in order to get him a US birth certificate and officially change his name, we had to go thru the legal procedures here in the States. The judge was great, and he smiled warmly, despite the fact that Tyler had a poopy diaper.

Next milestone, Anna has finally joined a soccer team. Well, they don't actually play games against other teams, (who'd be brave enough to play a team called "Scott's Soccer Tots"?)but they sure do have fun playing around.

My crazed son

Anna's 5th birthday

Hooray! Anna is a big five years old now. We had her birthday at the ice skating rink. Although all the kids did a great job skating, I think the snacks, cupcakes, and games of tag were really the highlight.

Yes, kids wear helmets now when they iceskate.

Tyler is finally clean cut

We (finally) took Tyler in for his first haircut this weekend and he looks like a brand new boy. He went from a mullet to clean cut. For Anna's first year, I would hack at her hair, and we thought she was so cute that we didn't notice how bad her hair looked. Fortunately, it only took me about 6 months this time to realize that my son needed a real hair cut. So folks, next time you see my kids looking shaggy, tell me to get their hair cut!

Before - note the mullet

During

After - note the clean lines