Wednesday, August 26, 2015

July 2015

Fun times
—The Glorious Fourth:
We were back from Hawaii in plenty of time for our traditional Fourth of July activities (mainly swimming and grilling). We went to the Montevideo neighborhood parade in the morning, which was … extremely short. Like, 3 floats and a Scout troop short. Eh, well, the kids got candy, so they were happy! Then that night, we walked over to the lake park at dusk to watch the fireworks — it was a really great show, much longer than last year’s, and we all really dug it (except for Lukas’s terrified screaming at the loudness, right at the start — eep! — but he got over it and watched the rest of the show from Daddy’s arms, so it was OK in the end).
—Kent and Kylie and Sky and the wedding weekend and the Sauce weekend: Our old friend Kevin’s wedding was July 11, way up in the Berkeley hills, and our dear friends Kent & Kylie and their son Skyler made the drive out from Kansas to be there. They spent the night with us before we grownups headed off for the overnight in the East Bay (with Aunt Amy attending all three of the kids at our house). We had an awesome time, and a great (if hungover) drive back down, and the kids got along like a house afire — ate what they wanted, had hours and hours of screen time, etc., with Sky sleeping on a futon mattress in Annika’s room. Then the Smiths went off on a round of camping, sightseeing, friend-seeing, etc., meeting back up with us that Friday at the Sauce Compound for an epic Sauce weekend — the whole band was back together! The kids once again had a great time, mainly playing Club Penguin and swimming and stuff, we all went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on Saturday, we rocked both nights … and by the end of it, we were all worn out but exhaustedly happy. Now Skyler wants to schedule a monthly FaceTime date with Annika, to keep in touch!
Shimmer and Shine: Just when you thought you’d seen the worst show, along comes this one, about two genies … and the kids both LOVE IT SO MUCH. Oi.
—Hiking playdates: TBH, I made a whole lot of plans with friends just to keep Annika socially engaged now that Vilma has gone back to Finland (see below) — so we went to these cool Japanese gardens with Brianna’s family and Mrs. Casey (will I ever be able to call her Jayli? I may not, though I like her so, so much and think she could be a friend!) & her oldest daughter, and to Quicksilver Park with Sydney’s family & Ezra’s mom, and a couple of other things here and there. Also I like to meet up with the families where I like the mom, so … ;-) 

Annika
—The last days of Vilma:
Poor kid, her best friend in the world just moved halfway across it. Vilma and her family left for Finland on the 16th, and in the weeks before that, we made every possible swimming playdate and meetup that we could, including a day where she and Vaatu came over alone while Anu tried to finish packing up. It was actually pretty great — the four kids played together really well, and I snapped a few pics of them eating homemade popsicles and painting at the craft table and such. Annika was prone to finishing trains of thought with “And I’ll never see Vilma again [tragical face].” I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese on the day the Vaisanens actually left, basically to distract them, and while we had fun in the moment, the exit from Chuck’s was one of the worst stereophonic meltdowns I’ve ever seen my kids have. I was fireman-carrying both of them out of the place. So … stressed and upset, a little. Yeah. I do hope we can visit Finland sometime — they are good friends, and I’d hate for this to be the last we ever see of them. But: Bon voyage, Vaisanen family, and best of luck to you all!
—The Summer of Fairies: Annika got into reading an apparently infinite series of books called “Rainbow Magic Fairies,” in which these two girls, Rachel and Kirsty, have various adventures in fairyland with the multitudinous fairies whose domain is this, that, and the other area of human life (e.g. chocolate, Christmas stockings, fashion shows, the color blue, etc.). They’re cute and harmless and among the few books that are of the reading level she needs but with content that’s OK for a seven-year-old (although it’s introduced some phrasing in her vocabulary like “This is going to be a disaster!”, LOL). She built a mall out of boxes in the movie room — Tippington Fountains Shopping Center (a location frequented in the books), with a half-dozen shops & merch and whatnot, it’s amazing — and allowed herself to be talked out of bunk beds only by the purchase and installation of a fairy-lit, purple tulle fairy canopy over her existing bed. Also she wants her birthday party to be a fairy theme. So … we are very into fairies up in this joint. :-)
—A swimming breakthrough: Annoyed and bummed by the lack of a ribbon in recent months, Annika asked me to sign her up for AVAC’s “intensive” lessons, which is a week of lessons every day — and by granny, on Wednesday of her week, she earned her Marlin ribbon and is now working on the Orca! They’re learning breaststroke and some other fairly complicated stuff (teachers say Orca level is the hardest); she’s part mermaid, so I’m sure she’ll earn this one too.

Lukas
—Why?
Lukas has entered the “why” phase, in which every single question — and there are lots of questions — turns into a rundown back to the most basic and elemental things. You can answer the opening Qs, the easy lobs, but then as the interrogation goes from something like “Which crayon is your favorite?” to “What is blue?” and “Why are there colors?” … you find yourself out of answers. He also has many theories as to why (on any given topic), which are as entertaining as they are educational.
—Party time: Lukas was invited to his classmate Alex's birthday party, held at the Almaden Lake Park. He was excited to have gotten his very own invitation! We went, and it was fine, but sizzling in the un-shaded sunlight of a Saturday morning on the SURFACE OF THE SUN. He even ate a real cupcake — the kind of petroleum-byproduct item you get at Lucky — without any ill effects, and said thanks for inviting me/I had a nice time without much prompting. 


Quotable
—Annika to Lukas:
"You look like an old person when you tuck your shirt in!" (To me, confidentially & knowingly: "Old people do that.”
—In the mornings, Lukas has me cover him in the dots blanket (blanket dots) in the crib, then tells me he's going to "crack out" of it
—Lukas, confidently buying Annika a post-swim-lesson cookie at AVAC: "My sister wants a chocolate chip cookie!"

June 2015

It’s so cool / in my pool
It finally got warm enough to start using the pool a lot in June, so in the first two weeks, we had a Vilma & Alana & families end-of-school pool playdate, the first family pool weekend, and a pool playdate with the neighbors (Janeen and sons Greyson and Anders). I’m finally figuring out how to do it right, w/r/t timing, towels, a pitcher of water & some glasses outside, etc. And with Lukas in a floaty suit, I don’t have to hold him in my arms the entire time he’s in the water — yay! Often, after a long hot day, I’d get the kids in the pool in the late afternoon (sometimes after their dinner); the shadow of the house shades the pool at that hour, so no sunscreen is necessary, and not only does the water calm both of them down, but also, in this drought, it suffices for a bath/shower. 
Family game night ahoy
For no real reason, I decided we needed classic editions of Clue and Monopoly, so we got them, and took a chance on playing Monopoly as a family … and it actually worked! Even Lukas held his own, although he more or less always thought it was his turn, and Annika became incensed anytime anyone else gained money or property … lol. Of course it takes forever, so we quit after an hour or so and came back to it another day, and left it set up on the dining table for weeks (until we had houseguests and had to take it down so we could feed them properly). Feels like the start of a new era! 
Annika’s world
—The last week of school:
School runs into June here, and this last week was really pretty sad for us — Annika hated the thought of not being in Mrs. Casey’s class anymore, plus knowing Vilma won’t be there next year … :-(  There were actual tears the last day. First time I’ve ever seen (or done) anything like that!
—Camp Mom: Annika decided she didn’t want to do any camps this year — in her words, she wanted to “take a break” — so we scheduled nothing, but made a list of fun and/or educational things to do (e.g. go to Chuck E Cheese, get a library card, learn to tie her own shoes, have a picnic, work in the 3rd grade notebook, bake, etc.), and started in on them right away. Of course she played a lot of Club Penguin, but it was pretty well balanced with the other stuff — and she is hugely proud of having her own library card. Takes it very, very seriously; borrows all the Rainbow Magic Fairies books (there are apparently three million titles); always remembers to get a book or two for Lukas. So cute!
—The Last Dance Recital: Annika still insists she doesn’t want to do dance this next year, which means 2015 is her last recital. She loved her costume, she loved only doing ballet (no tap), and she really enjoyed being onstage (and Lukas LOVED the show — I mean it, I doubt there’s a dance parent in the whole audience who was more into it). But when it was over, she was as firm in her convictions as ever, so I guess that’s where we’ll leave it for now. 
Lukas Land
—Potty trained??:
The kid had been keeping dry during the day and overnight (mostly) so we made the leap (hoping not to have to take diapers with us to Hawaii) — and it’s early yet, but it looks like we may have VICTORY!!! Woooooooooooo!!!!
—Lukas’s first invited party: He’s used to being dragged along to Annika’s parties and playdates, or included as her plus-one, but this month, Lukas got his first very own party invitation: to our young neighbor Anders’s superhero party! He did great, and wore the party-favor superhero mask for three solid days (most of the kids took theirs off within about 15 minutes).
—Swimming: Lukas finally earned his first ribbon at AVAC! He’s not quite as achievement-oriented as Annika, but BOY was he proud of himself for getting his O-Fish-al Jellyfish ribbon. A big day for the little swimmer! 
Blue Hawaiian
The big event of the month — nay, the whole summer! — was our almost-two-week trip to “our place” in Hawaii (the condos near Waikoloa, on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island). This time, we didn’t muck it up with long drives or Hilo or luaus or any of that stuff — we stuck extremely close to home, packing a cooler, having breakfast on the lanai, and hitting the beach club early every single day of our stay — which made for a very mellow, actually-at-times-relaxing vacation. Highlights included:
—Lukas learns to swim for real: Maybe it was the buoyancy of the ocean, or the amount of time we spent in the water, or all those months of swim lessons, but he finally really got it, and spent all his time either playing “chase race” with me or swimming in a triangle between me, R., and Annika.
—Annika and Daddy snorkeling: Those two booked some serious time in their snorkel gear, going way out past the rocks, even seeing a shark just past the reef! Annika continued to work on her (excellent) free-diving in the channels, and is excited to learn scuba or snuba as soon as she’s allowed.
—Annika and I doing water sports: I rented a SUP board one day, took it for a lap or two, then picked up Annika as my passenger and paddled us around the bay. It was awesome!! Another day, I rented a two-seater kayak, and we paddled together almost as far out as she and R. go snorkeling — a really fun change of pace for us both, and I was extra glad to be in such good shape (that stuff is hard work!).
—Lukas in restaurants: Parents of the Year, here, we let Lukas have his favorite meal every time we went to a restaurant … and by the end, he was ordering "French fries, ketchup, and water” like a pro. Ha! 


The Quotable Lukas
—“Hey Mr Chivers - I'm wearin underwear!”
Imparting important facts to our contractor, who had come to check on the progress of the new downstairs shower.
—Annika, seeing Lukas with hands behind his back: “Hey Lukas, whatcha got there?” Lukas: “My CROTCH!” he roars as he jumps 180 degrees, pointing to his butt and collapsing in giggles.
—“honeypickle" = Popsicle
—“I was SO gone!" What he told his teacher, Miss Penny, re: having been on vacation