Monday, October 19, 2015

September 2015

Our Busy Social Calendar
—Labor Day weekend this year was nothin’ but swimming and grilling, and that’s how we like it! The one exception was that we went to the Marshalls’ for a late birthday party for young Lawson (who’s a little older than Lukas, but still his great buddy). Things were fine until the Incident in the Bouncy House, in which Lukas went down and a bigger/older kid jumped directly on his left knee. He tumbled out, crying, and couldn’t put weight on it; this is the kid that takes a licking and keeps on ticking, so when he couldn’t walk it off, we had to leave the party and take him to the ER (we were going to leave Annika at the Marshalls’, but Lukas was crying for her — “I want my sister!!!” — so she came along). A couple hours and $75 later, we were told there was no break visible on the x-rays, so he was supposed to take it easy and let it heal up, which it did after a few days. Whew!
—DHS Class of 95 reunion weekend: I did a strange and hilarious thing: I flew to Texas to go with my sister to her 20-year high school reunion. Arriving in DFW the day of, we borrowed Jake’s car and drove to the old hometown, then the next day got to have lunch with Aunt Emma & Uncle Rusty. We stayed with Jake & Jill that night, before jetting back to our respective coasts the next morning. I didn’t leave R. in the lurch too much, though — his parents arrived for their visit the day I left, and I was home in time to pick the kids up from school on Monday. :-)
—Brownies! Annika had her first Brownies meeting at long last, complete with vest and troop shirt, and she LOVED IT. I did, too … until I found out I had been straight-up conned into being manager of Fall Sales (nuts, candy and whatnot, done entirely online). Grrr …
—Almaden Art & Wine fest: We did it the smart way this year — we went to the annual festival right when it opened, toured the booths, got some beer, put the kids through the bouncy slide a billion times, and got out (and back to our pool) before the heat of the day set in. It’s a fun little local event, if you do it right! 
Grandma & Grandpa
The Dorks visited later than usual this year, on account of they wanted to be here to celebrate Grandpa’s 80th birthday with us. So they plunged right in to a never-ending stream of activity, from batting practice with Lukas, to making a fairy house and learning about fairies’ magical tools with Annika. Both kids had an awesome time, and as exhausting as it no doubt was, so did their grandparents. We celebrated Grandpa's 80th birthday a couple of different ways: First, R. and I took his parents out to a fancy steakhouse in Los Gatos (where they printed special menus that said “Happy 80th Birthday, R___!” and made us some very good martinis. The next day, his actual birthday, we had a family party with all the kids and Uncle Paul & Aunt Amy; there were presents, Carvel ice cream cake, and a couple of little books with questions about Grandpa that all of us kids & grandkids wrote in. The whole thing was fun, and we hope there will be many more. 
We’re going to Disneyland!
Unquestionably the marquee event of the fall, we took our first trip to the Magic Kingdom during Annika’s weird school break at the end of September/beginning of October. We flew out of SJC (into SNA) the same morning G&G left for “Yo-hi-o,” and went straight to Disney’s Grand Californian hotel — which is absolutely gorgeous and mere steps from the park entrances. Our room had bunk beds, which was probably the best decision we could have made — both kids were thrilled by the novelty. We went to the pool (everybody loved the waterslide!) and then ate and went to bed early, because …
—Day one: We were up before dawn, eating a room service breakfast as we dressed and got out of there to take advantage of our “Magic Morning” pass (getting into California Adventure an hour before the park opened to the general public — worth every penny!). We rode Radiator Springs Racers (maybe the best amusement park ride of all tiiiiiime), then a whole bunch of other rides (Cars Land was AMAZING — gosh, the level of detail!), finally breaking for a “character dining experience” at Ariel’s Grotto (in which you get a meet-and-greet with Ariel herself, and several of the other Princesses (Cinderella, Tiana, Mulan, and Rapunzel) stopped by the table to sign autographs and take pics with Annika (Lukas dove under the table every single time). Back to the hotel for a nice long nap in the heat of the day, then head back to the park for more rides, finishing with the light-and-fountains show World of Color after dark. Miles walked: 8.79
—Day Two: Up early again, room service bagels, juice & coffee, and over to Disneyland for their Magic Morning or whatever it’s called. We rode all the classic rides (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Dumbo, etc.), saw the famous castle, ran into the kids’ pediatrician as we waited for those little tour boats, R. and I rode Star Tours (a Star Wars thing, awesome!) and Space Mountain (separately & at different times of the day, because the kids couldn’t ride those), got through a stereophonic meltdown at lunch, went for another planned nap, back into the park for more rides (Annika found a little roller coaster she loved in a maaajor way — I may have a thrill-ride partner before too long! — and It’s A Small World was a HUGE hit with both kids), dinner, and the light parade & fireworks at the castle that night. Miles walked: 7.6
—Day Three: Another early start, for a criss-crossing multi-park blowout of seeing and doing ALL THE THINGS. Haunted Mansion! Indiana Jones Adventure! Radiator Springs Racers four times in the day! Pirates of the Caribbean! Small World again! Ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli! Souvenir shopping! By the end of the day, we were all out of our minds with exhaustion, but felt like we’d maximized every minute. Miles walked: 13.2
     The last morning was comparatively leisurely, as we packed up and ate and waited for our ride. It was a near-perfect family vacation; R. and I barely looked at our phones (except to coordinate meet-ups and FastPasses and that sort of thing), there was no TV at all, and there was really only the one actual meltdown the whole time. The kids were troopers, and they had the time of their lives. I’m now a full convert — I can’t wait to go again! 
Our house is getting torn up again!
This time, it’s the long-planned renovation of Lukas’s room: tear down the walls, put in insulation, give him a better/functional closet, put lighting in both his closet and Annika’s, put up (and paint) new drywall, add moldings, etc. The timing was meant to coincide with moving him out of the crib at last (gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh) and into a big-boy bed, and the work began the day we left for Disney. More to come on this one. 

Quotable Kids
—“spestachios”
(Lukas, attempting “pistachios”)
“My friend is a black friend; his hair is black and his skin is light black, sort of brown.” (Lukas, matter-of-factly describing a schoolmate)
“the four of trees" (Lukas with playing cards, pointing to the four of clubs)
—At Almaden Art & Wine festival, as we come into sight of the band we’ve been hearing (and mocking) for some time: R: "Oh, [the band] are kids!" Annika, dismissively: "No wonder they're so bad."
—"Whenever scientists invent something, they always name it the Something 3000.” (Annika, astute with the observations)
—“Poor me!” (a sick, feverish, sniffly Lukas, without self-pity, but just appropriating what we’ve all been saying to him off and on for the past couple of days) 

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