October 2018

Disneyland!
Not that there weren’t any wobbly bits, but … this may have been our best Disneyland/DCA trip ever! We did our usual plan of getting to the gates before Early Magic Hour started (7:00 a.m. every day for four days … brutal …), and were at max efficiency with MaxPass (R. is, of course, King of the MaxPass), riding all the rides. Lukas rode Guardians of the Galaxy twice before deciding it was too scary (whereas Annika rode it four times in less than an hour … hoooooo boy). The new Pixar stuff was awesome; Annika and I LOVED the Incredicoaster especially. We had been worried it would rain, and went prepared with ponchos and chamois towels, but we got lucky (and it being overcast a lot really helped with the temperature and sun exposure, so that worked out fine). There was no Tiki Room or Matterhorn this time (both closed for refurbishment), but on the very last night, we got to see Fantasmic! for the first time ever, and all agreed it was nearly worth the trip all by itself. Now both kids, especially Annika, are wanting to go back as soon as possible (today? no? how about tomorrow? next week? how about the week after? you sure we can’t just go today? lol!). 

Annika is ELEVEN!!!!
Due to personnel issues (Raina was unavailable the weekend of the 13th), we had Annika’s birthday party Saturday night … the day after we got back from Disneyland. We were exhausted, but we all rallied to put together the party she wanted: It was a “red carpet” theme, so I rolled out bolts of red fabric for the front sidewalk and through our house out to the deck. There were only four guests since the twins were still away on vacation, which made things much more manageable. The girls all arrived in their glamorous gowns, and we got photos in front of a great red-carpet backdrop. Lukas wore a shirt and bowtie and acted as cocktail waiter; R. was the bartender (complete with dress shirt, half-apron, and a fully-stocked bar for making mocktails. Then there was dinner and cake, followed by night swimming, then a few energetic rounds of Hello Neighbor, then a movie and sleep. In the morning: pancakes and presents, then after the guests left, none of us moved much for the rest of the day. Whew! Her actual birthday was on a Tuesday; poor old Lukas was home sick from school, but we still managed to get one of her favorite dinners (creamy chicken Italiano) and I made her a flourless chocolate torte for dessert. Her presents included lots of books, fox stuff, a lava lamp, a few skip passes, more Robux, and a nerf bow and arrow. 

Dandy Day
Annika’s last Dandy Day was a good one — both she and Lukas earned new personal best lap counts, nobody melted down uncontrollably, the weather was good, I only got one thing at the silent auction … (Of note: they both refused the five-lap boost they were entitled to because of R. and I each doing a volunteer shift — way to go, my ethical little ones! I wouldn’t have refused those laps, heh.). 

Grandma & Grandpa Make the Move to California
The fifteen-year plan has finally come to fruition: Merely a year after we bought the condo, and six-eight months after it was finished being renovated, the Dorks have finally arrived in California! They’re staying at our house till they’re fully moved in (e.g. furniture put together, food in the cabinets), but we are all glad to have the biggest hurdle cleared. 

Halloween
The weekend before Halloween was another Sauce-o-ween at the Maalgaards’; Lukas was absolutely HYSTERICAL as Napoleon Dynamite (complete with wig, fake glasses, a Vote for Pedro shirt, jeans and moon boots), and R. and I went as Rex (of Rex Kwon Do) and his lady friend Starla. Then, actual Halloween was on a Wednesday; the kids and I had managed to decorate the front of the house with garlands and whatnot, and carved pumpkins. Grandma and Grandpa stayed home to give out candy for us, and the four of us went to the Marshalls’ house (per tradition) to eat a quick pizza dinner and go out trick-or-treating (joined by Raina). Had a great time, didn’t run into any headless horsemen, came home with an epic amount of candy. 

Quotable
—“arak-niks” (Lukas’s unique pronunciation of “arachnids”)
—“No, she's a racist." (Annika’s objection to dressing as Summer Wheatley, which would have been part of the family all doing Napoleon Dynamite character costumes at Sauce-o-ween)
—“I know rock n roll” (Lukas’s interpretation of the lyrics of the classic Joan Jett song [R., hush, I know it’s a cover ok] at Grandma’s birthday dinner at The Fish Market)
—“Alison Wonderland” (Lukas’s version of the Fantasyland ride, Alice in Wonderland; as in, “are we gonna go on Alison next? Alison Wonderland?”)

September 2018

Labor Day weekend
The first full weekend of the month went according to tradition, for the most part: We spent it on a lot of pool time and grilling, an afternoon and dinner with the Carneys, a morning of doing nothing but watching a million episodes of Ninjago on the couch, and a movie night featuring The Iron Giant. Relaxing and restorative, with very little labor done by anyone.  

Science Camp
The fifth grade at our school goes to science camp for a few days every year, and so this year it was our turn. Annika wasn’t as enthused about it as some of the kids (and it was the first time she’d been away from home for more than a night, not counting family vacations), but she was excited to go, and despite some pretty bad homesickness on the first night, she rallied and had a great time. Lukas really, really missed her; we did a lot to make it up to him (e.g. Fiona and I took the boys to Golfland one afternoon, just to keep them occupied), but it was really weird having her gone for that long, and we were all so glad to see her get home. 

Potpourri of Fun and Whatnot
—It’s Recorder Time: Fifth grade is also the year they learn recorder in their music class, so naturally Annika brought one home. She picked it up pretty quickly, and with practice, she was soon outpacing her classmates with her skills. Yay!
—Lawson and Emmy’s bday party: “The Twins” (heh!), who have summer birthdays (when basically no one’s around, so there’s no point having a party), had their celebration together. The party was at Fiona’s parents’ place, and there was a bouncy house and crazy cakes and a slime station, etc. — a fun afternoon.
—Skateboarding starts again: Lukas decided at almost literally the last minute that he wanted to do skateboarding again, so I let him, with the warning that he needed to actually skate, and learn from the instructors — not fart around with Lawson the whole time. And he … mostly kept his end of the bargain. Mostly. [sigh] He is getting better, and learning more, and I think he’s finally getting over his fears of standing on the skateboard, so IMO it’s worth pursuing.
—Almaden Art and Wine Fest: This year, my friend Ami was out of state helping her parents with a sudden health crisis, so Ritesh brought the kids by himself and walked over to it with our family. It was a great day — not too hot, kids had a good time, we adults had a better time … (there was beer, after all. heh.)