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Granny came out to visit last weekend and we all went to Great America amusement park. Much to our surprise, Jake loved the roller coaster (kids version, but still pretty fast). He went on it by himself...5 times!

We all had a fantastic weekend. Thanks for making the trip out to see us Granny!

I ran in the Bay Vista 5K on August 22. It had been a while since my last 5K run, so it was fun to get back out there.

Jake started Kindergarten last week. He has adjusted to the new school very well and is starting to make some new friends. He has complained that "all we do is work". W

Jake turned 5 on Sunday July 11th and we had a party to celebrate with his friends at Bounce U. Check out the pictures and video from the festivities!

Happy 4th of July! Jake had a big weekend as he learned how to ride his bike without training wheels on Saturday. We are very proud of his accomplishment and we are gearing up for his 5th birthday next weekend.

These are Jake's pictures from school. I don't remember having school photos like these!

As part of Jake's Pre-K graduation celebration, we took the kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It's a one-of-a-kind indoor and outdoor children's museum at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, serving over 300,000 visitors per year on its 7.5 acre Sausalito campus. The Museum is the only children’s museum in the U.S. to be located in a national park. The Museum's unique programs feature hands-on art, science and environmental exhibitions, performances, special events, cultural festivals and ongoing educational curricula... all with a focus on fun!

For more on the museum, visit http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/.

Jake officially graduated from Pre-K on Thursday June 10th! He will be staying at his school until he begins Kindergarten in August. Jake had a wonderful time at the graduation ceremony and milked his big day for everything he could...wonder where he got that from?

Check out the video highlights from the ceremony below!

Happy Name Day to Helen and Dean! I couldn't resist putting up a picture of Helen with her black eye and 'glue' on her face. She had an accident at school last week and hit her cheek but she is fine and hardly complained about it at all...although she complained about a lot of other stuff!

As for name days, according to the Orthodox Church, every day of the year has been dedicated to the memory of a Saint or a martyr from the Holy Bible and Holy Tradition. This day carries the name of the Saint and it's called "nameday." If someone is named after a Saint, then there is a big celebration on his/her name day. In Greece, namedays are usually more important than birthdays. Gifts are given, festive meals and desserts are prepared, and special preparations are made for an open house. Usually, namedays are on the same date, every year. These are the non-floating namedays. There are some "floating" namedays though, that every year are on a different date.

Those who are not named after a saint have a party on All Saints' Day, 8 weeks after Easter. For more information or to find your name day, click here.

Also, Happy Anniversary to Stella and Steve!

I just got the pictures from Jake's Pre-K graduation (click the image for larger version). The actual graduation ceremony doesn't happen until June 10, but they took the photos a few weeks ago.

The picture is cute and I understand that he'll be moving to a different school with new friends, but I couldn't help but thinking that a graduation ceremony for Pre-K was a bit much. What do you think?