January 2019
Sport of the Future
Something new this wet and cold winter: The kids and Manir started a course of fencing lessons! Before the Christmas break, I was flipping through a brochure at the library and noticed a six-week introductory program being run at the library/community center. It was for ages 7-12, so both kids could go, and their friend Manir decided to sign up as well; we ended up being three of the four participants, lol. But the teacher was really great — a very experienced, knowledgeable Russian lady named Natasha — and from the very first lesson, all three kids loved it! They wanted to take more lessons, so assuming they all do still like it at the end of the session, we’ll look into doing it for real at the facility where the coaches normally teach.
Something new this wet and cold winter: The kids and Manir started a course of fencing lessons! Before the Christmas break, I was flipping through a brochure at the library and noticed a six-week introductory program being run at the library/community center. It was for ages 7-12, so both kids could go, and their friend Manir decided to sign up as well; we ended up being three of the four participants, lol. But the teacher was really great — a very experienced, knowledgeable Russian lady named Natasha — and from the very first lesson, all three kids loved it! They wanted to take more lessons, so assuming they all do still like it at the end of the session, we’ll look into doing it for real at the facility where the coaches normally teach.
Annika’s bidness
—The middle school tour: Unbelievably, we are now to the point of getting ready for middle school! We went, along with most of the 5th grade, to a tour of the school we’re slated to attend; Annika seemed kind of overwhelmed, but some of what we saw was at least a little encouraging to R. and I. Among the notable elements was the Orchestra teacher, who seemed to us like the kind of teacher that can really leave a lasting (good) impression on a student’s life, so we’re now advocating for her to take Orchestra as her 6th-grade elective. Her feelings on the matter are TBD; we’ll know more after Elective Preview Night in March.
—The last elementary school father/daughter dance: Annika’s never been interested in going to the official dance; in the past, she and R. have just gone out to a nice dinner together on the night of. But this year, Niamh’s dad (Tim) suggested the four of them all go together, and the plan was agreed to by all. I took the girls dress shopping at Macy’s, and they both picked out cute sparkly dresses. That afternoon, Annika and I took time out from the mega-playdate at Manir’s (see below) to get her dressed and hair-done (a half-up, half-down style with curls, at her request). R. picked her up from there; the four of them showed up to the dance early, got their pictures taken, hung out awhile, then left for dinner and dessert.
—The middle school tour: Unbelievably, we are now to the point of getting ready for middle school! We went, along with most of the 5th grade, to a tour of the school we’re slated to attend; Annika seemed kind of overwhelmed, but some of what we saw was at least a little encouraging to R. and I. Among the notable elements was the Orchestra teacher, who seemed to us like the kind of teacher that can really leave a lasting (good) impression on a student’s life, so we’re now advocating for her to take Orchestra as her 6th-grade elective. Her feelings on the matter are TBD; we’ll know more after Elective Preview Night in March.
—The last elementary school father/daughter dance: Annika’s never been interested in going to the official dance; in the past, she and R. have just gone out to a nice dinner together on the night of. But this year, Niamh’s dad (Tim) suggested the four of them all go together, and the plan was agreed to by all. I took the girls dress shopping at Macy’s, and they both picked out cute sparkly dresses. That afternoon, Annika and I took time out from the mega-playdate at Manir’s (see below) to get her dressed and hair-done (a half-up, half-down style with curls, at her request). R. picked her up from there; the four of them showed up to the dance early, got their pictures taken, hung out awhile, then left for dinner and dessert.
Lukas Life
—Beyblades reign supreme: For the first several weeks of the year, all the boy wanted to do was battle Beyblades (and/or watch the anime show about same). He’s accumulated about 10 of them, plus a stadium, plus a couple of mini-micro beys and a tiny little stadium for them. There’s a group of (mostly) boys at school who gather around to battle every afternoon on the playground — it looks like a dice game, tbh, and we joke that they should be putting money down. But at least it’s social and in real life, not on a screen, so we’re all about encouraging it!
—Mega playdate at Manir’s: One Friday afternoon (happened to be the day of the father-daughter dance), we took all the kids — Annika & Lukas, Manir & Amira, and Emmett & Quinton — over to the Patels’ house for a mega playdate. The kids ran around in the park near their house until it started to get dark (Pokemon hunting may have been a factor), then we adjourned to the house for pizza and drinks and Beyblade on TV.
—Chuck E. Cheese with the Patels: Another fairly random last-minute decision on my and Ami’s part, heh. We took all the kids, again (except Annika, who went over to Niamh’s) to Chuck E. Cheese’s on a Friday afternoon and let them go hogwild for a couple hours. Pizza at the end, and that’s dinner sorted …
—Beyblades reign supreme: For the first several weeks of the year, all the boy wanted to do was battle Beyblades (and/or watch the anime show about same). He’s accumulated about 10 of them, plus a stadium, plus a couple of mini-micro beys and a tiny little stadium for them. There’s a group of (mostly) boys at school who gather around to battle every afternoon on the playground — it looks like a dice game, tbh, and we joke that they should be putting money down. But at least it’s social and in real life, not on a screen, so we’re all about encouraging it!
—Mega playdate at Manir’s: One Friday afternoon (happened to be the day of the father-daughter dance), we took all the kids — Annika & Lukas, Manir & Amira, and Emmett & Quinton — over to the Patels’ house for a mega playdate. The kids ran around in the park near their house until it started to get dark (Pokemon hunting may have been a factor), then we adjourned to the house for pizza and drinks and Beyblade on TV.
—Chuck E. Cheese with the Patels: Another fairly random last-minute decision on my and Ami’s part, heh. We took all the kids, again (except Annika, who went over to Niamh’s) to Chuck E. Cheese’s on a Friday afternoon and let them go hogwild for a couple hours. Pizza at the end, and that’s dinner sorted …
Family fun
We did a whole lot of socializing this month! The Lendlers stopped by on their way to Monterey for an afternoon visit; we made impromptu nachos with champagne for the grownups’ lunch, and pasta for the kids in between epic battles in both the Beyblade stadiums and on the Switch (Arms was the popular game of the day, unsurprisingly). The four of us stayed up late to see the spectacular super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse over MLK weekend; it was a rainy, windy night, but amazingly, the clouds parted just at the right moment to let us really see the amazing red color of the moon at the height of the event. Annika is the one who alerted us to it, from some research months ago — she had R. put it on his calendar, or we would have forgotten! We went to lunch with Grandma & Grandpa at the bistro in the Villages — sort of their “home” restaurant, and they ended up treating us. What was going to be a movie night turned into a family movie morning, when we saw Into the Spider-Verse at 9:30 a.m. one weekend — that theater is all pre-reservation seats now, which is great, but sometimes forces you to pick another showtime on grounds of nobody wants to sit in the front or the topmost row … anyway, it was an awesome movie, although poor Annika got motion sickness from it and was nauseous afterward. :-( And finally, we went to the Grant family’s annual Burns Night Supper again, which — thanks to Scotch and a larger than usual guest list — turned nearly riotous at the end (in a good, fun way, not a violent way! heh.).
We did a whole lot of socializing this month! The Lendlers stopped by on their way to Monterey for an afternoon visit; we made impromptu nachos with champagne for the grownups’ lunch, and pasta for the kids in between epic battles in both the Beyblade stadiums and on the Switch (Arms was the popular game of the day, unsurprisingly). The four of us stayed up late to see the spectacular super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse over MLK weekend; it was a rainy, windy night, but amazingly, the clouds parted just at the right moment to let us really see the amazing red color of the moon at the height of the event. Annika is the one who alerted us to it, from some research months ago — she had R. put it on his calendar, or we would have forgotten! We went to lunch with Grandma & Grandpa at the bistro in the Villages — sort of their “home” restaurant, and they ended up treating us. What was going to be a movie night turned into a family movie morning, when we saw Into the Spider-Verse at 9:30 a.m. one weekend — that theater is all pre-reservation seats now, which is great, but sometimes forces you to pick another showtime on grounds of nobody wants to sit in the front or the topmost row … anyway, it was an awesome movie, although poor Annika got motion sickness from it and was nauseous afterward. :-( And finally, we went to the Grant family’s annual Burns Night Supper again, which — thanks to Scotch and a larger than usual guest list — turned nearly riotous at the end (in a good, fun way, not a violent way! heh.).
posted by One of the Grownups @ 11:55 AM
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